Lean Adoption for Trade Contractors: Benefits, Barriers, and Path Forward

The adoption of Lean Construction (LC) methods at the trade level is lagging, despite the considerable benefits of implementing these methods for contractors. This suggests the need for better approaches and practical strategies to support lean adoption by trade contractors. This paper seeks to understand the current status and trends of lean in the trade contracting environment by interviewing lean experts. In total, 27 semi-structured interviews were conducted with construction practitioners to explore the benefits, current methods, and factors required to successfully implement lean methods by trade contractors. Subsequently, content analysis was performed to identify indicators that assist in implementing lean approaches, as well as barriers hindering trade adoption of lean. A total of 35 unique benefits were categorized into five main groups: Business Case, Outcomes, Process, Team, and Workforce. Additionally, the study found that 12 different barriers in five categories, including cultural and human attitudinal, management commitment and support, skill and knowledge, fragmentation and procurement, and resources, were linked to the successful implementation of lean practices. Ultimately, practical recommendations to guide trade contractor adoption of lean are presented. This study finds that despite the potential benefits of achieving a higher level of productivity and profit through implementing lean practices, there is still a shortage in uptake and consistency of implementation required to attain these benefits.