ECS Technical Services Division Manager Tearinie Arhip and Parsons Lean Executive Director Perry Thompson, in partnership with Project Director Dean Woodley of CBRE, visited the University of Nebraska Lincoln at Omaha to discuss Lean culture in the construction industry. The class was comprised of students in their last year within the university’s Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction program.
Focusing on the spirit of Lean culture, Tearinie and Perry explored Lean tools with the class that foster and practice that culture, for example the Parsons Planning System, 8 Wastes, 5 ‘S’ and the Plan-Do-Check-Act mindset. Sprinkling in real-life stories and examples, their goal was to demonstrate Lean tools and Lean culture at work.
“We shared stories of how General Contractors and other trades are asking about our planning system which was developed from the Last Planner System (LPS),” Perry explained.
Tearinie added, “Lean design and construction is developing a continuous improvement culture to maximize value and minimize waste on our projects. It’s important to learn this [culture] now because projects’ scope, budgets, and schedules are continually challenged and lean culture helps address those constraints. If we weren’t utilizing these principles, we’d fall behind.”
“The excitement of these future leaders showed how Lean practices can change how construction is done,” Perry continued. Thank you to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and Dr. Stuart Berstein’s class for welcoming Parsons and for sharing their passion for construction. Thank you to Dean Woodley for partnering with us on this endeavor to share Lean culture and principles.
Leave a Reply