Production at the beginning of the twentieth century was defined by Henry Ford's model of mass production: the assembly line. The value of Ford's system was founded on dominating the supply chain and insisting that suppliers lower costs from raw material to market to realize economies of scale. Drastically reducing manufacturing costs of the Model T from 825$ in 1908 to 360$ in 1914 is a testament to Ford's successful vision. Characterized by a continuous flow of repeating tasks, components, jigs and moving constituents through a linear process, vehicles were verified and validated at the end of their production cycle which sometimes led to accumulated inefficiencies and errors.
Another manufacturing revolution came in the 1930s from another automobile manufacturer. Influenced and inspired by Japanese craftsman culture, Toyota introduced a collaborative and cellular approach to making automobiles. The Toyota Production System harvested value from within manufacturing as well as from output. Lean manufacturing or Lean production were outlined on key principles: the first, improving productivity of every task; which meant looking for errors, waste at all stages and from every individual. Arguably the most important nuance from Ford's model was the integration of the suppliers in a type of coordinated cooperation. Producing in smaller batches also made it possible to correct errors and glitches as they presented themselves. Finally, Just-in-time production, using and making things as required increased the agility of the manufacturing process.
Often related to prefabrication and offsite construction, Lean construction is described as the Toyota model applied to building construction. These theories have been proposed for improving lagging productivity since the 1970s. Lean implies a comprehensive and integrated practice where all stakeholders are invested in improving both the product and the process, arguably, tasks that are easier achieved within a factory setting. Conventional delivery of construction projects is bogged by conflicts between design professionals, trades and contractors. The systemic fragmentation and entanglement of design and construction is a clear area for a Toyota inspired process to redefine architecture and construction from two disparate spheres to architecture and construction as part of a streamlined and optimizable continuum of waste reducing and value adding actions.
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| Middle Table from https://explorescm.com/lean-manufacturing/ consulted on April 4, 2022 |
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