Lean Construction Practice on Toll Road Project Improvement: A Case Study in Developing Country

Construction is a crucial industry that drives a nation's economic growth, yet it often faces inherent challenges related to productivity and waste generation. Lean Construction (LC) has emerged as a promising approach to address these challenges. However, despite its success in various construction projects, some gaps in the practical adoption of LC hinder its widespread practitioner uptake. Therefore, to close the gap, the objective of this study is threefold: identify waste factors of construction activities, determine suitable lean tools for project performance improvement, and assess the impacts of the implementation of lean tools on project completion time and costs. A toll road project in Indonesia was investigated as the case study. A combined research method was employed by administering a questionnaire survey to pertinent project participants, conducting in-depth interviews, and analyzing relevant documents to achieve these objectives. This study discovered 15 non-value-added (NVA) activities that can be eliminated to enhance overall project performance. Most of these activities can be accommodated using coordination and collaboration, while some require a more comprehensive approach, including standardization, the Five S, crash programs, and overlapping techniques. Implementing lean tools resulted in a 19.17% reduction in project completion time, although it contributed to a 5.33% decrease in organizational profit compared to traditional approaches. The findings of this study hold the potential to benefit those facing similar issues, not only in emerging countries but also in developed economies grappling with similar contexts.