Waste of working hours in Swedish housing production seen from a large-scale construction contractor

Purpose: Time and resources are wasted away when efficiency within construction is stagnating. Despite being a generally developed industry, there is still light to shed upon the methods and implementation of norms and routines, resulting in unnecessary waste at the work sites. This report aimed to provide with further data in order to argue for a work place with reduced waste and a greater awareness around how a complex work site can be studied with the help of Muda theory. Method: A qualitative study with semi-structured interviews and a literature study as data collection methods. A total of nine interviews were accomplished with two foremen and seven carpenters. Foundation and understanding of the phenomenon were initially sought through literature. This to have an adapted form of interviews through the use of a custom template for the respondent and also to give the analysis theoretical foundation. Findings: The report shows three types of waste that come back more frequently, these are defects (rework), movement and waiting. To prevent waste, and primarily to discover it, the organization must make the clarity for Lean and Muda clearer for all employees. The project phase needs to prioritize where planning awareness about the schedule and building only after construction documents are essential. Furthermore, there is a great potential to improve the knowledge transfer between the projects where major entrepreneurs can benefit from their number of previous projects to systematically evaluate and improve their workplace. Here, a digital platform is proposed for this purpose. Implications: Compiling the analysis established that there are deficiencies within the work with Lean in production. Wastage that occur is caused by many different reasons and are often based upon inadequate planning within the organization. There are also external factors like delays and inefficiency to account for, although it is usually up to the contractor to optimize and adapt best way possible based on the current circumstances. A great emphasis has through this analysis been put on the work with planning with the help of The Last Planner System. It has also been concluded that a working system of knowledge transfer within an organization needs to be established in order to be a leading participant in Swedish building production. Limitations: This report has been angled so that the problem within production is illuminated. This since much of the wastage can be reflected to the design stage and future work can resume with such an angle. The validity of the report is lowered as a result of only screening one company although the report is limited to one Swedish, bigger contractor. In order to further confirm the reality of the problem, other forms of research could have been added, more than just literature studies and interviews, such as observational investigation. Keywords: Waste minimization, Lean Construction, Muda, Lean Production, The Last Planner System, Knowledge transfe