LCiGlossaryofTermsandConcepts

Lean Construction Ireland (LCi) Page 5 of 11 or reduce waste. Gemba is the practice of leaders going to the place where work is done to observe, ask questions, and show respect. Gemba walks should be done with purpose and focus on understanding and improving processes, not evaluating employee performance. After a walk is complete and the leader has the chance to reflect, action is taken regarding any opportunities for improvement that were discovered. Hand-Off – The act of releasing an item or activity to the person or group performing the next step or operation on that item or activity, for example, a structural steel design is handed-off to the steel detailer to complete shop drawings; a room (or portion) that has been framed is handed-off to the drywall installer; or all construction on a floor of a hospital is completed and handed-off to the hospital personnel to begin staff-and-stock activities. Hoshin Kanri – This is the Japanese term for direction management or strategy deployment – Ho means direction; Shin means Focus; Kan means Alignment; Ri means reason. Hoshin Kanri is the practice of identifying the organisation’s long- term breakthrough objectives and aligning the goals and decisions of every person in the organisation. Strategy deployment is not an annual event, and success requires that it become operationalised at every level and incorporating strategy deployment into leader standard work to set a schedule for reviewing progress toward the objectives and managing KPIs on a daily basis. At any point, a leader should be able to say where their team is on the path toward its stated monthly, quarterly, and annual objectives. Huddle Meetings – Huddle meetings give employees the opportunity to identify challenges and work on problem solving skills. They should be part of leader standard work because they give managers and supervisors early insight into potential problems and the opportunity to coach the team on how to implement positive change. Integrated Form of Agreement (IFoA) – A multi-party agreement that includes the owner, design professional, and constructor as signatories to the same construction contract. Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) – A project delivery approach that integrates people, systems, business structures and practices into a process that collaboratively harnesses the talents and insights of all participants to reduce waste and optimise efficiency through all phases of the project, from early design through project handover. The three contractual components of IPD include: Organisation Structure, Lean Operating Systems, and Commercial Terms. Just In Time (JIT) – A system for producing or delivering the right amount of parts or product at the time it is needed for production. Kaizen – The Japanese term for incremental continuous improvement. Kaizen is a structured process to engage those closest to the process to improve both the effectiveness and efficiency of the process. Its goals are to remove waste and add standardisation. Kaizen has come to mean the philosophy of continuous improvement. Kanban – The Japanese term for a signposting mechanism associated with the demand pull principle. The signal tells workers to pull parts or refill materials to a certain quantity used in production, and is a signal that a downstream or customer process can use to request a specific amount of a specific part from the upstream or supply process. It is a visual system for managing work as it moves through a process, and it visualises both the process (the workflow) and the actual work passing through that process. The goal of Kanban is to identify potential bottlenecks in your process and fix them so work can flow through it cost-effectively at an optimal speed or throughput. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – These are a set of measures designed to benchmark a business’s most important characteristics against a set of strategic targets. Last Planner – Integral to the LPS, this is the person or group that makes assignments to direct workers. Project Architect and Discipline Lead are common names for last planners in design processes; and Superintendent or Foremen are common names for last planners in construction processes. Last Planner® System (LPS) – The complete term is “Last Planner System for Production Control”. This is a system for project production planning and control that is aimed at creating a workflow that achieves reliable execution. It was developed by Glenn Ballard and Greg Howell, with documentation by Ballard in 2000. LPS is the collaborative, commitment-based planning system that integrates should-can-will-did planning: pull planning, make-ready look-ahead