Improving labor flow reliability for better productivity as lean construction principle

New management thinking, like that of lean production, has suggested that better labor and cost performance can be achieved by improving the reliability of flows. In this context, lean thinking portrays reliable flows as the timely availability of resources, i.e., materials, information, and equipment. Little attention has been given to labor as a flow. Further, little discussion can be found related to flexible capacity management strategies. Efforts to utilize lean thinking in construction, so far, have generated limited evidence to support the need for more reliable labor flows. This paper investigates the lean principle that more reliable flows lead to better labor performance. Actual data from three bridge construction projects are examined to document the instances of poor flow (resource) reliability and its effect on labor performance. Inefficient labor hours are calculated. The results show that there is strong support that more reliable material, information, and equipment availability contributes to better performance. However, the projects showed considerable deficiencies in the utilization of the labor resource. It is concluded that lean improvement initiatives should focus more on workforce management strategies to improve labor utilization that will lead to better labor performance.