Integration of lean design and design management and its influence on the development of a multidisciplinary design management model for remote site projects

A significant body of literature addresses the application of lean thinking to improving the interface between detailed design and construction production, yet none specifically focuses on remote site projects. These projects range from tourism and scientific investigation to resource exploration developments. The challenges confronting the project teams tend to fit within a sociologically oriented world where designers respond to functional, aesthetic and environmental concerns, or within a production oriented world, where strategic decisions made during the early stages of a project impact markedly upon construction, logistics and sustainability. The research aimed to establish how the integration of lean design and design management thinking influenced the development of a conceptual design management model for remote site projects, and the level of rigour achieved 'in the field' when tested. A postdoctoral reflective review is made of a selection of the reviewed literature, the methodology/process undertaken in the model development and testing stages, and the findings from two case studies used when testing the developed model. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with selected 'working-in-the-field' participants across a diverse range of remote site projects; the model was found to be robust and portable.