Building Lean Building BIM

Why should construction companies adopt Lean Construction and Building Information Modelling (or “Lean and BIM”, for short? Why should they invest in these two major innovations in an integrated way? And how can they be implemented in the best possible way?

In this book, we examine and try to answer these questions through the story of Tidhar Ltd., a small-to-medium sized construction company that developed new ways of building that enabled it to grow its turnover and its profits at rates unheard of in its market. In 2011, Tidhar embarked on a journey to improve and grow through collaboration, technology and innovation. It grew larger but also become leaner. At the time of writing the process was still ongoing, but Tidhar’s story, with its successes and failures, was already one of leadership, professionalism, persistence and learning in the effort to apply Lean thinking and BIM to the complex world of building construction.

Building Lean, Building BIM is a set of lessons learned and an explanation of the theory and practice of Lean and BIM. Using examples from the history of Tidhar’s journey to excellence and those of three other pioneering companies – Skanska Finland, Lease Crutcher Lewis and Fira – we explore what Lean Construction is, how BIM can be applied and exploited, and how the innovations of Lean Construction and BIM interact. How can they be applied successfully, and what are the pitfalls? How might readers and their companies create their own journeys to greater profitability?