Construction Physics

At the 14th annual conference in the International Group for Lean Construction in 2006 the authors presented the concept of construction as a process being fed by a number of flows out of which one is the critical one deciding the speed with which the process takes place. This contribution takes the idea further and sets out by discussing production in general and the underlying mental flow models associated with this understanding. It then suggests a new model for the understanding of the nature of project production with a focus on all the flows feeding this complex process. It continues by discussing the nature of the flows and at the same time looks at the impact of their variability at the project level. And finally it looks at the present tools for project management and their suitability in a process understanding of the project where particularly the nature of Last Planner is discussed.