Lean Construction in Small-Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs): An Exploration of the Highways Supply Chain

Lean Construction (LC) is under the spotlight to improve the overall performance of civil construction projects in England. A strategic target of public clients is to effectively extend the current LC efforts, which have been mainly led by large companies to date, across small-medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper presents a summary of the initial findings of a research effort aimed at understanding the current condition of and future directions for LC at the SMEs in England's highways supply chain. The research comprises of 20 interviews with senior managers, of which the initial findings were summarized in this paper, and a comprehensive survey study with 110 responses across the highways supply chain. 31 points for the current condition and 40 action items for the future of LC in the highways SMEs were presented and discussed.