Formwork material and payroll are among the greatest costs in building reinforced concrete structures. Therefore, formwork engineering is a key factor affecting project success. Traditional formwork construction entails non-value-adding activities resulting in waste. The objective of this study is to adapt lean manufacturing techniques to formwork engineering in a bid to reduce waste, specifically by developing a lean formwork construction model. In the model, andon is used to establish an on-site quality control culture, allowing form workers to obtain assistance immediately whenever a problem occurs. In addition, formwork operations are pulled through the kanban system to reduce mould inventory and achieve continuous construction flow. A case study is used to validate the applicability of the proposed model. Results show that the proposed model can effectively reduce waste in the formwork construction flow and increase the value of operations, thus providing a new approach to improving formwork engineering.

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Traditional formwork design processes entail considerable waste, increasing non-value-adding manpower costs and operational time. The purpose of this research is to use lean thinking in formwork design so as to enhance design correctness and eliminate waste through establishing a Lean Formwork Design Process. In the design process, the concurrent design concept is adopted to provide a visual communication platform for design team members using Building Information Modeling (BIM). Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) are used as a protocol for sharing design artifacts. Design correctness is established to review and correct design errors, thus allowing for the construction of an organizational learning environment. Finally, the Lean Formwork Design Process is conceptualized using stock-flow diagrams. A real case is used to validate the applicability of the proposed approach. Application results show that the proposed method can enhance design correctness and reduce manpower waste and operational time in formwork engineering. This study is one of the first to apply lean thinking to improve practices in formwork design.

Formwork materials and worker payments are one of the main expenditures in reinforced-concrete structures. Formwork engineering is thus one main factor impacting project success. In current practice, formwork construction including non-value-adding activities results rework and inventory waste. The aim of the paper is to adopt the lean manufacturing ideas to reduce unnecessary waste in the formwork engineering. A lean formwork construction model is developed to achieve this goal. In the lean formwork construction model, an on-site quality control culture is established by using Andon. Using the Andon system, form workers could receive support right away when problem occurs. Moreover, using Andon, operations in formwork engineering are pulled using the Kanban system to lower mold inventory level and create a continuous formwork construction flow. To validate the feasibility of the lean formwork model, a real case is tested. Experimental data demonstrate the developed method could banish unnecessary worker-hours in the formwork's operational flow and enhance formwork's value. KEYWORDSFormwork, lean manufacturing, kanban, andon.

Materials for modules and payments for your workers are some of the main expenses for the concrete structures with stiffness. In view of this, module construction is one of the essential factors if the project succeeds or not. Traditional module construction that is involved in those activities without adding values results in wastes. This study aimed at adopting a compact method to reduce waste in the module works.The compact module construction model is developed to achieve this goal. Andon of this model is made use of build a spot assurance system. Labours can be assisted immediately in case of any issues are raised. Besides Andon, module processes are introduced to the Kanban system to decrease mold stock and fulfil the flow of process behind ceaseless work. There was one real case discussed to verify if the proposed module applies to all. Application findings indicate that the developed method is able to conduct mandatory banishment in the module flow of the process and add value in the operation.