Evaluation of civil construction processes: An integration of Value Stream Mapping and Network Data Envelopment Analysis
Lean Construction. Value Stream Mapping. Data Envelopment Analysis. NDEA.
This research aims to expose the integration of the lean tool called Value Stream Mapping (VSM) with the Data Envelopment Analysis technique as a managerial mechanism to support the management decision making regarding to the process leanness. This becomes essential in view of Brazil's current economic downturn, which has a direct impact on the construction industry, leading to a decline in sales and, consequently, in profits. As a result, the construction companies need to redefine their production systems in order to stand out from their competitors, through improved operations, resulting in increased productive performance and, consequently, consumer satisfaction. This raises the significant contribution to the company under study, since it exposes the current situation of the execution of one of its main production processes and proposes actions that allow it to approach its ideal state, represented by operations without waste and in the pace of customer demand. In addition, the constant consummation of the mechanism performed in this work allows the organization to identify incidents more quickly, then, define immediate actions that eliminate them and be always in continuous improvement. The contributions are also based on filling a gap in the literature, identified through a review of 291 articles. To reach the proposed objective, the research was developed in the structural masonry process in the construction of a residential project of a medium-sized construction company located in Natal/RN. The data collection was done directly by observations of the execution of operations on 16 floors, over 9 weeks. The classic CCR model and the NDEA model with structure in networks were used in the association of the DEA with the VSM. The results of the aggregate and univariate evaluations are equated to the results of the value stream mapping. Thus, the models are validated and it is identified that, in order to analyze the lean level of the process as a whole, the most appropriate model is the NDEA, but when it is restricted to the individual operations, it is recommended to use the DEA-CCR. The diagnosis also facilitates the elaboration of a plan action that assists the reach of the idealized state in the VSM and, then, the organization obtains a competitive advantage over competitors.