Eliminating Waste in Construction: The Key to Unlocking Efficiency

Blog Dec 06, 2024

In our previous blogpost, RNDV Chief Project Officer Giedrius Grėbliūnas explored the complexities of construction productivity and the persistent challenges that limit its progress. Now, it’s time to dig deeper into one of the biggest barriers: waste.

Most of you are probably familiar with the term “waste” in production. These are the activities that occur during a project but do not add value. They can range from walking, searching for information, correcting defects, or even redoing work. In manufacturing, tremendous progress has been made to eliminate waste, driving efficiency gains up to eight times higher than in construction. How? By minimizing waste to just 12 percent of the production time!

The Reality of Construction Wastes

Unfortunately, in construction, the story is different, marks Giedrius Grėbliūnas: “Wastes typically consume 57 percent of a project’s time. To put this into perspective: in a standard 10-hour workday, almost 6 hours are spent on activities that don’t contribute to the final product.”

These activities include:

Searching for information due to unclear specifications.

Time wasted fixing errors in drawings or waiting for answers.

Frequent mobilization and demobilization, caused by having to move between different areas instead of completing work in one spot.

Misalignment between different trades working on site, causing delays and confusion.

Slow problem solving, leaving unfinished tasks that need to be revisited later.

In short, construction teams are often forced to spend valuable time on tasks that don’t directly contribute to the build, severely affecting overall productivity.

What Can Be Done?

It’s crucial to understand that the value added by each worker is generally fixed—there’s only so much a person can do in a day. Therefore, increasing efficiency isn’t about asking workers to move or install things faster. Instead, it’s about removing waste.

“By eliminating waste, we can free up time and redirect that effort into value-adding activities such as installing more units, pulling more meters, or painting more square meters. This transformation is key to boosting productivity,” says RNDV Chief Project Officer.

Visualizing the Impact of Waste Removal

Below, we offer a visual representation that highlights just how impactful eliminating waste can be. In RNDV’s own projects, we’ve seen firsthand that reducing obstacles for workers can cut the time required to complete a task by half when compared to traditional construction flows, where waste is prevalent.

RNDV’s Approach: Measuring and Improving Efficiency

“At RNDV, we actively measure our efficiency through practices like Gemba walks, where we analyze real-time operations on site. From these observations, we’ve confirmed that removing waste—whether it’s unnecessary steps, delays, or miscommunication—dramatically speeds up project completion,” Giedrius Grėbliūnas shares his insights.

But, and this is important: such improvements only happen when all parties involved in the project collaborate closely. Solving issues upfront, aligning work across trades, and keeping the site conditions optimal are critical to making sure every worker can perform their job without unnecessary interruptions.

Conclusion

The construction industry has long lagged behind in productivity gains compared to manufacturing, but it doesn’t have to remain this way. By focusing on eliminating waste, we can unlock the potential to significantly boost efficiency on every project.

In the next post, Giedrius Grėbliūnas will explore how technologies and Lean methodologies can further help us improve processes and cut down on waste in construction. Stay tuned!

The Construction Challenge: Why Productivity Has Stalled

Blog Oct 03, 2024

The fundamental principle of making money in the construction industry is straightforward: create value for your customer and get compensated in return. But RNDV Chief Project Officer (CPO) Giedrius Grėbliunas points out, “If only it would be so easy!”

“When it comes to building the right way, RNDV has the experience and knowledge to do so. In this post, I will share a few insights on where lies the source for a good construction process,“ asserts RNDV Chief Project Officer (CPO).

The Pillars of Construction Success

Let’s break down the construction process into two major phases: design and build. These can be visualized as two distinct “piles” of value. The first pile represents the value generated from an accurate and effective design. The second pile represents the value of executing that design flawlessly during construction. If both phases are executed correctly, the project is successful. Of course, additional steps could be included, but the premise remains consistent: success is a shared responsibility across all stages.

The Challenges of Traditional Construction Methods

Unfortunately, in many cases, traditional project delivery methods fail to capture the full value potential. For example, even if the design phase goes smoothly, inefficiencies can arise during the build phase. Miscommunication, lack of collaboration, and suboptimal processes often result in significant waste. This is where the “pile of value” from construction begins to erode.

Waste occurs when the build phase deviates from the plan—whether through delays, rework, or poor coordination between teams. These inefficiencies can lead to lost time, increased costs, and ultimately, a diminished final product.

The Productivity Problem in Construction

The issue of lost value in construction is not new. According to a study by the McKinsey Global Institute, productivity in construction has remained stagnant for decades. This chart (referenced in the study) shows gross value added per hour worked at constant prices since 1947. In essence, it reflects how productivity has evolved – or rather, stagnated – over time.

Giedrius Grėbliūnas notes that despite updated studies, the overall findings remain consistent. “Yes, in construction, we see various productivity levels across different project types. For example, multifamily buildings are more efficient than single-family homes, and industrial facilities outperform road construction. And you may wonder about the shipbuilding industry – I have an answer for you.”

The Complexity of Shipbuilding

An interesting comparison is the shipbuilding industry. In a related study, products were measured based on two parameters: complexity and time for development. Ships, much like planes and nuclear power plants, are at the top of the scale in terms of both factors.

“Ships have a long development cycle. And the complexity does not fall behind planes and nuclear power plants. Combine the level of complexity with long development time and it is not hard to understand that you have a big challenge in front of you. In the time of the development, you have price erosion, change of personnel, pandemic, war, and other conditions that do not allow a project manager to sleep well each night,” highlights Giedrius Grėbliunas.

The construction industry’s productivity issues are well-documented, and it’s clear that change is necessary. The challenge now is to identify the root causes of inefficiency and develop solutions to address them. Giedrius Grėbliunas will explore these strategies in the next blog post – stay tuned!

Estonia’s Evecon is developing a €27 million solar park, which will be constructed by RNDV

About us Sep 27, 2024

One of the largest solar parks in the Baltic region, featuring a solar tracking system, will be constructed near Marijampolė, in Kapsai. With a project value of €27 million, this development is led by UAB Wiso Engineering, the construction manager for energy projects owned by the Lithuanian-Estonian company UAB Evecon. The main contractor for the project is Lithuania’s RNDV Group.

The solar park is expected to generate approximately 52 million kWh of electricity annually, enough to supply over 12,000 households in Lithuania with clean, renewable energy. Covering an 86-hectare area, RNDV Group will install nearly 52,000 solar modules on a dynamic mounting system.

The variable-angle tracking system adjusts the tilt of the solar modules to an optimal angle, maximizing energy capture, especially during morning and evening peak hours when electricity prices are highest. This technology significantly increases energy yield compared to fixed-angle systems.

RNDV Group specializes in large-scale, technologically complex solar park projects across Lithuania and Western Europe, including France and Germany. In 2022, the company completed its first 10 MW park, followed by 90 MW in 2023, and plans to complete 250 MW of solar projects in 2024. Recent projects include a 5.3 MW rooftop installation in Germany, a 1.6 MW rooftop system at the Lidl logistics center in Lithuania, and ground-mounted solar plants of 17 MW, 13 MW, and 8 MW in France.

According to Aurimas Budrys, Head of RNDV’s Solar Construction Division, the project near Marijampolė is unique due to its tight schedule and winter construction timeline. “We’ll be completing a highly complex and large-scale project within just five months during the cold season. Given the client’s tight deadlines, we plan to complete major construction before the winter starts. We have assembled a team of 120 specialists, with whom we’ve successfully delivered similar projects in Western Europe,” says Budrys.

Vytautas Kieras, Head of the Lithuanian division of renewable energy company Wiso Engineering, says the Marijampolė solar park is their largest project in Lithuania. Wiso Engineering has already completed four solar parks in the country, including one in Panevėžys, one in Jurbarkas, and two in Varėna.

“Evecon’s ambitious goal is to develop one of the largest renewable energy portfolios in the Baltics. Over the next few years, we plan to install significant capacities of solar, wind, and battery parks across Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, exceeding 4 GW in total. Once the Marijampolė project is completed, the capacity of renewable energy facilities (solar, wind, and batteries) in Lithuania will reach 150 MW, and over 1 GW across the Baltic region,” Kieras explains.

Lithuania’s National Energy Independence Strategy aims to install 4.1 GW of solar energy capacity by 2030.

In 2023, RNDV group of companies revenue grew by 39%, reaching €105.4 million, while the total number of employees increased by 23%, from 1,300 to 1,600. The RNDV’s primary operations are concentrated in Western Europe, focusing on electrical installation in ships, data centers, shipbuilding and repair, electromechanical projects, scaffolding and technical insulation, and renewable energy projects. In the Lithuanian market, RNDV’s core activities are general construction projects, which saw a revenue increase from €11.3 million to €20 million in 2023.