Performance Indicators for Lean Construction in South Africa: Lessons from the Port Elizabeth province

Abstract

This study sought to identify the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for monitoring the implementation performance of lean construction (LC) practices in South Africa. Given the limited penetration of the LC concepts and its associated tools in South Africa, an identification of how to measure progress among general contractors who are embracing practices akin to LC has become imperative. Relevant KPIs were extracted from conference proceedings published between 1996 and 2016 on the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC) website using content analysis. Subsequently, a group of contractors, purposively selected as interviewees, were asked to identify KPIs being utilized by their organisations. Notable KPIs highlighted comprised mainly of the conventional ones like cost, time, quality, client satisfaction, minimal environment impact and improved value. It is worth noting that lean-specific KPIs were not observed from the thematically analyzed data. This realization reinforces the perception that LC practices are yet to make sufficientinroads into South Africa, andconventional KPIs are not adequate to indicate otherwise.