Lean manufacturing principles emphasize visual management as a means of improving productivity, identifying problems, and encouraging continuous improvement in construction sites. Traditionally, visual management has relied on manual tools such as a whiteboard, charts, and posters. But new digital tools are emerging that can take visual control in lean manufacturing to the next level. In this post, we’ll take a look at some of these exciting new technologies and how they can be incorporated into lean operations.

Digital Kanban Boards

A powerful emerging visual technology is the digital kanban board. These mimic the traditional kanban boards used in Lean but provide real-time performance visualization and tracking through cloud-based software. Employees can transfer digital cards to track work status and managers can monitor project progress from anywhere. Examples include tools like Kanbanize, LeanKit, and Trello. These digital boards pair well with lean manufacturing principles.

360-Degree Camera Mapping

360-diploma camera mapping presents immersive visualization of construction sites. Special cameras can create 3-d models and panoramic pix of the building procedure. Managers can study those for progress monitoring, quality control, safety reviews, and much more. Workers may even get entry to those maps through cellular apps at the same time while they are at constitution sites. Construction digital camera software like HoloBuilder and OpenSpace offer user-friendly systems for this emerging era.

Drone Mapping

Like 360 cameras, aerial drone mapping gives beautiful visualizations of construction sites, so we can get detailed reports of the site. Drone deployment can track the current status of work, inventory materials, and discover dangers. Programs like AirWare and TraceAir automate the processing of drone-captured imagery into 3-d maps, well suited with virtual fact headsets for a further layer of immersion. These emerging tools integrate seamlessly with lean creation needs.

Augmented Reality (AR)

AR overlays digital records onto the real physical environment. AR headsets can show 3D holograms of building records models at their real area on a production site, presenting hands-free visualization. AR also assists with far off collaboration.

Wearable Devices

Smart helmets, glasses, and belts with 360-degree cameras can provide first-individual point-of-view recording as people move round the construction sites. This creates an immersive visualization of workflows. Data is synced to the cloud for supervisor evaluation.

Beacon Sensors

Bluetooth beacons placed around a construction site can trace materials, equipment, and workers wearing tags or mobile devices. The real-time location data is visualized on digital dashboards, providing situational awareness.

Photogrammetry

Taking overlapping pics to stitch into specific 3-D models, photogrammetry uses just smartphones or digital cameras. The sensible visualization assists with fine and protection evaluations.

Time Lapse Cameras

Placed around the place, these cameras take periodic pics over days or weeks. The photos are tacked into engaging timelapse videos that show progress of construction.

Telematics

Sensor facts from gadgets and automobiles are visualized in real-time dashboards, tracking location, utilization, idle times, and protection needs.

Visual management sits at the heart of lean production standards. Exciting new technologies like digital boards, 360-degree cameras, and drones now permit for greater visible tracking and progress monitoring on sites. As those solutions mature in addition, managers must keep a watch out for integrating the exceptional alternatives into their lean workflows. Adopting main-side visual management tech can enhance process transparency, evaluation, communication, and greater.

Further Readings

1. Vaalamede, L.S. and Akkari, A.C.S. (2020) Lean 4.0: A New Holistic Approach for the Integration of Lean Manufacturing Tools and Digital Technologies, International Journal of Mathematical, Engineering and Management Sciences, 5(5), pp. 851-868. Available at: https://doi.org/10.33889/IJMEMS.2020.5.5.066 (Accessed: November 19, 2023).

2. Valente, C.P., Pivatto, M.P. and Formoso, C.T. (2016) 'Visual Management: Preliminary Results of a Systematic Literature Review on Core Concepts and Principles', in Proceedings of the 24th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction, 18-24 July 2016, Boston, MA, USA, pp. 123-132.

3. Singh, S. and Kumar, K. (2021) 'A study of lean construction and visual management tools through cluster analysis', Ain Shams Engineering Journal, 12, pp. 1153-1162.

4. Guerriero, A., Kubicki, S., Berroir, F., and Lemaire, C. (2017) 'BIM-enhanced Collaborative Smart Technologies for LEAN Construction Processes', IT for Innovative Services department, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology.

5. Conte, M., Trentin, B., Pedó, B., Etges, B. M. B. da S., and Navarrete, S. (2022) 'Exploring the Use of Digital Visual Management for Last Planner System Implementation', Proceedings of the 30th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC30), pp. 645- 656. Available at: https://doi.org/10.24928/2022/0172