A Lean Mindset for Smoother Projects

 

GEPROLUX Lean Construction Management: Total Collaboration and Transparency to Eliminate Waste and Maximise Project Value

GEPROLUX’s core business is Project Management. For successful management, nothing beats strong collaboration among all stakeholders and maximum transparency. This enables better planning of all necessary tasks and effective responses to unforeseen events. More and more, our teams are embracing the philosophy of “Lean Construction Management”, a collaborative methodology that enables smarter, faster, and more efficient building by eliminating waste and maximising value.

Pol Tock, Timothy Holzmann and Ben Grégoire, and are leading the implementation of this approach at GEPROLUX, from Lean design to Lean construction management. “The principle of Lean is to bring all stakeholders together to better define how to carry out work in a way that generates the most value. It’s truly about creating work together,” explains Pol, engineer & Head of Project Management.

Literally, “Lean” in English means slim or without fat.

 

Core Principles:

• Maximising value
• Reducing waste
• Increasing productivity
• Continuous improvement

 

Philosophies:

• Respect
• Trust
• Collaboration

This methodology was developed by Toyota in the 1950s. It gradually spread to other sectors and was adapted to their specificities, particularly in the English-speaking world. In Luxembourg, it clearly comes from the East, from Germany, where the construction sector is gradually adopting it.

 

Commitment Creates Value

The idea is no longer to impose a traditional theoretical prediction of task execution with a rigid schedule. Instead, it’s about gathering input from those who will perform the work to establish deadlines they commit to. Through continuous exchange, we can optimize processes as studies and construction progress. The key is communication. The decision-making flow is neither top-down nor bottom-up, but a synergy among all participants and trades. The goal is to eliminate waste (especially time) to maximise value.

“It’s a mindset we are responsible for implementing in projects when this working method is chosen,” says Pol. It’s not a revolution: many GEPROLUX actors already apply its principles without labelling them as “Lean.”

We think “Lean” on two levels:

• Project Planning (Lean Design)
• Execution (Lean Construction)

 

Unifying on the Ground

In practice, GEPROLUX project managers may work with teams for whom communication and collaboration come naturally. But others have a more autonomous and siloed approach.

By adopting the Lean approach—even with naturally collaborative teams—we commit to transparency from the project’s conception. Aligning individual interests to optimise the project is the key to success.

Lean is a goal GEPROLUX aims to promote in its projects. In some cases, the traditional, more directive method is still appropriate to ensure progress and meet deadlines.

 

Challenges Addressed by the Lean Approach:

• Delays in document delivery
• Missing information
• Misunderstandings
• Incorrect calculation bases
• Poor planning
• Poor collaboration
• Lack of decisions
• Lack of transparency

 

GEPROLUX as a Reference

The Lean approach requires greater initial investment but saves a significant amount of time later. A project manager must always sense the best method to coordinate operations. Lean is one method among others, not yet widely known. GEPROLUX is committed to promoting it in Luxembourg, in collaboration with the German Lean Construction Institute (GLCI). It’s not a catalogue or a set of strict rules—it’s truly a philosophy that one must immerse in.

It can even help get a stalled project back on track by establishing communication, planning, and cross-functional exchanges in a Lean spirit. This helps realign the commitments of different parties and refocus on the objective.

Lean Construction Management is Based on Five Key Principles:

• Customer Value: The client (and end user) is considered the primary customer. One of the shared goals across all project phases is to align all project-related activities toward maximising added value from the client’s perspective.
• Focus on Value Streams: Thinking in terms of value streams allows early process optimisation by minimising waste.
• Flow Principle: The goal is to enable continuous and steady processing of work packages throughout the value creation chain in an optimised order.
• Pull Principle: Upfront planning organises the logical sequencing of trades. Processes are only triggered when the corresponding capacities and/or resources are available.
• Continuous Improvement: The aim is to establish a project culture that fosters a shared pursuit of perfection.

 

Greater Security for the Client

When a project brings together naturally cooperative teams, things tend to run smoothly. But risks increase as operations progress pressures rise, communication may falter, and resources or skills may become scarce.

If the methodology wasn’t applied from the start, bottlenecks may only be detected too late—especially during the study phase, where outputs typically emerge only once finalised. However, when Lean is considered from the beginning, there’s better visibility into project progress, more communication, and better anticipation. This boosts productivity and reduces costs. “A study that doesn’t need to be redone five times is a significant gain—in time, money, and peace of mind,” notes Pol.

The Lean mindset is about implementing a collaborative working method that optimises the project by avoiding unnecessary interventions and eliminating waste. Its two keys: enhanced collaboration and transparency.