Construction Management and Lean Thinking in Highways Maintenance

The Highways Agency (HA) has recently rethought the way it commissions maintenance work on the trunk roads and motorways for which it is responsible. Taking on recommendations from recent reports into the UK construction industry, the HA have introduced the Construction Management Framework (CMF) in Areas 9 and 10 which covers a large area of the UK from Herefordshire to Lancashire. The CMF looks to implement substantial changes in culture and structure through replacing competitive tendering with long-term relationships and partnering based on quality rather than cost. The aim of this paper is to explore how the CMF can achieve its aims to provide best value and continuous improvement in comparison to traditional methods of procurement. On an operational level, lean construction has been identified as one means of providing best value within the CMF. This paper will assess how lean thinking lends itself to the core objectives of the new culture that the HA are promoting. It will consider how lean construction can improve best value within the CMF, with the intention that the need for further research will be identified. The paper is mainly based on a literature review that forms part of the first phase of an Engineering Doctorate, which aims to compare procurement methods and assess the merits of lean thinking in highways maintenance.