Assessing design process in engineering consultancy firms using lean principles

The aim of this research is to provide a tool for assessing the impact of applying lean principles to the design process at construction consultancy firms. Through several interviews, a comprehensive model was built to simulate the design process, using data from a leading consultancy firm in Egypt. The model contains the main processes and activities that form different phases of the design process and depicts the interconnectivity of processes and activities needed to create a complete design package upon client request. The research describes how the five main lean principles are integrated in the model. A case study is considered to demonstrate the effect of using the proposed model on the design process and to illustrate how the design process performs differently when lean principles are introduced. Case study output analysis reveals 40% improvement in the lean process performance measured in terms of activity utilization rates.