Frankfurt/Online, 26th November 2020 – The German Lean Construction Institute (GLCI) held this year’s conference in a Frankfurt TV studio. The speakers joined in by livestream as “virtual studio guests”. In a series of sessions, the conference participants – all expert members of the German-speaking lean construction community – addressed lean methods, lean design, integrated project development, innovation and digitalization, lean from the client perspective, and lean infrastructure.
In his keynote address “The future of designing and building,” ATP CEO Professor Christoph M. Achammer spoke about the productivity of non-agricultural industry and construction. He used site photos from ETH Zürich (1919) and Zurich’s Prime Towers (2009) as examples that showed how little the construction process has evolved over the decades. But this must change because, according to Achammer, Industry 4.0 is the industrial production of prototypes.
Achammer used the lifecycle model to lucidly explain the importance of the decisions made at the beginning of the design phase: Design, which accounts for about 2 % of the total costs of a building, has a decisive impact on the costs of construction (20 %) and operating (78 %). According to Achammer, the lean approach makes it easier to meet client expectations, identify waste in both design and construction, and distribute added value throughout the process. He spoke about Agile Design Management with the help of the example of the software solution KanDO.
About the organizers
As a driver of the transformation of the construction and real estate industries, the aim of the GLCI is to contribute to an increase in the customer focus, efficiency, and resource-friendliness of the design, construction, and operation of buildings. The focus of its lean philosophy is the reduction of all types of waste and the continuous improvement of processes, which also result in satisfied customers and employees. The conference also included the award of the GLCI Support Awards and the Lean Construction Project Awards.
![[Translate to English:] Lebenszykluskosten: Die Festlegungen am Anfang bestimmen die Gesamtkosten. Grafik: IGLZ](https://www.atp.ag/fileadmin/user_upload/uploads/_processed_/9/9/csm_ATP_GLCI-Konferenz_Lebenszykluskosten_IGLZ_62ccbd609a.jpg "[Translate to English:] Lebenszykluskosten: Die Festlegungen am Anfang bestimmen die Gesamtkosten. Grafik: IGLZ")