Capital design and construction projects are inherently complex. Traditional project management approaches often focus on monitoring contracts and managing risk between parties rather than optimizing the overall project outcome.
URLean applies Lean Project Management principles to align teams, improve workflow reliability, and deliver better outcomes for owners.
Our approach focuses on project-first thinking, collaborative planning, and accountability across the entire design and construction team.
Lean thinking in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry originated in the early 1990s when Glenn Ballard and Greg Howell, professors at the University of California, Berkeley, applied the principles of the Toyota Production System to construction management.
Their goal was to improve workflow reliability, reduce waste, and increase the predictability of project outcomes.
This work evolved into the Last Planner System®, a collaborative production planning methodology widely used across the construction industry. The Last Planner System® forms a core component of Target Value Delivery, a lean management framework designed to maximize value for project owners.
Lean construction shifts the focus from managing isolated tasks to optimizing the performance of the entire project system.
Traditional capital project delivery often relies on a fragmented structure of two-party contracts between the owner, architects, engineers, general contractors, trade partners, and suppliers.
While these contracts are designed to allocate or transfer risk, they frequently produce unintended consequences including siloed decision-making, misaligned incentives, limited collaboration, schedule uncertainty, and cost escalation.
URLean takes a fundamentally different approach.
Our project-first methodology prioritizes the success of the overall project rather than the individual interests of each contracting party.
Through value-based partner selection and lean procurement practices, URLean helps owners assemble high-performing, fully integrated project delivery teams focused on achieving the owner’s objectives.
The URLean Consulting team has collectively contributed to more than 3,000 design and construction projects, representing over 100 years of combined AEC industry experience.
Our expertise spans the full lifecycle of capital projects including planning, design development, procurement strategy, construction execution, and governance oversight.
URLean specializes in project governance and procurement strategy including Procurement Options Analysis (POA) to determine the most appropriate project delivery system for publicly funded construction projects.
URLean provides independent advisory services to public and private sector project owners including:
Our focus is maximizing value while reducing project risk and waste.
Traditional project management transforms inputs into outputs by breaking complex work into individual tasks organized within a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
Lean project management builds on traditional practices but introduces continuous improvement and production management principles.
Lean practitioners apply the Plan–Do–Check–Adjust (PDCA) cycle developed by quality management pioneer W. Edwards Deming to evaluate performance and refine processes.
This continuous learning cycle allows teams to identify root causes of inefficiencies and remove waste from the design and construction process.
We begin with a 30-minute project diagnostic to understand: