Recently, Lean Construction has been celebrated as the new fad among construction-management gurus. In reality, it is not the leanness of the construction that matters but rather its agility and responsiveness to change. That is why the National Institute of Standards and Technology and ASTM International are working on draft productivity protocols that support a new process called Agile Construction.
One of the most misunderstood concepts in the construction industry is the difference between profitability and cash flow. Due to the nature of accounting principles used to manage company profitability, most measurements of job progress really are measurements of production, not productivity. This distinction has a direct impact on the cash flow of both the project and the company. Recognition of the distinction between production and productivity will help contractors become much more agile in their responses to a jobsite’s changing needs.