Waste and Labor Productivity in Production Planning Case Finnish Construction Industry

The main objective of this paper is to examine labor productivity and waste and their role in production planning and control in Finnish construction industry. Three hypothesis are tested: (1) the assumption that labor productivity concerning different construction work disciplines has developed very little in the last 30 years; (2) the amount of waste has stayed on a constant high level on sites in the Finnish construction industry; and (3) labor productivity does not develop because the initial information included in the production plans includes also waste as an accepted phenomenon. A trend analysis of construction labor productivity is conducted over the period 1975-2008. Labor productivity and waste are examined through data from sites and Ratu-research (Finnish Construction Production Data on work methods and work rates). The results are examined along with prior international research findings on construction labor productivity, waste and production planning processes. Although the data and sites, as well as the Ratu-research material, are Finnish, the results are internationally applicable and can be utilized and connected to modern ways of working anywhere. Evaluation and considerations made in this paper are followed by further work.