Interactions between Construction 4.0 and Lean Wastes

Lean construction and Construction 4.0 are two prominent concepts challenging traditional practices in the construction industry. The continuous increase in competition and the demand for more efficient project delivery with less waste is pressuring construction companies to adopt these concepts. Body of literature have discussed the benefits of each separately, however, very few have discussed the interaction effect between them. Therefore, using literature, this paper investigates the impact of Construction 4.0 technologies on the eight types of Lean Construction waste. To achieve the research objective, the eight types of waste and the seven Construction 4.0 technologies were first defined. Then, A two-dimensional matrix was generated using 65 research articles to visually represent how each of the seven Construction 4.0 technologies can eliminate certain types of waste. While the impact of Construction 4.0 on waste elimination varies among the technologies, it can be concluded that Construction 4.0 supports Lean waste elimination. Future research should investigate the relationship at different phases of the project including design, and operation. Also, it should investigate additional technologies.