Carlos Torres Formoso, Ph.D.
Professor in Construction Management
Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil

Lean Construction has been a popular topic in Brazil not only in the academic community, but also among construction companies that are interested in innovating in project management and production control. In fact, some Brazilian companies have become well known in the international Lean Construction community for the results that have been achieved in terms of performance improvement. Most of those companies have developed improvement initiatives in partnership with academic institutions.
This lecture will provide an overview of the recent advances and future trends in Lean Construction research in Brazil, including several topics, such as production planning and control, safety management, waste reduction, integration of BIM and Lean, and value management. Some best practices from Brazilian companies will be used to illustrate the effort that has been carried out in terms of adapting concepts and principles that have been developed in the manufacturing industry so that these can be effectively used in construction management.
 
About the presenter:

Carlos Torres Formoso, Ph.D. is a Professor in Construction Management at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil.  He has a degree in Civil Engineering (UFRGS, 1986), M.Sc. in Construction Management (UFRGS, 1986), and Ph.D. (University of Salford, 1991).  He has been a senior advisor of the Brazilian Ministry of the Cities for the National Program for Quality and Productivity in the Habitat for eleven years.   In addition, his main research interests are production planning and control, performance measurement, safety management, and clients requirement management in housing.  Also, he has developed several research projects in partnerships with construction companies on the implementation of Lean concepts and tools.  This includes the Last Planner System, performance measurement, production system design, safety management, and mass customization.  Professor Formoso is a member of the editorial boards for the following journals:  Architectural Engineering and Design Management, Journal Built Environment Project and Asset Management, Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building, Journal of Construction in Developing Countries, Lean Construction Journal, and Ambiente Construído (Brazil).