Abstract

In today’s highly industrialized world, the amount of waste emanating from the construction industry is enormous. While the problem has been successfully curbed in developed countries through the adoption of innovative approaches such as Just-in-Time (JIT) delivery of construction materials, the challenge persists in developing countries like Nigeria. The use of ready-mix concrete represents the most prototypical example of JIT on construction projects. This study thus focuses on investigating JIT concrete delivery on construction projects in Nigeria, with a view to improve the awareness and adoption of the approach.  Survey research design was adopted for this study, with the population being management staff of construction firms in Lagos State, Nigeria. Questionnaire was used to collect data and the targeted respondents were purposively selected from the population. A total number of 112 questionnaires were administered with a response rate of 51%. Percentage, mean, standard deviation and ANOVA were used to analyze the data. The result reveals that the level of awareness of JIT concepts is above average, that is, their mean value is above 3 on a Likert Scale of 5, while delay due to traffic congestion and preference of cost over quality are the most significant barriers to JIT implementation, with mean value of 3.75. It is concluded that although the awareness of JIT has improved, its implementation is still being hindered by at least 25 barriers in Nigeria. It is recommended that there should be continuous awareness campaign of lean construction principles via education and training by professional bodies and tertiary institutions to enhance its usage.

Key Words: Awareness, Barriers, Concrete, Just-in-Time, Lean