Schneider Electric, the leader in digital transformation of energy management and automation, today announced that it has joined the US Lean Construction Institute (LCI) as a Corporate Member. Founded in 1997, LCI seeks to improve the Construction and Design industries through promoting lean approaches to project design and delivery, focused on improving efficiency and productivity across the entire construction industry.

Lean methods seek to develop and manage a project through relationships, shared knowledge and common goals. Traditional silos of knowledge, work and effort are broken down and reorganized for the betterment of the project rather than of individual participants. Through these approaches, construction companies can improve their ability to deliver projects on time and on budget, as well as ensuring worker safety.

Along with the LCI organization, Schneider Electric will work with other innovative and like-minded companies to adopt lean thinking and methodologies in construction practices, projects and business relationships. Within Schneider Electric manufacturing plants, lean practices are already used to streamline and eliminate waste. The partnership between Schneider Electric and LCI will enhance Schneider Electric’s effort to implement and promote lean construction as part of the value chain in the construction industry.  

In joining LCI, Schneider Electric hopes to bring further value to customer projects. For example, the lean approach to construction is critical to Schneider Electric’s work with Penn Medicine to design and build a new state-of-the-art pavilion featuring smart building technology for power and building management systems for the University of Pennsylvania Health System. As part of this project, Schneider Electric is helping to envision, design and supply much of the technology for the hospital’s opening and will continue to supply its electrical infrastructure and equipment needs over its many years of operation. As much of the building technology required by Penn Medicine spans disciplines and departments, the project requires a lean approach: collaboration, innovation and working across the silos within organizations, specifications and technologies. 

“We are very excited about the possibilities offered by this partnership. Schneider Electric’s mission is to make life safe, reliable, efficient, sustainable and connected, and through partnering with LCI, Schneider Electric hopes to further make this a reality by bettering the construction industry and processes to deliver this promise,” said Jack McCauley, vice president, Strategic Customers and Segments at Schneider Electric. 

“We are excited to have an outstanding company like Schneider Electric join LCI and bring with it such a strong focus on the latest connected technologies and their use within building infrastructure,” said Dan Heinemeier, executive director at Lean Construction Institute. “Schneider’s willingness to pursue lean construction and support its use on client projects is a real testament to the company’s forward-looking approach to meeting customer needs, as well as its eagerness to embrace and help lead innovation that is changing the built environment for the better.”

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