Integration of Lean Six Sigma into earned value management using system dynamics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3846/jcem.2026.23948Abstract
A Few Lean Six Sigma (LSS) papers were studied during the construction project’s progress. This study proposes the integration of LSS, system dynamics (SD), and earned value management (EVM) as a comprehensive toolkit for datadriven decision-making. Significant waste- and quality-related interdependencies were identified using DEMATEL techniques with 27 Saudi construction experts. SD with two interdependent models of waste causes (WCs) and quality causes (QCs) were utilized to assess the project’s performance. Two metrics were employed: the sigma rating and the value-added ratio in the EVM generated by the developed SD model. The findings indicated that eliminating WCs had little impact on enhancing the project performance in the early stages of the project. The impact increased with the progress of the project. The improvement of the project quality was minimal for “increases of errors and omissions in design documents” and maximum for “increasing morale and attitude affect the quality of the project”.
Keywords:
system dynamics, earned value management, sigma rating, waste cause, quality cause, causal loop diagramHow to Cite
Share
License
Copyright (c) 2026 The Author(s). Published by Vilnius Gediminas Technical University.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
Abas, M., Khattak, S. B., Habib, T., & Nadir, U. (2022). Assessment of critical risk and success factors in construction supply chain: a case of Pakistan. International Journal of Construction Management, 22(12), 2258–2266. https://doi.org/10.1080/15623599.2020.1783597
Abdi, A., Taghipour, S., & Khamooshi, H. (2018). A model to control environmental performance of project execution process based on greenhouse gas emissions using earned value management. International Journal of Project Management, 36(3), 397–413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2017.12.003
Akadiri, P. O. (2011). Development of a multi-criteria approach for the selection of sustainable materials for building projects [PhD thesis]. University of Wolverhampton.
Akadiri, P. O., Olomolaiye, P. O., & Chinyio, E. A. (2013). Multi-criteria evaluation model for the selection of sustainable materials for building projects. Automation in Construction, 30, 113–225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2012.10.004
Al-Aomar, R. (2012). A lean construction framework with six sigma rating. International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, 3(4), 299–314. https://doi.org/10.1108/20401461211284761
Alarcón, L. F. (1997). Lean construction. CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203345825
Al-Gahtani, K., Alsugair, A., Alsanabani, N., Alabduljabbar, A., & Almutairi, B. (2024). Forecasting delay-time model for Saudi construction projects using DEMATEL–SD technique. International Journal of Construction Management, 24(11), 1225–1239. https://doi.org/10.1080/15623599.2022.2152944
Ali, A., Albalahi, A. M., Alanazi, A. M., Bhatti, A. A., & Hamza, A. E. (2023). On the maximum sigma index of k-cyclic graphs. Discrete Applied Mathematics, 325, 58–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dam.2022.10.009
Anylogic. (2023). https://www.anylogic.com/
Asadi, S., Nilashi, M., Abumalloh, R. A., Samad, S., Ahani, A., Ghabban, F., Yusuf, S. Y. M., & Supriyanto, E. (2022). Evaluation of factors to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic using DEMATEL and fuzzy rule-based techniques. International Journal of Fuzzy Systems, 24(1), 27–43. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40815-021-01119-5
Ballard, G., & Howell, G. A. (2003). Lean project management. Building Research and Information, 31(2), 119–133. https://doi.org/10.1080/09613210301997
Bavafa, A., Mahdiyar, A., & Marsono, A. K. (2018). Identifying and assessing the critical factors for effective implementation of safety programs in construction projects. Safety Science, 106, 47–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2018.02.025
Cesarotti, V., Gubinelli, S., & Introna, V. (2019). The evolution of Project Management (PM): How Agile, Lean and Six Sigma are changing PM. Journal of Modern Project Management, 7(3), 162–189.
Clancy, R., O’Sullivan, D., & Bruton, K. (2023). Data-driven quality improvement approach to reducing waste in manufacturing. TQM Journal, 35(1), 51–72. https://doi.org/10.1108/TQM-02-2021-0061
Forbes, L. H., & Ahmed, S. M. (2020). Lean project delivery and integrated practices in modern construction. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1201/9780429458989
Gallego, J. M., & Gutiérrez, L. H. (2017). Quality management system and firm performance in an emerging economy: The case of Colombian manufacturing industries. Inter-American Development Bank Institutions for Development Sector. https://doi.org/10.18235/0011797
Hendiani, S., Bagherpour, M., Mahmoudi, A., & Liao, H. (2020). Z-number based earned value management (ZEVM): A novel pragmatic contribution towards a possibilistic cost-duration assessment. Computers and Industrial Engineering, 143, Article 106430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2020.106430
Herrera, R. F., Sánchez, O., Castañeda, K., & Porras, H. (2020). Cost overrun causative factors in road infrastructure projects: A frequency and importance analysis. Applied Sciences, 10(16), Article 5506. https://doi.org/10.3390/app10165506
Hussain, A., & Kumar Paharia, A. (2018). Application of Six Sigma approach for delay analysis in construction project. International Journal of Research in Management, 2(8), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.26808/rs.rm.i8v2.01
Issa, U. H. (2013). Implementation of lean construction techniques for minimizing the risks effect on project construction time. Alexandria Engineering Journal, 52(4), 697–704. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2013.07.003
Jowwad, M. S., Gangha, G., & Indhu, B. (2017). Lean six sigma methodology for the improvement of the road construction projects. International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology, 8(5), 248–259.
Karimi, H., Taylor, T. R. B., Dadi, G. B., Goodrum, P. M., & Srinivasan, C. (2018). Impact of skilled labor availability on construction project cost performance. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 144(7), Article 04018057. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001512
Kim, Y.-W., & Ballard, G. (2002). Earned value method and customer earned value. Journal of Construction Research, 3(1), 55–66. https://doi.org/10.1142/S1609945102000096
Kim, S.-C., Kim, Y.-W., Park, K. S., & Yoo, C.-Y. (2015). Impact of measuring operational-level planning reliability on management-level project performance. Journal of Management in Engineering, 31(5), Article 05014021. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000326
Kim, T., Kim, Y.-W., & Cho, H. (2016). Customer earned value: Performance indicator from flow and value generation view. Journal of Management in Engineering, 32(1), Article 04015017. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000377
Koke, B., & Moehler, R. C. (2019). Earned green value management for project management: A systematic review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 230, 180–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.05.079
Koskela, L. (1997). Lean production in construction. In L. Alarcón (Ed.), Lean construction (pp. 1–199). Taylor and Francis.
Leon, H., Osman, H., Georgy, M., & Elsaid, M. (2018). System dynamics approach for forecasting performance of construction projects. Journal of Management in Engineering, 34(1), Article 04017049. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000575
Linde, I., & Philippov, D. (2020). Applying Lean Six Sigma in construction. World practice experience. Access Journal, 1(2), 103–111. https://doi.org/10.46656/access.2020.1.2(2)
Madhani, P. M. (2020). Performance optimisation of retail industry: Lean Six Sigma approach. ASBM Journal of Management, 13(1), 74–91.
Mosaad, S. A. A., Issa, U. H., & Hassan, M. S. (2018). Risks affecting the delivery of HVAC systems: Identifying and analysis. Journal of Building Engineering, 16, 20–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2017.12.004
Oguz, C., Kim, Y.-W., Hutchison, J., & Han, S. (2012). Implementing lean six sigma: A case study in concrete panel production. In Proceedings for the 20th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction.
Pascual, J. L., Rodríguez, J. C. M., & Rambaud, S. C. (2021). The enhanced-earned value management (E-EVM) model: A proposal for the aerospace industry. Symmetry, 13(2), Article 232. https://doi.org/10.3390/sym13020232
Proaño-Narváez, M., Flores-Vázquez, C., Vásquez Quiroz, P., & Avila-Calle, M. (2022). Earned value method (EVM) for construction projects: Current application and future projections. Buildings, 12(3), Article 301. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12030301
Rajkumar, K. B., & Biswas, A. P. (2016). Identification of non-value adding activities using lean technology in construction. International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology, 5(3), 640–643. https://doi.org/10.17577/IJERTV5IS030891
Sakthivelmurugan, E., Senthilkumar, G., Tajdeen, A., & Manojkumar, S. (2021). Application of lean six sigma in reducing the material consumption at wards in a selected healthcare unit. Materials Today: Proceedings, 46, 8011–8016. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.12.1101
Setijono, D., & Dahlgaard, J. J. (2007). The added‐value metric – A complementary performance measure for Six Sigma and Lean production. Asian Journal on Quality, 8(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1108/15982688200700001
Tariq, S., Ahmad, N., Usman Ashraf, M., Alghamdi, A. M., & Alfakeeh, A. S. (2020). Measuring the impact of scope changes on project plan using EVM. IEEE Access, 8, 154589–154613. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3018169
Valamede, L. S., & Akkari, A. C. S. (2020). Lean 4.0: A new holistic approach for the integration of lean manufacturing tools and digital technologies. International Journal of Mathematical, Engineering and Management Sciences, 5(5), 854–868. https://doi.org/10.33889/IJMEMS.2020.5.5.066
Vanhoucke, M., & Vandevoorde, S. (2007). A simulation and evaluation of earned value metrics to forecast the project duration. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 58(10), 1361–1374. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jors.2602296
Xiong, G., Shang, X., Xiong, G., & Nyberg, T. R. (2019). A kind of lean approach for removing wastes from non-manufacturing process with various facilities. IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica, 6(1), 307–315. https://doi.org/10.1109/JAS.2019.1911351
Yang, J., & Deng, H. (2023). The extremal sigma index of connected graphs with given number of pendant vertices. Research Square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2646370/v1
Zaray, A. H., Hasan, A., Johari, S., Hashmat, P. A., & Jha, K. N. (2022). Client and contractor perspectives on attributes affecting construction quality in a war-affected region. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 30(10), 4762–4781. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-01-2022-0059
Zhang, C., Yuan, L., Yu, X., & Chen, X. (2024). The linkage misalignment of productive services and firms’ domestic value-added ratio – Evidence from Chinese micro-firm data. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 199, Article 123085. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2023.123085
View article in other formats
Published
Issue
Section
Copyright
Copyright (c) 2026 The Author(s). Published by Vilnius Gediminas Technical University.
License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.