STREAMLINING STRATEGIC PROCUREMENT OPERATIONS IN REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN SAUDI ARABIA THROUGH LEAN PRINCIPLES

This study examines how Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and Kaizen, two Lean concepts, can fix the problems
that big Saudi real estate projects have with inefficient buying. A mixed-methods approach that was used at the
same time combined semi-structured interviews with a structured poll of 30 professionals in the field. Systemic
delays were found to be caused by multiple review levels, late design changes, broken communication between
departments, and processes that require a lot of paperwork. Individuals consistently thought that Lean had a
positive effect on key outcomes like compliance, cost-estimation accuracy, stakeholder satisfaction, and cycletime reduction. There was strong internal consistency across performance indicators (±=0.769), a large,
statistically significant correlation between VSM adoption and compliance improvement (r=0.751, p<0.001),
and a strong predictive link between Kaizen frequency and cycle-time reduction (R²=0.856, p<0.001). ANOVA
showed that developers get more out of their jobs than freelancers, subcontractors, and advisors. This is because
they have better leadership support and digital infrastructure. Overall, VSM makes processes more open and
better managed, while Kaizen makes ongoing growth a habit. Some of the things that should be done are
requiring VSM to be used during purchase planning, holding cross-functional Kaizen meetings every three
months to focus on approval bottlenecks and change-order loops, incorporating Lean into SOPs and KPIs, and
improving ERP systems with automated processes and reports.