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Report On 12th Annual LCI Congress
Report On 12th Annual LCI Congress
Report On 12th Annual LCI Congress
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Report on the 12th Annual Lean Construction Institute Congress Page 2 of 6
• Examples of Lean Construction projects were shared showing the metrics against similar projects built
with traditional project management methods.
• Greg Howell shared a brief history of project management and the evolvement of Lean Construction
Management.
• The Last Planner System® (LPS)was briefly revisited. The last planner system is a production planning
and control system developed by LCI. It is best described as a series of 5 connected conversations;
Master Scheduling (Should) >Phase “Pull” Planning (Should)>Make Ready Work Planning (can)>Weekly
Work Planning (will)>Learning (did). A key measure of the success of the Last Planner system is PPC.
This measures the Percentage of Promises Completed on time. As PPC increases. Project productivity and
profitability increase, with step changes at around 70% and 85%. This score is measured site-wide and
displayed around the site. Weekly measures are used by the project and by individual suppliers as the
basis for learning how to improve the predictability of the work programme and hence the PPC scores.
LPS is one of the most widely used tools by lean practitioners throughout the world.
• Congress sessions on Wednesday, October 20th, and Thursday, October 21st, included reports and
presentations from owners and their project teams, companies undergoing a lean transformation, project
reports, advances in lean construction practices, and International and LCI Chapter reports. Please see
appendix A (page 6) for more information on these presentations. The same will be made available to me
LCI in due course, and will be shared accordingly in or by request.
• On Wednesday, October 20th a new book written by Lincoln Forbes and Syed M. Ahmed was launched.
The book is entitled- Modern Construction: Lean Project Delivery and Integrated Practices. This book
provides a solid foundation for lean construction by explaining its historical development and leads
readers through its ongoing evolution. It covers methodologies that are not usually found in one reference
and links them together so that they supports each other- lean methods, quality management, six sigma,
LEED, etc.
• Friday, October 22nd, featured Learning Sessions in the morning and a Reflection Session in the
afternoon to revisit "Taking the Industry Lean: Issues and Implications." During the reflection session the
directors of LCI pledge their commitment guide formation of LCI chapters throughout the Caribbean over
the net twelve(12) months. Appendix A (page 5) contains details on the presentations done throughout the
day. These presentations will be made available to me by LCI and will be shared accordingly in due
course or by request.
During my few days attending the congress my takeaways (insights and learning) could be summarized by the
following jottings;
• “Do your planning in increasing levels of detail the closer you get to the work. This is call the “last
responsible moment”
• “How can you do things just-in-time if you don’t know what time it is?”
• “There is only one thing we can do to improve, it is to do”
• “Contingency is waste”
• “Learning involves taking out the contingencies which were buried in the estimate”
• “No one can achieve the outcome unless all achieve it- we all finish together”
• “If you can’t say no, you cannot make a reliable promise”
• “All plans are forecast and all forecast are wrong”
• “The Last planner® is a planning & control system and not a scheduling g system and therefore does
not replace the latter”
• In Lean there are no Subcontractors- but instead “Trade Partners/Trade Contractors”
• “The IPD model is defined by; ONE Team, ONE Price, ONE Scope”
• “The Last Planner is very disruptive, but it works”
• “Successful change occurs when support is earned and execution is emphasized”
• “Get the right people on the bus- not square pegs in round holes”
• “The two(2) non-negotiable principles of Toyota are; respect people and continuous improvement”
• “Teams are what make Lean”
• “If you can’t find a tool in 30 seconds you are not doing a good job”
• “EVERYTHING you do should be MEASURABLE”
• “Clash detection is waste”
• “Conflict is an opportunity to innovate”
Report on the 12th Annual Lean Construction Institute Congress Page 4 of 6
.
IV. MY LEAN GOALS BEYOUND OCTOBER 22ND 2010
a) Study and embrace the lean philosophy, Think Lean, live lean, learn and share the efforts and successes in a
formal and timely manner.
b) Measure all activities/commitments/promises against time, cost, quality, safety and productivity(quantity-in-
place)
c) Initiate and encourage Kier Construction to become a corporate member of Lean Construction Institute(LCI)
and the International Group of Lean Construction(IGLC)
d) Initiate the formation of LCI Chapters in Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados in 180 days
e) Initiate the hosting of a Lean Construction Seminar in partnership with the Jamaica Institution of Engineers
(JIE)and the Incorporated Masterbuilders Association of Jamaica(IMAJ) within the 90-days
f) Practice, teach, Initiate and lead the conscious introduction of lean construction practices into our current and
future projects within 30-days, namely the Last Planner System, PDCA, first run studies, etc.
V. OVER-ALL REMARKS
The congress was most enlightening for me, and for most part would be best describe as a WOW experience.
The interaction and discussions with lean practitioners from the USA, Finland, Australia, Germany, UK and
other parts of the world sharing their lean experiences was most encouraging and furthermore gave me the
confidence that we can do it – build it right, build it lean through the application of the 5 big ideas;
Collaborate, network of commitments, tightly coupling our actions with learning, optimizing the whole and
increase relatedness in our practice.
Prepared by:
FRANK J. BARNES
Frank.barnes@kierjm.com
November 1, 2010
Report on the 12th Annual Lean Construction Institute Congress Page 5 of 6
APPENDIX A
Report on the 12th Annual Lean Construction Institute Congress Page 6 of 6