Unit 4: THE LAST PLANNER® SYSTEM

Session 1: Introduction To Production Planning And The Last Planner System

Comparing LPS with Current Practice

Last Planner System Current Planning
The future Plan for milestones with Perception that we can
detailed activity developed by predict with detailed
the individuals directing planning. Planning
the field work. Planning what what you assume
you know.
Objective Predictable workflow. Short durations and
high resource
A ready team. utilization.

Planning Connected conversations. An expert who knows.

requires
Execution Promises and handoffs. Superintendent
results from dictating.
Saying no when necessary.
Subcontractors always
saying yes.
Source of Reporting loss of confidence People doing what
improvemen or failure to keep a promise. they are told.
t
People are the opportunity.
 The focus levels of Project management and Production Planning

Project management: is the 1 O,OOO-foot view of the project. It focuses

on the 12-month schedule.
Production planning:
- focuses on the day to-day tasks that go into completing the project.
Production planning
- is asking each project team member: Did we accomplish today what
• We said we were going to accomplish?
• Do we have our construction process under control?

Organizational Project
Management
Project t
Last Activity y
Planner
System Breakdown
Production
the activity
Planning
into smaller
tasks .
 Project Management vs. Production Planning

Project management: focuses on long-term goals and milestones. It

gives the plan of what should be done and when and who should do
it, but not how it will be done.

Production planning: is the close-up view of the project. It is what the

superintendent does every day: the running of the jobsite. It includes
allocating resources for day-to-day functions to complete project-level
milestones and phases:
• Reliably
• Efficiently
• Effectively

- Effective production planning relies on listening to the last planner.

- In general, project management is top down, assuming that we can
accomplish project planning using the same tools that we use for project
management.

Contractual Requirements
It should be noted that the contract may dictate a certain scheduling process and
system that may differ from the Last Planner System.
Milestones and other schedule points may not be able to be moved as they would
in a full LPS process due to contractual requirements.
However, it is possible for the systems to complement each other, and
contractual requirements should not be used as an excuse to avoid implementing
LPS.

Project Management vs. Production Planning on the Jobsite

Project management gives direction, and production planning provides a
balanced path in the intended direction. Lean Construction achieves both,
especially with the use of the Last Planner System, and promotes continuous
improvement through change.
 Lean Production Planning
In contrast with the top-down project management approach, lean production
planning production focuses on a bottom-up approach, which helps achieve
reliable work through:
• A collaborative team commitment;
• A production planning system;
• Managing workflow; and
• Building reliability.

Best Practices of Lean Production Planning

In order for lean production planning to work best, certain practices need to be
followed :
• Use measurable activities;
• Every handoff of work must be direct, and you must understand each handoff;
• There must be a clear path for work to be completed with all directives,
prerequisites and resources complete;
• All components of the Last Planner System must be visible and transparent; and
• Continuous improvements are planned and measured:
- According to a method
- Under guidance
- At the lowest possible level in the organization
Reactive Control
Traditional project management is characterized by reactive control.
We establish project objectives, usually in a vacuum or silo, to determine what
needs to be done, when it needs to be done and how much can be spent on it.
Schedules and budgets are developed. Resources are allocated to the project to
execute the shoulds. The result of this - the dids - are compared with the shoulds.
If the cost and schedule variances are positive (the dids are more than the
shoulds for a given time period), then the project is in good shape.
If the variances are negative (the dids are less than the shoulds for a given time
period), then the project is in trouble.
"firefighter" mode: where he/she is focused on solving the problem that has
gotten out of hand.
 Proactive Planning
Contrary to reactive control, proactive planning is a critical element of lean
production planning. The focus is on making work happen, not waiting until things
go wrong to try to fix them. This occurs by removing constraints ahead of time as
much as possible. It is possible to prevent fires by only making quality ssignments,
which means that last planners must be given the authority to reject bad
assignments.
The final piece in the proactive planning approach is monitoring percent plan
complete and acting on reported variation and constraints. Monitoring the
percent plan complete provides a continuous learning opportunity, which then
increases reliability.
For instance, if a subcontractor makes a commitment to do a task with a three-
person crew and cannot meet the commitment, a change can be made, possibly
to increase the crew size or give it more time to complete the task, thus
increasing its reliability.
The Lean Commitment

Within the weekly work planning process, there are no ifs, buts or maybes about
the commitments. This is the point where each foreman is asked identify what
work his crew(s) will complete in the next week. A foreman should not commit - "I
will" - until she/he is confident the resources are available to complete the
assignment.

The Importance of Commitment

As we have stressed, a foreman's ability to reject bad assignments and accept
only achievable assignments is crucial to a successful lean project. Along with that
authority comes a new responsibility to do what he/she said the crew could do in
the agreed-to time. This is the foreman's commitment. Each individual foreman's
commitment is connected to those of the other foremen, thus creating a network
of commitments among project players.
Elements of commitment:
• Definition : Assignments must be specific
• Soundness: Design and prerequisite work are complete; materials
are on hand
• Safety : Promise to work safe and maintain a safe jobsite
• Sequence : Constructability has been reviewed to determine this
task is necessary at this point
• Size : Planned task is achievable in time allotted by the crew in place
• Learning: Tracking of complete/incomplete assignments
Session 1 Summary
Project management establishes the direction of the project from a very high
level. While it is an important component of the Last Planner System, it is
markedly different from production planning, which works with the last planners -
foremen - to shape the workflow by identifying and removing constraints;
decentralize planning; and measure progress.
Reactive control is after-the-fact action - firefighting - to get back the project back
on track.

Proactive planning is about making things happen. It focuses on day to- day
functions such that project-level milestones are completed.
An important component is monitoring the percent plan complete so that
changes can be made for work yet to come that will increase the reliability of the
schedule.

A commitment in Lean Construction is more than just a promise to do a task. The

commitment continues through the timely and accurate completion of the task to
the hand-off to the customer, which is usually the GC or another subcontractor,
who declares him/herself satisfied with the completed work.

Session 1: THE LEVELS OF THE LAST PLANNER SYSTEM

Levels of the Last Planner System

• Master scheduling: Have confidence that project is doable.
• Phase scheduling: Develop a plan for reaching each milestone.
• Make-ready planning: Remove constraints early so that what should be
done can be done.
• Weekly work planning: Establishing what will be done from what can and
should be done.
• Daily huddles: Getting on the same page and learning from what has been
done.