Exploring the Recurrent Problems in the Last Planner Implementation on Construction Projects

Traditionally, production control on construction sites has been a challenging area, where the ad-hoc production control methods foster uncertainty - one of the biggest enemies of efficiency and smooth production flow. The Last Planner System® has been one of the most popular lean construction tools that offers a solution to tackle the problems of production management on construction sites. Since its inception almost 20 years ago, construction companies across the world have implemented Last Planner with reported success. However, there have also been reports of challenges in a number of areas whilst implementing the Last Planner. These challenge areas limit the effectiveness of Last Planner if not tackled properly. Some of the biggest challenges appear to be partial implementation of Last Planner; lack of standardised flow of reporting between shorter planning functions such as weekly and daily planning to long range plans (i.e. Phase and Master plans); lack of attention to long range plans; inability to deploy the collaborative aspects and lack of recognition of information systems. In this paper some of these challenges are explored through review of past literature and also through direct observation of Last Planner implementations. The challenges are categorised in two major areas and potential solution candidates are presented.