Readiness of Sri Lankan Construction Industry Towards Implementing Last Planner System in Lean Construction

Abstract

AbstractThe construction industry, where main activities are planning, regulating, designing, constructing, and maintaining buildings and other structures, makes a significant contribution to national economies and employment. Therefore, improving the productivity of the industry would result in significant economic benefits, even though it has proven to be difficult, but the application of lean concepts has shown promising results. The last planner system (LPS), having origins in lean construction practices, is characterised by collaborative planning at the operational level. Other key features include constraint identification and continuous learning which lead to predictable workflows. The global construction industry has increasingly adopted LPS to achieve the cost and time objectives of projects while improving quality and safety. However, in the Sri Lankan construction industry, the application of lean principles is not widespread, an area the study sheds light upon. This study offers practitioners and researchers insights into the state and challenges in the implementation of LPS in Sri Lanka, including suggestions for overcoming those challenges. The study combines interviews, focus group discussions, and a questionnaire survey to show that only certain practices of lean construction have been implemented in the local industry. Even though the professionals in the field are interested in further adoption of lean construction and the LPS concepts, they lack the required knowledge and skills to fully implement it. Resistance to change in organisations and people is also identified as a challenge to this transformation.KeywordsLean constructionLast planner systemWaste types in construction