Key Last Planner System Metrics to Assess Project Performance in High-Rise Building and Industrial Construction Projects
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 148, Issue 1
Abstract
The Last Planner System (LPS) establishes short cycles of planning and control, comprising LP, the make-ready process, short-term planning commitments, identifying reasons for noncompletion, and implementing corrective actions. Most LPS research has covered longitudinal case studies, but quantitative transversal research is needed to determine the impact of key LPS processes in performance. The researchers aimed to determine the relationships between LPS components and project performance. Twenty three metrics were established to evaluate six components and 253 possible correlations between them. The authors assessed information from 255 projects and found 131 projects, in five categories, with sufficient information to construct the metrics. Two categories had sufficient sample sizes, which produced a sample of 71 high-rise building (HR) and 28 industrial construction (IC) projects. Each sample was assessed separately to test the correlations, and the project categories were compared to determine statistically significant differences. Then, the projects were classified according to their schedule performance outcome, using a clustering algorithm to find differences between high- and low-performance projects. Statistically significant correlations between the six components were found in both samples, six metrics presented statistically significant differences between high and low performance in HR projects and one in IC projects.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code used during the study were provided by a third party. Access to the repository of the LPS support software was provided by Gestión de la Producción Asesorías SpA, and access to the project database was provided by the Production Management Centre from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Direct request for these materials may be made to the provider as indicated in the Acknowledgments.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge ANID for financial support for this study through projects FONDECYT N°1181648 and N°1210769 C. Lagos acknowledges financial support from CONICYT Beca Doctorado Nacional N°21181603. In addition, they would like to thank the Production Management Centre from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Gestión de la Producción Asesorías SpA for allowing the use of the software IMPERA and access to the project database used in the research.
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Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 148 • Issue 1 • January 2022
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Jan 12, 2021
Accepted: Sep 10, 2021
Published online: Oct 22, 2021
Published in print: Jan 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Mar 22, 2022
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