CASE STUDIES
May 14, 2011

Last Planner Control System Applied to a Chemical Plant Construction

Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 138, Issue 2

Abstract

The main difference between the Last Planner production control system developed by Ballard and classical control systems is the way in which projects are controlled and planned. The Last Planner system focuses on controlling production units, workflows, and the quality of the performed work. It also permits the identification of the causes for the noncompletion of planned work and decision making in accordance with the project requirements so that actions are timely and productivity is increased. The objective of this paper is to present the results obtained from implementing the Last Planner system in the construction department of a chemical company. In this department, an information flow problem was detected among its members, in which supervisors lacked knowledge about the work to be performed until the project had been perfectly designed. This problem often led to long delays in the projects. The results from the Last Planner system implementation show that identifying the constraints of the planned work leads to an improvement in the percentage and quality of completed activities.

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References

Alarcón, L. F., Ashley, D. B., and Cruz, J. (2000). “The impact of planning strategies on project performance: Learning from real and model project.” CIB W092 Int. Symp. on Information and Communication in Construction Procurement, Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 138Issue 2February 2012
Pages: 287 - 293

History

Received: Apr 17, 2009
Accepted: May 12, 2011
Published online: May 14, 2011
Published in print: Feb 1, 2012

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Authors

Affiliations

A. Nieto-Morote [email protected]
Professor, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Engineering Project Dept., C/ Dr. Fleming, s/n, 30203 Cartagena, Spain (corresponding author). E-mail: [email protected]
F. Ruz-Vila [email protected]
Professor, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Electrical Engineering Dept., C/ Dr. Fleming, s/n, 30203 Cartagena, Spain. E-mail: [email protected]

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