https://doi.org/10.24928/2018/0421

The Last Planner System: Comparing Indian and Norwegian Approaches

Ramakrishnan Ravi¹, Ola Lædre², Roar Fosse³, Kalyan Vaidyanathan⁴ & Fredrik Svalestuen⁵

¹MSc Candidate, NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, +47 96711277, [email protected]
²Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil and Transport Engineering, NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, +47 911 89 938, [email protected]
³Regional Manager, Lean Construction, Skanska, Oslo, Norway, +4793444588, [email protected]
⁴CEO, Nadhi Information Technologies, 22 Venkatraman Street, T. Nagar, Chennai 600017. India; Phone: +91 97910 41483; [email protected]
⁵Ph.D. Candidate, NTNU – Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway/Design Manager, Veidekke Entreprenør AS, +47 986 73 172, [email protected]

Abstract

Construction projects around the world currently use the Last planner system (LPS) with different approaches. In this paper, we compare the Indian and Norwegian industry because of their contrasting cultural settings, in order to gather experiences and formulate possible improvements to their LPS approaches. A general literature study regarding LPS and its components was carried out. Data from two cases in India and six cases in Norway were collected with the help of three case specific and five general interviews. The study revealed similarities in scheduling and planning, root cause and constraint analysis, PPC measurements (daily and weekly) during the meetings. The major difference was that the Indian companies use LPS as a problem solving technique in the middle of the project and the Norwegian companies use it proactively as a part of their system. A major conclusion drawn in the paper is that the participants felt more ownership to the schedule and the activities after the introduction of LPS. It became a promise of what they could do, rather than an order from the manager.

Keywords

Last planner system, Hofstede Analysis, People, Culture and Change

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Reference

Ravi, R. , Lædre, O. , Fosse, R. , Vaidyanathan, K. & Svalestuen, F. 2018. The Last Planner System: Comparing Indian and Norwegian Approaches, 26th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction , 381-391. doi.org/10.24928/2018/0421

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