The last planner system: Comparing Indian and Norwegian approaches

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.