The Last Planner System of Construction Planning and Control as a Teaching and Learning Tool

Abstract

During the last years a new philosophy of production has been successfully implemented, not only in manufacturing (lean production), but also in other "old-fashioned" sectors such as construction (the so-called lean construction). Since 2008, a group of academicians at the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia has started the introduction of lean construction in the Spanish building industry promoting meetings, writing papers and teaching the topic. A special mention deserves a new course on Lean Construction started at the Master of Science in Planning and Management in Civil Engineering. Not only in this graduate course, but also in some undergraduate courses, this group of teachers has implemented games that try to simulate the behavior of the real construction industry. One of the most interesting simulations deals with the implementation of the Last Planner System at the construction site. The Last Planner System is a cascade planning technique that allows a better control in order to reduce variability at the construction site. This article describes the experience and recommendations obtained from the implementation of a Pull Session at the graduate and undergraduate courses. A Pull Session is the first main step of the Last Planner System technique that sets the initial planning and the strategic objectives and milestones for the construction project. Several sessions were conducted with students of several graduate and undergraduate courses. By applying the practice to a real construction project, the students performed different roles (site manager, foreman, subcontractors, suppliers, etc.), whereas the teacher was the facilitator of the session. This way, students were able to experience and witness the needs and issues that arise when planning properly a construction project, learning the advantages of collaborative work at the same time.