Last Planner System - from theory to implementation

Purpose of this paper: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the efficiency of the Last Planner System (LPS) of construction project scheduling through a literature review of published case study reports. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology used was a critical literature analysis on LPS case studies reports. This approach was chosen in order to consider case projects from different locations around the world; predominantly publications from the year 2000 to 2015 were examined. Several online platforms for academic papers were used in the study, and a systematic data processing was conducted in order to achieve statistically significant comparisons and observations. Findings and value: The Last Planner System is new in the construction business, but there is already a good amount of reported case studies. Through the literature review it was found that there are a number of obstacles in the implementation of Last Planner System particularly in relation to matching the theory with practice. However, there is a general consensus in all the case studies examined, on the benefits of adopting LPS. The relation between the perceived benefits and perceived obstacles were analysed.