The Last Planner System®
and Pull Planning

The Last Planner System® and Pull Planning

“Last Planner® can be understood as a mechanism for transforming what SHOULD be done into what CAN be done...as a commitment by the Last Planners to what they actually WILL do.”

Glen Ballard, Last Planner System® co-creator

Stories from the Field - Flow to Go Fast

LEAN CONSTRUCTION

What is the Last Planner System® (LPS)?

What is the Last Planner System® (LPS)?

What is the Last Planner System® (LPS)?

Since 1992, The Last Planner System® has been used for production planning control and scheduling. It was first developed by Glenn Ballard and Greg Howell for construction projects to improve workflow, plan reliability and the predictability of work.

LPS breaks down planning into SHOULD, CAN, WILL, and DID where the "Last Planners" (the Foremen and Superintendent) are actively engaged in the planning of work, since they are the experts with the experience and knowledge of their individual crafts.

Each level of planning works its way down in detail from the Milestones to daily execution of the Weekly Work Plans, which are then updated and adjusted based on how the previous week went. This improves upon traditional Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling, since it is updated each day by the team and increases Trade Partner buy-in since they were actually a part of the planning process.

Pull Planning is only
ONE PART of the Last Planner System®!

Pull Planning is only ONE PART of the Last Planner System®!

Pull Planning is the creation of the SHOULD (Milestone and Phase Planning) by "pulling" Activities and Milestones backwards - from Finish to Start. By only doing this, you have created a plan, but no way to execute it.

Last Planner System®
is a System! To gain all its benefits, you'll need to implement it as a whole.

Last Planner System® is a System! To gain all its benefits, you'll need to implement it as a whole.

Benefits

Benefits

Benefits

Proven Benefits of The Last Planner System®

Proven Benefits of The Last Planner System®

  • - Shorter Schedules
  • - Increased Productivity
  • - Greater Process Transparency
  • - Improved Site Organization
  • - Better Collaboration and Communication
  • - Better Schedule Understanding
  • - More Stable Workflow and Crew Resources
  • - Speedier RFI Replies and Submittal Approvals.

LPS is the gateway to Lean behaviors and addresses key components not working in CPM scheduling:

LPS is the gateway to Lean behaviors and addresses key components not working in CPM scheduling:

  • - Trades are just treated as "Subs"
  • - Little Trade Foreman Input and Buy-in.
  • - Lack of a Visually Understandable Plan Since Its Buried In Hard-To-Read Gantt Charts or Excel Spreadsheets.
  • - Lack of Clear Day-to-Day and Week-to-Week Activity Tracking Because the Work is Disconnected from the CPM Schedule.

Who uses the Last Planner System?

Who uses the Last Planner System?

Who uses the Last Planner System?

1. Builders who want to increase their team's reliability from the industry-standard 54% to 80-90%, which is very achievable by most LPS teams when they use the whole system especially the 15-minute Daily Huddles.

2. Designers who understand the value of “doing work first that releases other work” and who want to plan their work collaboratively, often combining LPS with Scrum to achieve maximum benefit. LPS is a perfect complement to Set Based Design and Target Value Delivery.

3. Anyone who wants to know the Real Schedule.