Last Planner System
“Ballard (2000) indicates that Last Planner System (LPS) is a technique that shapes workflow and addresses project variability in construction”. (Salem, 2005). The purpose of Last Planner System is to establish a coordinated plan of action while encouraging collaboration, cooperation and communication between different parties ensuring the full utilization of the available resources leading to an improved performance and thus maximizing value and minimizing waste. (Salme….).
Last Planner System focuses on the involvement of the person handling the task who could be the foreman or engineer on site (the last planner) in order to provide a rather realistic plan vs. the optimistic plan provided for the project (Salem).
The Lean Construction Institute (LCI) identifies five elements of the Last Planner:
• Master Schedule (setting milestones and strategy; identification of long lead items): is the schedule prepared by the Contractor for bidding purposes, it contains the major milestones for the Project (completion for raft, slabs, walls…).
• Phase "Pull" Schedule (PPS) (specify handoffs; identify operational conflicts): also know as Phase Scheduling (Ballard and
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In order to prepare the MRP constraints for each task need to be identified and recorded. These constraints can be of different types: directives (requirements on the work coming from outside the team), resources (tools, equipment, labor…) and prerequisite (tasks/materials that must be completed/available prior to the task) (Lean Project Consulting, 2011). A log of the constraints will be recorded, made readily visible for different parties and updated frequently, the purpose is to keep track of all open constraints and clear them after receiving feedback as they
Six flags is a company that has 29 theme parks with a Chief Corporate Engineer, Larry Chickola. Larry overseas all the projects for the parks and has teams of engineers that help take care of technical issues and building and construction. All six flags projects have a comprehensive plan for completing the work in a timely fashion. They have written statements as to what work is to be done and dated schedules for completion. They also have to include tasks and sub tasks all being figured into the budget. There is a “work package,” which is a group of activities assigned to break down each task and sub task to fit these into manageable quotas. They feel this is the key to managing logistics.
The Deming Wheel explains that by using the backward planning system, it will help you start with your objective, and then work backwards to develop your plan. Furthermore, starting backwards will become easier to prepare for a successful outcome. It is important to map out solutions to your problems in a fun, energetic and creative way to achieve the desired results. This four-step method can help give direction and control to execute, and it provides an iterative process for continuous improvement (Leadership & Direction, 2014). The PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) is a modified version of Shewhart’s Cycle in which it advices to use rapidly in order to ensure continuous learning by improving function, product, or process.
...rs and catastrophes. Other planning processes may address other scenarios or situations in better ways such as the Integrated Planning System approach also described by Ruback et al (2010) in FEMA’s Catastrophic Readiness and Response course, section 12.
...ve the plan in order to mitigate down time for future events (Notes W3 P24, CGC1 P N-2).
Kezner, H. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. 6th. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc, 1998. Print.
A project of the magnitude of the Dallas Cowboy's Stadium would have anyone excited and anxious to see it begin. As excited as they may have been, the project manager seemed very well prepared and used various tools and processes to have a plan in place and complete the project. One of the benefits of planning is that it improves efficiency (Wysocki, R., P. 145). "By doing tasks concurrently, you shorten the duration of the project" (Wysocki, R., p. 145). Many times throughout the project a lot of the work was done simultaneously. For example, in the course of the roof construction, the project manager developed a plan that included having an air space coordinator to have 17 cranes work together. Additionally, “at peak construction, nearly
Eliyahu Goldratt, an Israeli physicist turned business guru, is the founder of the Theory of Constraints (TOC), who developed revolutionary methods for production scheduling in the late 1970s (Balderstone & Mabin, 1998). Goldratt also developed other theories about the methodology of systemic problem structuring and problem solving which are utilized in developing solutions with intuitive power and analytical rigor that, while more refined, are still being utilized today. The TOC stood in direct contrast to other accepted methods of production scheduling at the time, such as Materials Requirements Planning (MRP). MRP is a production planning and inventory control system that integrates data from production schedules, inventory, and the bill
... need for this one human interaction with the system is what makes it vulnerable to errors and redundancy and the need to get it right is paramount. So the production plan is created bases on the sales order and this is shared with purchasing so that any unavailable material can be ordered. This shows how the MRP links the production with purchasing as well as accounting. Using this information links and sharing properly in the ERP can result in significant cost savings because companies are beginning to see its SCM as part of a larger process than just customers and suppliers.
“Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind” a famous quote about our goal by Seneca. It is a metaphor about the achievement goal and objectives by good planning skills. One has to plan for what one wants to achieve and where one wants to go. One of the most important things is to have good planning, before taking any project the first think you should do is to create project plan. Planning can be defined as preparing a sequence of action to achieve specific goals and objectives. According to Kerzner (2009), “project planning is desirable that the project manager is involved from project conception through execution. It must be systematic, flexible to handle, closely disciplined through reviews and control and capable of accepting multi functional inputs (pg. 412)”. The importance of planning a project is to describe the work so that it will be easily identifiable to the project team member.
Planning is an essential process in today’s organizations. Based on the three types of managers: top-level (strategic managers), middle-level (tactical managers), and frontline (operational managers), exist three corresponding levels of planning: strategic, tactical, and operational. The purpose of this essay is to focus on the strategic level of planning for the Ford Motor Company; a leader in the global automobile industry. Strategic planning, according to Bateman and Snell (2009), “involves making decisions about the organization’s long-term goals and strategies” (p. 137). This paper will elaborate on six key influential factors: economic, environmental, competition, foreign policy, domestic policy, and innovation; that shape this corporation’s strategic plan. Finally, a SWOTT analysis will be conducted covering the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and trends, that the Ford Motor Company has in relation to its business environment.
Fayol (1949, as cited in Mcnamara, 2009) have proposed “planning” as one of the four major functions on...
The RUP defines the following guidelines and templates for team members to follow during a product’s lifecycle:
However, in some cases we need to develop strategies for them to improve their efficiency, improve their machinery, install backup generation, etc. In these scenarios, a team is developed with the consultant being the project manager or point man. Therefore, these projects require the four functions to be followed so we can develop the best possible solution. The first function used is “Planning”, which allows us to outline a strategy catering to the specific needs of our client. The “Planning” function also gives us a time table on how long the project will take to complete, who needs to be involved, and how we expect to accomplish each goal.
Project planning falls in the Planning Process Group which consists of those processes to establish the projects total scope, define the projects objectives, and courses of action to achieve those objectives. During the planning process, all the documents that are needed to carry the project through the project lifecycle will be developed such as the project management plan. Project management requires repeated feedback loops as additional information becomes available and is better understood. The planning process delineates the strategy, tactics, and path to successfully complete the project. With that, the planning of a project must walk through all the those processes from executing, monitoring and controlling through the closing process.
During the planning process, outputs are created to illustrate how project tasks will be sequenced and allocated for effective TM. The PMBOK Guide describes nine processes under Project Time Management (Fig 2.) all of which (excluding no. 6) are relevant during the planning phase of the project life cycle.