Do you really need Last Planner(R), Black Belts, and Senseis to Consistently deliver Quality facilities repair, renovation, and construction projects, On-time, and On-Budget ?

Last Planner(Registered Trademark of the Lean Construction Institute), Black Belts, Senseis, Six-sigma….   the list of acronyms, philosophies, consultants, books, goes on and on.

At the end of the day however, any real property owner with requisite levels of leadership and competency can consistently deliver quality facilities repair, renovation, and construction projects, on-time, and on-budget.   All of the tools, training, technology, information, and support are readily available to support robust LEAN construction processes.

Sure, there is a lot of confusion about both LEAN and LEAN construction.  Many “experts”, for example, attribute the origin of LEAN with the Japanese…whether the Toyota Production System (TPS) or similar implementation.   In reality, the origins of LEAN date back to Henry Ford.   It was here that the basic concepts of putting the client first, focusing upon outcomes, and  LISTENING to employees (people who actually do the work!), and benefiting from resultant collaboration came to light.

Any LEAN process, but especially LEAN Construction Delivery Process has the following attributes.  Note that there are not acronyms, buzzwords, or remotely complex concepts.

1. Focus upon outcomes.
2. Mutual respect and trust for all participants and stakeholders.
3. Shared risk/reward.
4. Defined, written, roles, responsibilities, processes, required documentation, information/data sets (common terms/definitions, data formats), enabling technologies….
5. Financial transparency
6. Continuous improvement
7. Collaboration among all participants and stakeholders
8. Metrics – key performance indicators

There are currently two forms of LEAN construction procurement and delivery methods that embed all of the above and share decades of proven success;   Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) for major new construction, and Job Order Contracting (JOC) for repair, renovation, maintenance, sustainability, and “minor” new construction.    Caveat emptor, however…. all implementations of these, must abide by the above shared attributes.

So back to the original question…Do you really need Last Planner(R), Black Belts, and Senseis to consistently deliver quality facilities repair, renovation, and construction projects, on-time, and on-budget?    Well, some of the information can certainly help with respect to the fundamental barrier to measurable productivity improvement across the AECOO sector – CHANGE MANAGEMENT.    The Architectural, Engineering, Construction, Operations, and Owner sectors are mired in traditional, antagonistic, and inefficient process.   These various “teachings” can help shed light on the need to fundamentally change how day-to-day activities occur for all.     Owner leadership and competency definitely can be improved by further awareness building and education, regardless of the source.    Nonetheless, focus upon what works and is available today…. proven LEAN construction and delivery methods, would enable the consistent delivery of quality projects on-demand, on-time, and on-budget.

Last Planner is a registered trademark of the Lean Construction Institute