Accelerating the Last Planner System® (LPS) Uptake Using Virtual Reality and Serious Games: A Sociotechnical Conceptual Framework

Abstract

The Last Planner System® (LPS) use in projects faces both social and technical challenges associated with the nature of its planning and control structure, and the way it is implemented on-site. Thus, the social dynamics inherent with the LPS implementation within construction organisations should be shaped appropriately to harmonically match its technical components and vice versa. Although recent research has revealed that a successful implementation of the LPS is highly dependent upon how its social and technical aspects are managed and interrelated, there are still problems with the LPS implementation in the design phase and on-site. Some simulation games have been used for LPS training, but they do not seem to meet the demands of the industry to accelerate LPS adoption. This paper finds that Virtual Reality (VR) and Serious Games (SG) could be more effective in spreading LPS by mitigating critical barriers than conventional approaches. We also discuss how the capabilities of VR/SG technology can assist in tackling some of LPS adoption barriers that relate back to the social dynamics that are engendered and the technical knowledge that is required to implement the LPS smoothly. We also propose a conceptual framework to study the socio-technical dynamics of the LPS and identified six questions to be addressed in future research.

An Exploratory Study of the Main Barriers to Lean Construction Implementation in Peru

“…(Walter et al 2020) Lack of transparent information between team members and management, reducing reliability in Lean. (Liu et al 2020) Local and not global flow optimization (Almanei et al 2017) Lack of information exchange between teams, suppliers, subcontractors, etc.…”

Potential of Gamification for Lean Construction Training: An Exploratory Study

“…As studies show, training on Lean Construction has not always led to success so far and has left behind barriers to implementation. (Demirkesen et al 2019;Liu et al 2020) As an alternative approach to conventional training, we identify and discuss the potential of gamification for Lean Construction training. To this end, we introduce the concept of Gamification, which has been fairly used in the construction industry so far.…”

“…For Lean Construction methods such as the Last Planner® System, studies show remaining critical socio-technical barrier in the implementation. Despite training the lack of understanding principles and methods prevails (Liu et al 2020).…”

“…Expanding those elements further offers great potential for improved Lean Construction implementation. Liu et al already showed the potential of serious games for Lean Construction training in their paper on promoting the Last Planner® System through virtual reality and serious games (Liu et al 2020). Further approaches to use serious games in the context of Lean Construction are provided by Tommelein et al (1999) and Sacks et al (2007).…”

Development of an Immersive Virtual Reality Prototype to Explore the Social Mechanisms of the Last Planner® System

“…To address these issues, the Last Planner® System (LPS) has been introduced as a Lean based production planning and control tool. It intrinsically deals with the dual and symbiotic socio-technical nature of construction projects (Liu et al, 2020(Liu et al, , 2022Priven & Sacks, 2015). Technically speaking, the LPS deploys a robust methodological framework for production planning and control, which reduces workflow variability and uncertainty (Ballard, 2000).…”