Improving Construction Processes in Nigeria using the Last Planner System

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.This thesis describes a research investigation into the implementation of the Last Planner System (LPS) in Nigeria, to improve construction processes within the Nigerian construction industry. LPS is known to be the most developed practical use of Lean Construction. It focuses on minimising the negative impacts of variability, uncertainties, buffers, making projects more predictable, creating reliable work plans and convalescing collaborative planning. However, the Nigerian construction industry is associated with a number of challenges which impair its performance. These challenges were grouped and classified into six major barriers: these include: supervision and quality control, fluctuation and variations, subcontractor involvement, resistance to change, cultural issues, and lengthy approvals. Consequently, a Design Science Research (DSR) approach is adopted to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing LPS in construction projects in Nigeria. In order to achieve this aim, an Action Research strategy is adopted and three case studies are reported; two of these cases describe how LPS was successfully implemented in construction projects within Nigeria. While the third case involved an investigation into the state of production plan reliability, of a successful project in Nigeria. These projects were selected based on non-probabilistic sampling from different geographical locations in Nigeria to represent different kinds of construction projects within the country. The first and second cases involved the implementation of LPS within the construction of a prototype student’s hostel and the construction a 4 Kilometre single carriageway road respectively. The third on the other hand involved the construction of a multipurpose hydro-power dam project; where comparisons were made between typical LPS projects and the project management techniques applied within the project. Data was collected through observation site activities, interviews, documentary analysis and questionnaire survey. The data generated was subsequently analysed by means of content analysis and evaluated in terms of its reliability, validity, representativeness, flexibility, rigour and reflexivity. In view of the LPS implementation within the two case studies, six barriers were identified and classified together with the six barriers associated with the Nigerian Construction industry. These barriers were linked, measured and ranked in averages of their degrees of occurrences. It was revealed that the major barriers were cultural issues and resistance to change, while the others include; lengthy approval, subcontractor’s involvement, poor supervision and quality, fluctuations and variations. Hence, a framework was developed to mitigate these barriers, when implementing LPS in construction projects in Nigeria. The main steps of the framework include: the need to identify purpose; the need to identify stakeholders impact; the need to obtain Sponsorship; the need to build a cross functional team; the need to create measurement indices; the need for training on Lean techniques and LPS; and finally the need to create a right working climate. Furthermore a focus group between construction practitioners was organised to test and evaluate the framework developed. It was revealed from the focus group that the framework has the potential to facilitate the implementation process as proposed

CRITICAL REVIEW OF POTENTIAL FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF LEAN IN THE NIGERIAN BUILDING INDUSTRY

ABSTRACT The concept of Lean Construction has been observed to improve workflow reliability, planning and control, particularly in developed and emerging countries like USA, UK, Korea and Brazil. It has been a useful means of achieving project duration reduction and improved cost and quality performance. Predominantly, the Last Planner System, process mapping and other collaborative planning tools of lean construction were utilised in these projects and they accounted for the successes of these projects. However, within under developed and a few developing countries the situation is slightly more at variance. Using Nigeria as a case study for example, the general perception at the moment is that the building industry is mainly characterised by poor project definitions, incomplete project designs and waste generation resulting in uncompleted building projects or poorly completed ones. This paper commences with a review of how lean was applied and why it was successful in the countries identified by previous studies. It then progresses to further review what is currently obtainable in the Nigerian building industry. This then led to a process of addressing the applicability of lean tools within the Nigerian building industry. The results from the review reveal the potential for the application of lean tools within the industry. Sequel to this, the author proposes that Last Planner System of lean be implemented via action research within building industry of Nigeria. It is on the basis of this that further research is being proposed to address this concern

Implementing the last planner TM system in a road construction project in Nigeria / Ograbe Ahiakwo … [et al.]

This paper describes a research investigation into the implementation of the Last Planner System (LPS) in a road construction project. LPS is known to be the most developed practical use of Lean Construction. It focuses on minimising the negative impacts of variability, uncertainties, buffers, making projects more predictable, creating reliable work plans and convalescing collaborative planning. LPS is unpopular in highway and road construction projects, as a lot of case studies have been recorded of its application on infrastructure and building projects as against highway and road projects. However in the road project. In order to achieve this aim, an Action Research strategy is adopted using different data collection methods such as interviews, observation and survey questionnaire. The initial state of production plan reliability within this case project was observed to be highly unreliable with a high degree of variability. However as the implementation commenced, production plans were stabilized with an improved reliability in the schedules. The results from this study demonstrate that although a road construction process is a linear process, a number of benefits were still recorded in terms of improving construction planning and control processes, during the implementation

Implementing The Last PlannerTM System in a Road Construction Project in Nigeria

This paper describes a research investigation into the implementation of the Last Planner System (LPS) in a road construction project. LPS is known to be the most developed practical use of Lean Construction. It focuses on minimising the negative impacts of variability, uncertainties, buffers, making projects more predictable, creating reliable work plans and convalescing collaborative planning. LPS is unpopular in highway and road construction projects, as a lot of case studies have been recorded of its application on infrastructure and building projects as against highway and road projects. However in the road project. In order to achieve this aim, an Action Research strategy is adopted using different data collection methods such as interviews, observation and survey questionnaire. The initial state of production plan reliability within this case project was observed to be highly unreliable with a high degree of variability. However as the implementation commenced, production plans were stabilized with an improved reliability in the schedules. The results from this study demonstrate that although a road construction process is a linear process, a number of benefits were still recorded in terms of improving construction planning and control processes, during the implementation

Investigating and Ranking Labor Productivity Factors in the Egyptian Construction Industry

This article sets out to investigate and rank the factors that affect labor productivity in the Egyptian construction industry. To achieve this, a quantitative research methodology is adopted and it entails the use of structured survey questionnaires. The data obtained was analysed using the relative importance index. The results from the analysis revealed ten major factors affecting labor productivity in the construction industry in Egypt. These factors are: tools and equipment shortages; delay in material delivery on site; payment delay; undisciplined labor; material shortage; rework; labor expensive and skills; low quality of raw material; waiting for equipment to arrive; and on-site accident. Consequently, these findings would serve as a useful tool and a basis to make recommendations to governmental and construction personnel regarding the productivity of labor in the Egyptian construction industry