Evaluation of the Application of Last Planner System in Construction Projects

This study aimed at evaluating the application of LPS in construction projects. The study specifically sought to evaluate the current state of LPS application in construction project delivery and ascertain the extent of LPS implementation processes application in construction project delivery in Imo state, Nigeria. The study was guided by the Management-as-Planning and Management-as-Organizing Theory. The study used a descriptive and survey research design methods of investigation and a purposes sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 193 from a population of 374 respondents using the Slovin’s formula for sample size determination from the sampled professionals in Imo state. The data collection and survey instrument included a well-structured questionnaire from respondents. The data collected was presented using frequency distribution, figures, and charts with aid of statistical tools via IBM SPSS Statistics version 26.0. While frequency distribution charts, Relative Importance Index (RII) was used to analyse the main objectives of the study. The study's results show that the current state of LPS application in construction project delivery in Imo State is abysmally low. This was buttressed by the fact that (164) 93.18% of the respondents had a working experience of less than 5 years of experience on LPS, while 29.55% of the respondent are aware of the existence of LPS between 6 to 10 years ago. On the projects undertaken using LPS, 164 of the respondents representing 93.18% have had a working experience of 5-10 years. The concludes that the most important LPS implementation processes application in construction project delivery in Imo state is, daily huddle meetings, which is followed by constraints analysis, master schedule, process of phase planning and weekly work plan. This study recommends that the concludes the need for industry players, practitioners and government agencies at all levels to brace up to the paradigm change and embrace the “LPS”. Fora such as conferences and professional associations meetings should be a breeding ground to help propagate the idea.