Modern construction is characterized by its efficient utilization of construction resources to accomplish numerous construction activities without waste. But, Addis Ababa’s Road construction projects fail to be executed on time, within the allocated budget, and with the desired quality. To solve this problem, a new management concept is introduced, namely lean construction. It is known to increase productivity and minimize waste. To realize this solution, last planner system (LPS) is used; it is one tool of lean construction. It is a person or group of people with the task to control the production unit. The main objective of this study is to assess usefulness of the last planner system implementation to advance the current construction process management in Addis Ababa city road projects. The research was conducted on selected asphalt road construction projects located in Addis Ababa city. To address the problems Questioners, observations, interviews, focus group discussion, and recently published journals were employed as a qualitative and quantitative data collection tools and analyzed using statistical package for the social science version 26 and super decision model version 3.2. The finding shows that; the construction management process adopted in all three sites is more or less similar they use a push planning system and critical path method to determine the duration following the master schedule but have no weekly work plan and lookahead schedule to forecast the coming week's duty. The LPS implementation expected barriers are also ranked from one to five: as Labor-related, internal working environment-related, stakeholders-related, exogenous related, and material related expected barriers respectively. The last planner system has many benefits as agreed by different scholar’s those are time-related, Cost-related, claim-related, and quality-related benefits are the main benefits obtained through the LPS implementation and it is possible to conclude; LPS is useful for the road construction management system. The research is significant in creating awareness & understanding on the adoption of the lean construction tool (LPS) in sustainable construction, to improve knowledge and understanding of the implementation of LPS. Moreover, the LPS implementation conceptual framework was also developed based on the last planner system principles.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
1.2 Statement of the problem
1.3. Objective of the study
1.3.1 General Objective
1.3.2 Specific objectives
1.4 Research questions
1.5 Significance of the study
1.6 Scope and Limitation of the research
1.7 Structure of the research
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Background to the road construction project
2.3 Road Construction in Ethiopia
2.4 Road Construction in Addis Ababa
2.5 Performance of Addis Ababa City Road Projects
2.5.1 Productivity, Profitability and performance
2.6 Factors affecting the performance of road construction projects
2.7 Lean Construction
2.7.1 Lean construction principles
2.7.2 Traditional and Lean construction
2.7.3 Advantages of applying lean construction system
2.7.4 Barriers for lean construction implementation
2.7.5 Lean Construction Tools
2.8 Last Planner System
2.8.1 Initiation of Last planner system
2.8.2 Last planner system in Road construction
2.9 Research Gap
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1. Introduction
3.2 The Study Area
3.3 Study Design
3.4. Population and sampling techniques
3.4.1 Population of the study
3.4.2 Sampling
3.5 Method of data collection
3.5.1 Interview
3.5.2 Questioners
3.5.4 Focus group discussion
3.5.5 Document review
3.6. Procedure of data collection
3.7. Method of data analysis
3.7.1 The super decision model
3.8 How conceptual framework was developed
3.9 Data validation and reliability
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Current road construction management practice in Addis Ababa city
4.2.1 Observation result and discussion
4.2.2 Interview result and discussion
4.3 Last planner system implementation expected barriers
4.3.1 General information
4.3.2 Respondents profile
4.3.3 Assessment on last planner system practice on AA road construction projects
4.3.4 Analyzing last planner system implementation expected barriers using SPSS
4.4 Modeling the last planner system implementation expected barriers
4.5 Benefits of last planner system implementation
4.6 Last planner system implementation conceptual framework
4.6.1 Conducting the focus group discussion
4.6.2 Conceptual framework discussion
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Conclusions
5.2 Recommendations
5.2.1 Expectations from stakeholders
5.2.2 Expectations from the government
5.2.3 Recommendations for further study
Research Objectives and Core Themes
The primary goal of this research is to evaluate the utility of implementing the Last Planner System (LPS) to enhance construction process management within road projects in Addis Ababa. The study addresses the recurring issues of project delays, budget overruns, and quality concerns by identifying expected implementation barriers and benefits, ultimately developing a conceptual framework tailored for the local construction context.
- Analysis of current road construction management practices in Addis Ababa.
- Identification and prioritization of expected barriers to LPS implementation using the Super Decision Model.
- Prioritization of benefits derived from LPS implementation in local road projects.
- Development of a conceptual framework for LPS implementation to improve project performance.
Excerpt from the Book
1.1 Background of the Study
The construction industry is the means through which a society achieves its goals of urban and rural development. Still, it's getting decreasingly more complex partly because of the complexity of the construction process itself, and the large number of parties involved including Owners, users, designers, regulators, contractors, suppliers, and others.
The road transportation is a vital component of the economic and social development process, and absorbing a high amount of the national budget. This transportation system is responsible for the majority, if not all, of business, personal, and public economies. Road transport system of the developed or developing country represents a major part of that country’s infrastructure significance both in terms of investment made in creating the highway network and its benefit on the country’s economic development (Kassaye, 2016).
Generally, this chapter is an introductory part of the entire study. It gives some information about the environment and hypotheticals in which the research is conducted. Construction industry, the true power of the national economy, through which the total of physical development is attained. It is an energetic component of a country’s economy and has a significant effect on other industry sectors' efficiency and productivity. It is not possible to think of all-embracing investments like agriculture, manufacturing, fishery, etc. without road construction facilities (Tadewos & Patel, 2018).
According to the researcher’s construction industry is seen as a slowly progressing industry with numerous Problems. Specifically, the Road construction industry is often described as an industry with many problems and a lack of efficiency related to human resource performance. Several researchers have expressed concern about the continued decline in the performance of the construction industry and the increasing challenges facing the industry. To deal with this situation, some construction companies have adopted a Total Quality Management (TQM) system and others have tried rightsizing, restructuring, and other concepts to reverse the trend. The other recent way out to this problem is said to be in using the concept of lean construction (LC).
Summary of Chapters
CHAPTER ONE: Provides an introduction to the research background, statement of the problem, and outlines the objectives, significance, scope, and structure of the study.
CHAPTER TWO: Presents a comprehensive literature review on road construction, lean construction principles, the Last Planner System, and performance factors, establishing the theoretical basis for the research.
CHAPTER THREE: Details the research methodology, including the study area, research design, population and sampling techniques, data collection instruments, and the analytical approach using the Super Decision Model.
CHAPTER FOUR: Reports the findings from observations, interviews, and questionnaires, discussing current management practices, identified barriers, and the prioritized benefits of LPS, alongside the developed conceptual framework.
CHAPTER FIVE: Synthesizes the research conclusions and provides specific recommendations for stakeholders and the government to improve construction management performance.
Keywords
Road construction projects, Lean construction, Last planner system, Addis Ababa, Construction management, Project performance, Barriers, Benefits, Super Decision Model, Infrastructure development, Process improvement, Workflow reliability, Sustainability, Construction industry, Planning and scheduling.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The research explores the applicability and usefulness of the Last Planner System (LPS) as a lean construction tool to enhance the management of road construction projects in Addis Ababa, which frequently suffer from delays and cost overruns.
What are the central thematic areas covered?
The study covers lean construction philosophy, project performance metrics in road construction, barriers to adopting new management tools, and the development of conceptual frameworks based on the Last Planner System.
What is the primary objective of this thesis?
The objective is to assess the usefulness of LPS implementation in Addis Ababa city road projects to improve current construction management practices by identifying barriers and benefits through a mixed-methods approach.
Which scientific methodology does the author employ?
The researcher uses a mixed-research design, combining qualitative and quantitative data. Methods include self-observation, interviews, questionnaires, and focus group discussions, with data analysis facilitated by SPSS and the Super Decision Model (based on the Analytic Network Process).
What aspects are addressed in the main body of the work?
The main body examines current local construction practices, identifies specific barriers (categorized by labor, environment, stakeholders, exogenous factors, and materials), and prioritizes the benefits of LPS, ultimately modeling these findings into an implementation framework.
Which keywords characterize this thesis?
Key terms include Road construction projects, Lean construction, Last planner system, Project performance, Construction management, and Addis Ababa.
What were the most significant barriers to LPS implementation identified?
The study found that labor-related barriers, specifically the unfamiliarity with and misunderstanding of LPS concepts, combined with internal working environment issues like a lack of adequate awareness, were among the most significant hurdles.
How does the conceptual framework assist stakeholders?
The developed conceptual framework provides a structured guideline or benchmark for road construction projects in Addis Ababa to manage, measure, and evaluate workflow, thereby helping to minimize waste and increase overall productivity.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Zenawi Limenih (Autor:in), 2022, Usefulness of Adopting the last Planner System in the Construction Process of Addis Ababa Road Projects, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1185066
