A New Vocabulary for Lean Scheduling
Posted by Holly Allison on Tue, Dec 14, 2010 @ 12:57 PM
This week's Fridays with Vico webinar focuses on the synergies between LBMS (Location-Based Management System) and LPS (Last Planner System), a tool developed by the Lean Construction Institute.
What: An Introduction to LBMS and LPS
When: Archived for your convenience
Where: A free online webinar
This webinar contains a lot of new acronyms and terms. Let’s take a minute to walk through the alphabet soup.
LBMS = Location-Based Management System
One of the key differentiators of Vico's construction software and services is location-based management. Location-based management system is different than the familiar activity-based critical path method. It concentrates on planning, scheduling, and controlling projects by location and is focused on improving profitability for all project stakeholders.
The location-based management system relies on the progress of work crews as they migrate (or flow) through a building. The goal is to preserve the work crew's productivity rate as they move from location to location and minimize the number of starts and stops.
LPS = Last Planner System
This system was developed at the Lean Construction Institute and is designed to improve the reliability of the commitments of the team members (the PMs, the Last Planners, and the Subs). With this system, planning is a collaborative effort and the participants work together to identify which work can be completed and when.
LBS = Location Breakdown Structure
Location Breakdown Structure is a logical subdivision of the project using horizontal and vertical splits that define the scheduling and cost planning units of a project.
The LBS can start with a floor or story of the building and then be further delineated into location systems, and then zones. The LBS can even start with Phases, such as Laboratory, Surgical Rooms, and Patient areas, as a hospital example. You obviously wouldn’t divide an interior as you would a slab; therefore, location breakdown structures contain floors which contain location systems, further divided into zones.
LS = Location System
Location systems are divided into logical groupings for superstructure, exterior, MEP, etc.
Zones
Tasks are assigned to a location system which are divided into zones like East and West.
Flowline = the scheduling theory in Vico Control.
Flowline theory asserts that subcontractors can work at optimum productivity rates with optimum safety and craftsmanship if their location is free of unnecessary materials and other crews.
Model-Based Scheduling = deriving the quantities from the geometry of a BIM model, assigning them via a location breakdown structure, and using the quoted or historical productivity rate per crew to get the project schedule.
Vico Control = a unique location-based construction management system for both scheduling and production control. Control's flowline scheduling system incorporates locations, model-based quantities, and productivity rates yielding clear, accurate and feasible, yet significantly compressed, schedules. Equally important is the ability to "control" the schedule on-site to forecast crew pile-ups and interferences based on actual productivity rates. With this real-time data, the scheduler and superintendent can work together to adjust crew sizes by location to keep the project on track. Read through the frequently-asked questions about Control.
Caption: A location breakdown structure can includes floors of the building which can then be divided into location systems (the 1st Floor example includes superstructure, exterior, and MEP) and each divided into separate work zones. These 3D zones then calculate the quantities by location, and when combined with productivity rates and resources, define the task durations.
Interest from Owners in these techniques is palpable, so take your first step by learning about them on Fridays with Vico.
What: An Introduction to LBMS and LPS
When: Archived for your convenience
Where: A free online webinar