Short-Interval Planning & the Last Planner System

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This one's a keeper: Short-Interval Planning & the Last Planner System. Here's the heart of it: The master CPM sets strategy; the Last Planner System executes it — a 3–6 week lookahead that makes work ready by removing constraints, pull planning, and PPC measurement — turning a top-down schedule into reliable week-to-week production. Get this down and you'll work smarter, safer, and a step ahead of the crew.

The master CPM schedule sets the strategy; short-interval planning executes it week to week. A 3–6 week lookahead pulls upcoming work from the master schedule and makes it ready.

The Last Planner System (LPS)

A Lean Construction method in which the people who actually do the work plan it collaboratively — dramatically improving reliability over a schedule handed down from the office.

Going Deeper (Intermediate)

The LPS flow: master schedule → phase (pull) planning → lookahead (make-ready) → weekly work plan → PPC measurement. The heart of it is "make-ready": before an activity is scheduled, you remove its constraints — information, materials, prerequisite work, and inspections — so the crew can actually perform when they show up.

Advanced / Pro-Level

Pull planning has the team plan backward from a milestone (sticky notes on the wall), surfacing real hand-offs. A constraint log tracks what's blocking upcoming work. Percent Plan Complete (PPC) measures how many promised tasks were actually completed, and you root-cause the misses to improve. LPS is a cultural shift to commitment-based planning that reduces the variability that wrecks CPM schedules — and it integrates with, rather than replaces, the master schedule.

Practice Challenge

A crew shows up Monday but can't start — materials aren't on site and the prior inspection hasn't passed. Which Last Planner step was skipped? (Answer: "make-ready" planning in the lookahead — constraints (materials staged, predecessor inspection passed) must be removed before an activity hits the weekly work plan. LPS exists precisely so work is ready and crews aren't sent home — something a CPM bar alone doesn't guarantee.)

Takeaway: The master CPM sets strategy; the Last Planner System executes it — a 3–6 week lookahead that makes work ready by removing constraints, pull planning, and PPC measurement — turning a top-down schedule into reliable week-to-week production.

Educational overview — methods, contracts, and laws vary by project and jurisdiction; follow your specific contract and consult professionals.