The Last Planner® System and Building Information Modeling in Construction Execution: From an Integrative Review to a Conceptual Model for Integration

Abstract

Many researchers have stated that lean and building information modeling (BIM) have positive synergies. This integrative literature review aims at exploring this body of knowledge within the scope of combinations of BIM and the Last Planner® System, as an important Lean construction method, in the phase of construction execution. The research motivation is to find out whether a comprehensive understanding of how to take advantage of these synergies exists. Eventually, the question arises of how to condense this understanding—if existing—into a robust conceptual model for integration. As a theoretical backbone, we will make use of the original BIM-Lean interaction matrix. The hypothesis is that new BIM functionalities have been evolved since the first formulation of this interaction matrix almost 10 years ago. These new BIM functionalities cause new interactions with existing lean principles. We will focus on interactions that refer directly or indirectly to production planning and control and use them to find the most relevant literature for this review. Within the content analysis, as a part of this review, we focus on existing conceptual models and frameworks for integration of BIM and the Last Planner® System and reveal their shortcomings. Eventually, we will propose a new conceptual model.