Last Planner System and Scrum: Comparative analysis and suggestions for adjustments

This study provides a critical review of the concepts of Agile, Lean, Scrum, and Last Planner^® System (LPS). A comparative analysis is conducted between LPS and Scrum to expand LPS by considering Scrum’s best practices. Eight dimensions, namely, 1) origins, 2) main purpose, 3) overall system/framework process, 4) tools or artifacts maintained by the team, 5) team composition and main roles, 6) regular events or team meetings, 7) metrics/dashboards, and 8) approach to learning, are evaluated. After analyzing side by side the eight dimensions, it was found that many aspects from Scrum already exist in LPS in the same or similar form. However, the authors identify four main elements from Scrum that can be leveraged to improve the LPS benchmark, such as considering the Scrum “Increment” concept into LPS, having a clear definition of roles and responsibilities, or adding an equivalent to a Scrum Master to have a designated “rule keeper” in LPS. These opportunities to be considered in new LPS benchmarks need to be tested and validated with real applications. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work is the first to comprehensively compare Scrum (Agile) and LPS (Lean) and could be seen as a contribution toward the evolution of the Last Planner System for the academic and industrial environments.     

基于物联网和BIM的城市生命线运维管理研究

分析了城市生命线运维阶段存在的问题,基于物联网和建筑信息模型(BIM)的应用特点,讨论了其在城市生命线运维管理阶段的适应性,提出了基于BIM的物联网城市生命线安全运维管理系统框架,为未来建立智慧城市提供一定的参考依据。     

Robots for masonry construction – Status quo and thoughts for the German market

Masonry building is subject to the consequences of societal developments just as much as any other industry. Demographic change and digitalisation in particular will be disruptive and change the industry significantly. While demographic change will mostly generate challenges, digitalisation offers many opportunities, especially for the coping with developments due to demographic change, such as the lack of skilled workers. One of these opportunities is represented by robots for masonry building. This paper provides an overview of the current status of masonry robots and analyses the special requirements for masonry robots in the German market.     

Systematic literature review on smart contracts in the construction industry: Potentials,benefits, and challenges

The development of digital transformation in the construction industry has led to the increasing adoption of smart contracts. As programmable applications to automatically write, verify, and enforce transaction conditions, smart contracts can be used in different areas mainly to improve automation level, information security, and built digital environment enhancement. However, the smart contract is commonly mentioned as a blockchain appendage, while its unique connotation and value in the construction industry have not been recognized. Therefore, this study carries out a systematic review based on 81 research articles published from 2014 to 2021 on smart contract applications in construction to explore and highlight their potentials under domain-specific requirements. Results are analyzed according to research type categorization and domain codification. Eight research domains are identified, where the three most highly explored domains are contract and payment, supply chain and logistics, and information management. The integration of smart contracts with other innovative concepts and advanced technologies is analyzed. The applicability, benefits, and challenges of smart contract applications regarding different research domains are discussed.