34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34) - Singapore, Singapore - 2026

https://doi.org/10.24928/2026/0144

Lean practices and the governance of modern methods of construction: articulation of planning horizons in MMC-based production systems

Bernardo M. B. S. Etges1, Marcus C. T. Fireman2 & Raquel Reck3

1PhD Candidate, M.Sc. Eng., Founding-Partner at Climb Consulting Group, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil, [email protected] , orcid.org/0000-0002-3037-5597
2PhD Candidate, M.Sc. Eng., Founding-Partner at Climb Consulting Group, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0001-5843-4715
3Lean Consultant at Climb Consulting Group and PhD NORIE/UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0003-1928-3461

Abstract

The construction industry is increasingly adopting Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) to improve productivity, predictability, and integration across project stages. While Lean Construction is widely recognized as a key enabler of MMC, existing research has primarily examined Lean practices in isolation or emphasized short-term planning routines, offering limited insight into how these practices are articulated across planning horizons and governed in practice. This study investigates how Lean practices are distributed and articulated across planning horizons in MMC-based production systems, and how digital support shapes the governance of planning and control across off-site and on-site operations. The study integrates empirical evidence from multiple Brazilian construction projects to identify cross-cutting patterns. It finds Lean practices are more mature at the operational level but remain weak at strategic and tactical layers—especially in medium-term planning and off-site logistics. Digital tools improve transparency and coordination, yet they alone do not ensure effective articulation across planning horizons. The paper contributes to Lean Construction theory by showing that, in MMC-based production systems, the Last Planner System (LPS) can be interpreted not only as a planning and control system, but also as a governance-oriented mechanism for aligning decisions, commitments, and information across planning horizons.

Keywords

Lean Construction, modern methods of construction, planning horizons, governance.

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Reference in APA 7th edition format:

Etges, B. M. B. S., Fireman, M. C. T. & Reck, R.. (2026). Lean practices and the governance of modern methods of construction: articulation of planning horizons in MMC-based production systems. In Hamzeh, F., Poshdar, M., & Garcia-Lopez,, N. P. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34) (pp. 1535–1546). https://doi.org/10.24928/2026/0144

Shortened reference for use in IGLC papers:

Etges, B. M. B. S., Fireman, M. C. T. & Reck, R.. (2026). Lean practices and the governance of modern methods of construction: articulation of planning horizons in MMC-based production systems. IGLC34. https://doi.org/10.24928/2026/0144

 

Founded in 1993, the IGLC is an international network of researchers from practice and academia in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) who feel that the practice, education, and research of the AEC industry have to be radically renewed in order to respond to the global challenges ahead.

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