Launched in 2007, the aim of LIPS was to extend lean project management to public sector construction projects.
Recognising that architectural determinism is a reality, since 2014 the remit has extended to include the application of lean thinking to government operations generally so that new facilities support, rather than hinder, new and more effective ways of delivering government services.
Annual conferences in the US, Europe, Australia, and Latin America have been supplemented with more focused events such as a conference for Higher Education Owners in the US in 2013.
Successes include:
- Introducing the lean management philosophy and methods to Australia’s project alliancing.
- Following the pioneering work of the Finland’s Transportation Agency, a range of Finnish government organisations has successfully applied lean and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) principles to over 35 projects since 2009 with more on the way.
- At the 2013 conference we learned that the European Commission ruled against a challenge to the contract award of one of those Finnish projects, thus providing proof that integrated project delivery is legal under EU construction procurement regulations.
- In the US, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has led in the development and testing of alternative contract structures and methods of aligning commercial interests, and this without multi-party contracts, which are not currently allowed for the university system.
- The California state university system and many community college systems are also successfully applying lean concepts and methods within the limits of current regulations.
- Outside California, other university systems are also pushing the limits–the University of Washington and Michigan State University among the foremost of those.