Dunlop, P G and Smith, S D (2002) Simulation analysis of the UK concrete delivery and placement process: A tool for planners. In: Greenwood, D (ed.) Proceedings of 18th Annual ARCOM Conference, 2-4 September 2002, Northumbria, UK.
Abstract
The UK construction industry continually strives to improve previous performance and increase financial efficiency in terms of labour, plant and materials. Construction projects are very rarely made up of one activity or process and in most cases projects involve a multitude of task specific and intricate processes. In order to achieve desired goals, such as better productivity rates, it is fundamental that an improvement is witnessed in the performance of each and every process. One such process is the delivery and placement of ready-mixed concrete. Evident in the vast majority of major civil engineering projects in the UK, concrete is a very valuable material, and one that requires meticulous planning in order to successfully get it to site and into the required formwork. The successful completion of many construction projects, on time and within budget, can be decided by the effectiveness of the concreting phase. So, therefore, why in the UK are very few tools available for the efficient planning and completion of concrete operations? It is proposed that by using simulation to model the concrete process it will be possible to plan and manage productivity rates of concrete operations. The factors that influence the concrete system can be summarized as: truck mixer interarrival time, truck mixer position time, concrete load pump time and truck mixer volume. This paper will look at a model of the above factors, based on over 300 'real' concrete pours. The random variability of these factors can be incorporated into a model by using the gamma probability distribution for the interarrival time, the exponential probability function for the position time and finally the inverse Gaussian probability distribution for the pump time. The development of the model and the simulation runs carried out will be described. The main results of the experimental process will aid planners in optimizing the concrete process by maximizing productivity and minimizing cost.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | concrete operations; cyclic construction processes; Monte Carlo simulation; probability distribution functions |
| Index terms: | efficiency, placement, simulation analysis, Monte Carlo simulation, productivity, formwork, probability distribution, concreting, construction project, construction process, planner, effectiveness, construction industry, variability |
| Subjects: | profession, modelling and simulation, design analysis, management, performance management, production management, building construction, industry analysis, statistical analysis |
| Topics: | Site Management, Design Practice, Quality Management, Human Resources, Roles and Professions, Construction Technology, Business Strategy, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Project Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here