Hajifathalian, K; Wambeke, B W; Liu, M and Hsiang, S M (2012) Effects of production control strategy and duration variance on productivity and work in process: Simulation-based investigation. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 138(9), pp. 1035-1043. ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Improving productivity and reducing work-in-process are two activities that can improve project performance, but are often difficult to accomplish. The construction process is complex and consists of a large number of interdependent and sequential tasks. Construction activities are simulated as serial production lines, using state- and resource-based simulation of construction processes simulation models, to investigate the effects that different production control strategies (push/pull and balanced/unbalanced) have on productivity and work-in-process. The sensitivity to task duration variance is also examined for different working strategies. Simulation results are used to compare the models based on their performance. In the presence of duration variance, push strategies result in higher productivity, whereas pull strategies result in lower amounts of work-in-process. Pull strategies are more sensitive to the presence of duration variance. Work-inprocess is also a function of the coefficient of variance. Simulation results are used to compare the tradeoffs between strategies. The findings will help construction managers better understand the effects of working strategies and conditions to decide which production control strategy is best suited for their needs.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | duration variance; productivity; simulation; work in process |
| Index terms: | production control, investigation, variance, presence, tradeoff, duration, construction manager, construction activity, project performance, strategy, productivity, construction process |
| Subjects: | environmental science, project delivery, building construction, measurement and scaling, project management theory and practice, profession, data collection methods, decision analysis, project controls, construction operations, management |
| Topics: | Site Management, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Risk Management, Sustainability, Roles and Professions, Project Management, Time Control |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCA |
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