A hybrid and intuitive work packaging approach with multiple task relations, general work package precedence, and BIM in modular construction

A work package is an element of the work breakdown structure, which includes tasks, deliverables, and all necessary details for execution by a designated team. In modular construction (MC) production, effective work packaging is crucial for ensuring efficient task execution, reducing project costs, and maintaining schedules. However, existing research on work packaging primarily focuses on tasks with single precedence relationships, overlooking the complex task dependencies that can arise in MC production, such as parallel and cyclic tasks. To address this issue, this study proposes a hybrid and intuitive work packaging (HIWP) approach that allows concurrent execution of work packages and visualizes work packaging results. First, at the task level, we expand task type identification by incorporating parallel and cyclic tasks. Second, at the work package level, a heuristic algorithm was developed to optimize work package sizing under the general precedence relation (GPR), which allows work packages to overlap during execution. Finally, a web-based platform was developed by integrating building information modeling (BIM) technology. The contribution of this study contains a GPR-based work package sizing method, which allows the simultaneous execution of work packages, significantly improving the efficiency and accuracy of work packaging in MC projects. Additionally, an integrated BIM-based platform is developed to facilitate the visualization, querying, and communication of work package results. Experimental results demonstrate an 8.1% cost reduction compared with existing methods. Additionally, HIWP shows a 40% potential cost reduction in simulation experiments and provides up to five times faster response when adjusting to shortened project durations.