Effects of the location-based management system on production rates and productivity

Location-based management systems (LBMSs) are becoming more commonly used to plan and control production in construction projects. The main use has been to compress durations and improve resource efficiency through real-time production control and forecasting. LBMS theory proposes that instead of continuously updating the plan with actualized completion dates, as with the critical path method (CPM), control actions can be used to manage an effective response to deviations in production in order to realign the schedule forecast with the approved plan. Three healthcare construction projects in California were monitored to document the effects of planning and control decisions on production rates, resources and labour consumption. First, the authors hypothesize that proposed control actions based on the system led to real actions in the field. Second, these control actions helped in controlling production rates. Third, control actions decreased subcontractor labour consumption. The results show that control actions were implemented as a response to production alarms and half of the implemented control actions were able to prevent production problems. Many control actions successfully improved production and labour consumption rates with a long-term impact. However, adding resources often increased labour consumption and negated part of the expected production rate benefit.