Using Real-Time Indoor Resource Positioning to Track the Progress of Tasks in Construction Sites

Lean construction methods have demonstrated potential to improve construction productivity. For example, the location-based management system and the last planner system have increased the reliability of planning and control in construction production. However, these benefits are often reduced because of inaccurate manual data collection. To alleviate these problems, technologies for automated monitoring of workers have been developed to identify site events in chaotic environments. This paper aims to investigate whether a Bluetooth low-energy-based real-time indoor positioning system can monitor task progress from workers’ presence. Our findings suggest that the proposed system is a feasible solution for monitoring task-level progress when there are explicit dependencies between tasks. This method could automatically detect task start and finish times and estimate the hours required to complete a task. This enables the measurement of waste hidden inside tasks, which allows for interventions for improving flows and eliminating waste.

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Exploring the links between simulation modelling and construction production planning and control: a case study on the last planner system

Production Planning & Control ◽

10.1080/09537287.2021.1934588 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-18

Author(s):

Mohammed Adel Abdelmegid ◽

Vicente A. González ◽

Michael O’Sullivan ◽

Cameron G. Walker ◽

Mani Poshdar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Production Planning ◽

Simulation Modelling ◽

Production Planning And Control ◽

Planning And Control ◽

Last Planner System ◽

Last Planner ◽

And Control

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Prospect of lean practices towards construction supply chain management trends

International Journal of Lean Six Sigma ◽

10.1108/ijlss-06-2020-0071 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Phuoc Luong Le ◽

Nguyen Thi Duc Nguyen

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

Supply Chain Management ◽

Problem Solving ◽

Chain Management ◽

Content Type ◽

Architectural Engineering ◽

Planning And Control ◽

Last Planner System ◽

Last Planner ◽

And Control

Purpose To deal with the present situation and recover after the COVID-19 pandemic, construction firms are required to recognise the trends in construction supply chain management (CSCM) for the upcoming years and determine the appropriate practices towards the trends for the improvement of construction activities in terms of strategy, tactic and operations. This paper aims to recognise key trends in CSCM and uses these trends as strategic criteria for the evaluation and prioritisation of lean construction (LC) tools at different project phases including design and architectural engineering, planning and control, on-site construction and safety management. Design/methodology/approach The integrated analytic hierarchy process–Delphi method is used to collect and analyse the data from construction experts to evaluate the importance levels of the CSCM trends and recommend the appropriate tools for LC practices to improve project performances. Findings Seven key CSCM trends are identified: lean supply chain management (SCM), supply chain (SC) integration, SC standardisation, SC problem-solving, SC information-sharing, SC flexibility and SC sustainability. Based on these trends, a set of prioritised lean tools are suggested for LC practices, in which “virtual design construction” (VDC) and “last planner system” are considered as the central tools. These two LC practices can be integrated with other effective tools to support the strategic, tactical and operational targets in construction supply chain (CSC) projects. Research limitations/implications This study gives the managerial implications by developing an application framework of LC practices for CSC projects. The framework promotes “VDC” as a strategic tool for the phase of design and architectural engineering and considers “last planner system” as the central LC practice for the phase of project planning and control. The framework also focuses on the improvement of efficiency in construction operations by taking into account the aspects of on-site collaboration, problem-solving, improvement and safety. Originality/value Up to date, there is still a lack of researches in classifying and prioritising the significant LC tools for each project phase to deal with CSC issues in both breadth and depth. Thus, this study is performed to provide construction managers with the awareness of CSCM trends on which they can focus to have strategic criteria for selecting LC practices to improve CSC performances.

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Integrating critical chain project management with last planner system for linear scheduling of modular construction

Construction Innovation ◽

10.1108/ci-05-2018-0046 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Tarek Salama ◽

Ahmad Salah ◽

Osama Moselhi

Keyword(s):

Project Management ◽

Control Procedure ◽

Modular Construction ◽

Content Type ◽

Linear Scheduling ◽

Last Planner System ◽

Critical Chain Project Management ◽

Last Planner ◽

And Control ◽

Critical Chain

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a new method for project tracking and control of integrated offsite and onsite activities in modular construction considering practical characteristics associated with this type of construction. Design/methodology/approach The design embraces building information modelling and integrates last planner system (LPS), linear scheduling method (LSM) and critical chain project management (CCPM) to develop tracking and control procedures for modular construction projects. The developed method accounts for constraints of resources continuity and uncertainties associated with activity duration. Features of proposed method are illustrated in a case example for tracking and control of modular projects. Findings Comparison between developed schedule and Monte Carlo simulation showed that baseline duration generated from simulation exceeds that produced by developed method by 12% and 10% for schedules with 50% and 90% confidence level, respectively. These percentages decrease based on interventions of members of project team in the LPS sessions. The case example results indicate that project is delayed 5% and experienced cost overrun of 2.5%. Originality/value Developed method integrated LPS, LSM and CCPM while using metrics for reliability assessment of linear schedules, namely, critical percent plan complete (PPCcr) and buffer index (BI). PPCcr and BI measure percentage of plan completion for critical activities and buffer consumption, respectively. The developed method provides a systematic procedure for forecasting look-ahead schedules using forecasting correction factor Δt and a newly developed tracking and control procedure that uses PPCcr and BI. Quantitative cost analysis is also provided to forecast and monitor project costs to prove the robustness of proposed framework.

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Die synchrone Produktion*/Synchronous manufacturing - An approach for semi-autonomous production planning and control and human-based decision support

wt Werkstattstechnik online ◽

10.37544/1436-4980-2015-04-46 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 105 (04) ◽

pp. 204-208

Author(s):

D. Kreimeier ◽

E. Müller ◽

F. Morlock ◽

D. Jentsch ◽

H. Unger ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Support ◽

Real Time ◽

Production Planning ◽

Data Exchange ◽

Production Control ◽

Production Planning And Control ◽

Planning And Control ◽

Manufacturing Execution Systems ◽

And Control ◽

Manufacturing Execution

Kurzfristige sowie ungeplante Änderungen – wie Auftragsschwankungen, Maschinenausfälle oder Krankheitstage der Mitarbeiter – beeinflussen die Produktionsplanung und -steuerung (PPS) von Industriefirmen. Trends wie Globalisierung und erhöhter Marktdruck verstärken diese Probleme. Zur Komplexitätsbewältigung bei der Entscheidungsfindung zur Fertigungssteuerung kommen in der Produktion Werkzeuge der „Digitalen Fabrik“, beispielsweise Simulationsprogramme, oder IT (Informationstechnologie)-Lösungen, wie Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), zum Einsatz. Eine Verknüpfung dieser Bereiche würde einen echtzeitfähigen Datenaustausch erlauben, der wiederum eine echtzeitfähige Entscheidungsunterstützung bietet. Der Fachbeitrag stellt hierfür einen Lösungsansatz vor.   Sudden and unsystematic changes, such as fluctuations in order flow, machine failures, or employee sick days affect the Production Planning and Control (PPC) activities of industrial companies. Trends like globalization and increased market pressure intensify these problems. To master the complexity of decision-making in production control, tools of the digital factory (e.g. simulation systems) or IT systems (e.g. Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)) are applied in manufacturing. Combining these areas would enable real-time capable data exchange which, in turn, provides real-time capable decision support. This article presents an approach for solving this problem.

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