This paper presents a case study on a complex construction project that demanded a great level of... more This paper presents a case study on a complex construction project that demanded a great level of prefabrication in order to meet a fast schedule and to overcome logistical challenges. The study was carried out with a mechanical contractor firm developing a series of Engineered-to-Order (ETO) components for the project. The objective of the research was to study the possibility of devising an integrated approach for production planning and control for this ETO environment. Two papers report on this research. The first one describes the methods used to plan in an integrated manner the prefabrication, delivery, and installation of ETO components at the job site. This second one discusses the use of BIM to support such integrated management and the challenges faced during its implementation. Finally, the paper describes how the team used lean construction principles to overcome some of these challenges. The contributions of this paper include, first, articulating challenges faced when using BIM on a complex project as a support to managerial practices and, second, illustrating the use of lean principles in the design-production interface as a means of leveraging BIM.
Industrialization has been pointed out as a major requirement to improve efficiency, quality, and... more Industrialization has been pointed out as a major requirement to improve efficiency, quality, and safety in construction projects. Nonetheless, some of the side effects of industrialization are increasing the complexity of construction by including new technologies, engaging different subcontractors; increasing interdependencies between trades; and so forth. The aim of this paper is to develop a planning procedure for facilitating the integration between off-site fabrication and on-site installation, for achieving a just-in-time delivery, based on an action research study conducted with an HVAC subcontractor. It is part of a wider research project, aiming to develop a planning and control model for engineer-to-order (ETO) prefabricated building systems. The procedure developed in this research helped the team to review the schedule proposed by the GC in terms of constructability, get team consensus regarding installation sequence, improve communication between contractor and fabricators, support fabricators in defining fabrication rhythms and mix of production; and helped the project team solving logistic challenges. The main challenge faced in this research was related uncertainty and unforeseen changes to the developed plans. As a result, we also explored a way of tying fabrication plans to critical activities in the job site to facilitate matching fabrication rate with site demand.
This paper presents a case study on a complex construction project that demanded a great level of... more This paper presents a case study on a complex construction project that demanded a great level of prefabrication in order to meet a fast schedule and to overcome logistical challenges. The study was carried out with a mechanical contractor firm developing a series of Engineered-to-Order (ETO) components for the project. The objective of the research was to study the possibility of devising an integrated approach for production planning and control for this ETO environment. Two papers report on this research. The first one describes the methods used to plan in an integrated manner the prefabrication, delivery, and installation of ETO components at the job site. This second one discusses the use of BIM to support such integrated management and the challenges faced during its implementation. Finally, the paper describes how the team used lean construction principles to overcome some of these challenges. The contributions of this paper include, first, articulating challenges faced when using BIM on a complex project as a support to managerial practices and, second, illustrating the use of lean principles in the design-production interface as a means of leveraging BIM.
Industrialization has been pointed out as a major requirement to improve efficiency, quality, and... more Industrialization has been pointed out as a major requirement to improve efficiency, quality, and safety in construction projects. Nonetheless, some of the side effects of industrialization are increasing the complexity of construction by including new technologies, engaging different subcontractors; increasing interdependencies between trades; and so forth. The aim of this paper is to develop a planning procedure for facilitating the integration between off-site fabrication and on-site installation, for achieving a just-in-time delivery, based on an action research study conducted with an HVAC subcontractor. It is part of a wider research project, aiming to develop a planning and control model for engineer-to-order (ETO) prefabricated building systems. The procedure developed in this research helped the team to review the schedule proposed by the GC in terms of constructability, get team consensus regarding installation sequence, improve communication between contractor and fabricators, support fabricators in defining fabrication rhythms and mix of production; and helped the project team solving logistic challenges. The main challenge faced in this research was related uncertainty and unforeseen changes to the developed plans. As a result, we also explored a way of tying fabrication plans to critical activities in the job site to facilitate matching fabrication rate with site demand.
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