Optimisation of construction implemented as a manufacturing process

The importance of simulation and modelling has increased as the price of computing has plummeted. Furthermore, there have been significant changes in the nature of construction and manufacturing industrial services. The services and the methods of construction and manufacture have become more complex, higher standards are required for new technology that has necessitated the introduction of new processes and strategies. One of the major difficulties associated with construction projects is the supply of labour and materials, and the effect that these may have on the time and cost of the project. Construction projects are frequently very labour intensive, so that the time required for completion and therefore the overall cost of such projects may be seriously affected by decisions regarding the utilisation of labour, and consequently the completion time. This thesis investigates the adoption of a simulation program originally developed for Electro-mechanical and production engineering to control and develop operation and resource allocation in manufacturing industry. This research applies simulation to the construction industry to show the effects of decisions regarding the use and distribution of the labour resource, and the supply of materials, on the time and labour cost of the project in order to improve productivity.

Computer based simulation procedures have long been used in mechanical and electronic production processes, but have been relatively little used in the construction industry. This is largely due to the individual nature of construction projects, the frequent heavy dependency on labour resources, and the processes that are involved within such projects. Simulation has been used for modelling various manufacturing processes, especially in automated manufacturing systems. This research demonstrates how simulation can be adapted for optimisation of construction activities. The research describes the approach to modelling, and shows how models of standard processes used in construction work and manufacturing can be developed. This is achieved by extending the objectives of the process simulation from productivity growth and breakdown, to resource allocation and site planning in order to minimise the cost and maximise the production efficiency. In order to demonstrate how this is achieved, a simple construction activity and its manufacturing operations are considered.