Understanding the planner’s role in lookahead construction planning

Abstract

Capacity planning is instrumental in production planning as the variability witnessed in construction projects complicates the planner’s role in achieving a balance between weekly task load and available resources. The purpose of this article is to assess the effects of capacity planning on a project’s time and cost performance and to inform planners on the pitfalls of uninformed capacity planning. A simulation model is developed to test several project scenarios against different capacity planning methods. Cost, time and planning quality measures are developed to track project’s performance throughout the construction period. Results show that the planner’s choice of capacity planning method and the type of project both affect a project’s cost and duration. Interestingly, informed planners who are aware of a project’s characteristics are able to achieve the best balance between weekly load and capacity. They are able to reduce incurred costs wasted on idle resources without significantly affecting the construction period.

Keywords:

• Capacity planning
• resource management
• simulation
• production planning
• lookahead planning

Acknowledgments

All findings and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect those of the contributors.

Additional information

Funding

This research is supported by the University Research Board (URB) [grant number 22264], the Civil and Environmental Engineering department at the American University of Beirut, and by the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS).

Notes on contributors

Hisham Abou-Ibrahim

Hisham Abou-Ibrahim is a PhD Candidate in Civil Engineering, with emphasis on Construction Engineering and Management, at the American University of Beirut (AUB). His research currently focuses on Design Management, Building Information Modeling (BIM), Production Planning and Control, and Capacity Planning. In addition to academics, Hisham has a previous professional experience as a structural design engineer in large residential and high-rise projects in the Middle East. His practical experience covers areas including structural design, project’s coordination, and site supervision.

Farook Hamzeh

Dr. Farook Hamzeh is an Assistant Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the American University of Beirut (AUB) since 2011. He earned his Bachelor and Masters from AUB and then later another Masters’ degree and a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Hamzeh has worked for more than seven years in the construction industry in Lebanon, Qatar, Dubai, and the United States on several mega projects. His research focus is in the areas of lean construction, production planning and control, building information modeling, design management, supply chain management, and 3D concrete printing.

Emile Zankoul

Emile Zankoul holds a Master’s Degree (ME 2015) in Construction Engineering Management from the American University of Beirut and works as a Research Assistant with a focus on simulation, visualization and optimization of construction operations as well as on the application of BIM and Design Technology in engineering and construction projects. In addition to academics, Emile is a Civil Engineer with experience in large infrastructure projects in the Middle East. His experience covers areas including project management, engineering design and BIM coordination. Emile has also received several certifications including LEED Green Associate and Project Management Professional.

Søren Munch Lindhard

Søren Munch Lindhard is a part time lecturer at the department of Civil Engineering at Aalborg University, Denmark. He received his PhD from Aalborg University in 2013, where he until 2015 worked as an Assistant Professor. In addition to his part time job as lecturer, Søren has from 2015 worked full time as project manager at a large contractor, where he currently is responsible for the general contract for infrastructure at a major hospital project in Denmark. Søren’s research is focused towards Construction Management where he works with production planning and scheduling of on-site construction.

Lynn Rizk

Lynn Rizk received a Bachelor’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering and a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from the American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon in 2015 and 2017, respectively. During her graduate career her research mainly focused on the field of Construction Management, specifically in areas of planning and scheduling, production planning, and capacity planning.