Shielding Production: Essential Step in Production Control
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 124, Issue 1
Abstract
Effective production control systems are structured around the assignment as the unit of analysis. The quality of work assignments in production units such as construction crews and engineering squads is the key to production control and for determining production unit productivity. Research has revealed that the quality of assignments can be substantially improved by forming and selecting them to meet soundness, sequence, and size criteria. Quality assignments shield production units from work flow uncertainty, enabling those units to improve their own productivity, and also improve the productivity of the production units downstream. The associated reduction in task duration can shorten projects. Further reduction of project duration comes from shortening the buffers previously needed to accommodate flow uncertainty.
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Copyright © 1998 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Published online: Jan 1, 1998
Published in print: Jan 1998
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