LEAPCON: Simulation of Lean Construction of High-Rise Apartment Buildings
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 133, Issue 7
Abstract
A lean model has been proposed for the construction management of high-rise apartment buildings with customized apartment designs. It incorporates a number of changes to traditional management practice, including single-piece flow with pull scheduling, work restructuring, and multiskilling. A simulated construction process scenario was devised for experimental evaluation of the model. The simulation was first implemented as a live management game, in which participants played the roles of the clients, general contractor, and subcontractors. Eleven runs with different teams indicated that the lean model increased throughput, improved cash flow, and reduced apartment delivery cycle time. However, the limitations of the live simulation led the writers to implement a discrete event computer simulation of the same process. The computer simulation reinforced the findings of the live simulation and emphasized the specific beneficial effect of single-piece flow under pull scheduling. The lean model may be of immediate interest to construction planners and managers because it enables full customization with minimal waste and no additional resources. The demonstrative clarity of the lean model simulation, both live and computerized, makes it a powerful tool for education and research.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 133 • Issue 7 • July 2007
Pages: 529 - 539
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Dec 16, 2005
Accepted: Dec 28, 2006
Published online: Jul 1, 2007
Published in print: Jul 2007
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