Augmented Balance Point Diagrams for Matching Site and Concrete-Supply Resources
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 146, Issue 4
Abstract
Matching site concrete-placing resources with the appropriate number of concrete-delivery truckmixers depends upon good site and concrete plant coordination if good concreting productivity is to be achieved. In general practice, however, the placing crew usually is idle for some of the pour time waiting for deliveries, and at other times, truckmixers are idle on site waiting to be emptied. In the case of concrete supplied by a circulating fleet of truckmixers, which is a balance point process, two new diagram models were developed relating fleet size to the parameters of placing-crew idle time, truckmixer idle time, truckmixer unloading time, round-trip time, and concrete-placing production rate. The new models augment classical balance point theory. To illustrate practical application: (1) the diagrams were developed and used to reveal system behavior insights for the case of three circulating truckmixers, and (2) the relevance of the new model to a real pour of 46 deliveries was examined in relation to the balancing of site and plant resources for better coordination and system productivity.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
All data generated or analyzed during the study are included in the published paper. Information about the Journal’s data-sharing policy can be found here: http://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001263.
References
Albayrak, G., and U. Albayrak. 2016. “Investigation of ready mixed concrete transportation problem using linear programming and genetic algorithm.” Civ. Eng. J. 2 (10): 491–496. https://doi.org/10.28991/cej-2016-00000052.
Anson, M., and T. H. Cooke. 1988. The operation and capacity of the ready mixed concrete industry—A regional study. Bailrigg, UK: Dept. of Engineering, Univ. of Lancaster.
Anson, M., S. L. Tang, and K. C. Ying. 2002. “Measurement of the performance of ready mixed concreting resources as data for system simulation.” Constr. Manage. Econ. 20 (3): 237–250. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446190210121297.
Anson, M., and S. Q. Wang. 1998. “Performance of concrete placing in Hong Kong buildings.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 124 (2): 116–124. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(1998)124:2(116).
Anson, M., S. Q. Wang, and Y. S. Wang. 1996. The concreting of Hong Kong buildings—A study of ready mixed concrete supply and site placing. Kowloon, Hong Kong: Construction Industry Development Studies and Research Centre, Dept. of Civil and Structural Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic Univ.
Anson, M., K. C. Ying, and M. F. Siu. 2019. “Analytical models towards explaining the difficulty in efficiently matching site concrete supply resources with placing crew needs.” Eng. Constr. Archit. Manage. 26 (8): 1672–1695. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-02-2018-0049.
Asbach, L., U. Dorndorf, and E. Pesch. 2009. “Analysis, modeling and solution of the concrete delivery problem.” Eur. J. Oper. Res. 193 (3): 820–835. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2007.11.011.
Aziz, R. F. 2018. “Statistical model for predicting and improving ready mixed concrete batch plants’ performance ratio under different influences.” Alexandria Eng. J. 57 (3): 1797–1809. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2017.06.016.
Bernold, L. E., and S. AbouRizk. 2010. Managing performance in construction. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Dawood, N. N. 1995. “Scheduling in the precast concrete industry using the simulation modelling approach.” Build. Environ. 30 (2): 197–207. https://doi.org/10.1016/0360-1323(94)00039-U.
Dunlop, P. G., and S. D. Smith. 2002. “Simulation analysis of the UK concrete delivery and placement process—A tool for planners.” In Proc., 18th Annual ARCOM (Association of Researchers in Construction Management) Conf. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Univ. of Northumbria.
Feng, C. W., T. M. Cheng, and H. T. Wu. 2004. “Optimizing the schedule of dispatching RMC trucks through genetic algorithms.” Autom. Constr. 13 (3): 327–340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2003.10.001.
Halpin, D. H., and L. S. Riggs. 1992. Planning and analysis of construction operations. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Halpin, D. H., and R. W. Woodhead. 1976. Design of construction and process operations. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Hertz, A., M. Uldry, and M. Widmer. 2012. “Integer linear programming models for a cement delivery problem.” Eur. J. Oper. Res. 222 (3): 623–631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2012.04.039.
Liu, Z., Y. Zhang, and M. Li. 2014. “Integrated scheduling of ready-mixed concrete production and delivery.” Autom. Constr. 48 (Dec): 31–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2014.08.004.
Lu, M., and M. Anson. 2004. “Establish concrete placing rates using quality control records from Hong Kong building construction projects.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 130 (2): 216–224. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(2004)130:2(216).
Lu, M., M. Anson, S. L. Tang, and Y. C. Ying. 2003. “HKCONSIM: A practical simulation solution to planning concrete plant operations in Hong Kong.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 129 (5): 547–554. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(2003)129:5(547).
Lu, M., and H. C. Lam. 2005. “Optimised concrete delivery scheduling using combined simulation and genetic algorithms.” In Proc., 2005 Winter Simulation Conf. New York: IEEE.
Maghrebi, M., V. Periaraj, T. Waller, and C. Sammut. 2014. “Solving ready mixed concrete delivery problems: Evolutionary comparison between column generation and robust genetic algorithm.” In Proc., Int. Conf. on Computing in Civil and Building Engineering. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Misir, M., W. Vancroonenburg, K. Verbeeck, and G. V. Berghe. 2011. “A selection hyper-heuristic for scheduling deliveries of ready-mixed concrete.” In Proc., MIC 2011: The IX Metaheuristics Int. Conf. Leuven, Belgium: KU Leuven.
Naso, D., M. Surico, B. Turchiano, and U. Kaymak. 2004. Genetic algorithms in supply chain scheduling of ready-mixed concrete. Rotterdam, Netherlands: Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam.
Naso, D., M. Surico, B. Turchiano, and U. Kaymak. 2007. “Genetic algorithms for supply-chain scheduling: A case study in the distribution of ready-mixed concrete.” Eur. J. Oper. Res. 177 (3): 2069–2099. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2005.12.019.
Park, M., W. Y. Kim, H. S. Lee, and S. Han. 2011. “Supply chain management model for ready mixed concrete.” Autom. Constr. 20 (1): 44–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2010.07.005.
Sawhney, A., O. Abudayyeh, and T. Chaitavatputtiporn. 1999. “Modeling and analysis of concrete production plant using petri nets.” J. Comput. Civ. Eng. 13 (3): 178–186. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0887-3801(1999)13:3(178).
Smith, S. D. 1998. “Concrete placing analysis using discrete-event simulation.” Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng. Struct. Build. 128 (4): 351–358. https://doi.org/10.1680/istbu.1998.30913.
Smith, S. D. 1999. “Modelling and experimentation of the concrete supply and delivery process.” Civ. Eng. Environ. Syst. 16 (2): 93–114. https://doi.org/10.1080/02630259908970255.
Srichandum, S., and T. Rujirayanyong. 2010. “Production scheduling for dispatching ready mixed concrete trucks using bee colony optimisation.” Am. J. Eng. Appl. Sci. 3 (1): 7–14. https://doi.org/10.3844/ajeassp.2010.7.14.
Tang, S. L., K. C. Ying, M. Anson, and M. Lu. 2005. “RMCSIM: A simulation model of a ready-mixed concrete plant serving multiple sites using multiple truckmixers.” Constr. Manage. Econ. 23 (1): 15–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144619032000124661.
Wang, S. Q., G. Ofori, and C. L. Teo. 2001. “Productivity of ready mixed concrete placing in Singapore.” J. Constr. Res. 2 (1): 53–62.
Yan, S., and W. Lai. 2007. “An optimal scheduling model for ready mixed concrete supply with overtime considerations.” Autom. Constr. 16 (6): 734–744. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2006.12.009.
Yan, S., W. Lai, and M. Chen. 2008. “Production scheduling and truck dispatching of ready mixed concrete.” Transp. Res. Part E 44 (1): 164–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2006.05.001.
Zayed, T. M., and D. Halpin. 2001. “Simulation of concrete batch plant production.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 127 (2): 132–141. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(2001)127:2(132).
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
©2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 3, 2019
Accepted: Sep 20, 2019
Published online: Feb 5, 2020
Published in print: Apr 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Jul 5, 2020
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.