Site logistics planning and control for engineer-to-order prefabricated building systems using BIM 4D modeling

Model for planning and controlling the delivery and assembly of engineer-to-order prefabricated building systems: exploring synergies between Lean and BIM

“…Regarding reduction of variability, it is important to define strategies that are suitable for ETO prefabricated building systems: (i) when variability cannot be eliminated, there must be a mechanism for protecting the production system from upstream variability such as in the Last Planner System (Ballard and Howell 1998b); and (ii) not all standards must defined at the beginning of the project, in a top-down fashion, but can be gradually estab-lished, considering the complexity that exists in this type of production system (Bortolini et al 2019). Ergen and Akinci (2008) point out the role of information and communication technologies in the management of information flow in ETO prefabricated building systems.…”

“…Bortolini et al 2019proposed a hierarchical model for managing internal site logistics using 4D BIM, based on an empirical study carried out in a steel fabricator company. Bortolini et al (2019) proposed a set of tasks for defining logistics operations, including the following: (i) revision of the assembly sequence; (ii) definition of the construction site layout, including temporary facilities, storage areas, and routes for vehicles and pedestrians; (iii) analysis of conflicts between plans from different crews or companies working onsite; (iv) design of unloading operations; and (v) design of critical assembly processes. Another important contribution of the study undertaken by Bortolini et al (2019) was the idea of using 4D BIM for supporting logistics management, at different hierarchical planning levels: (i) long-term logistics plan; (ii) batch logistics plan at the look-ahead planning level; and (iii) logistics control at the short-term planning level.…”

“…In this context, managing logistics plays a key role in the delivery of prefabricated systems. Logistics operations must be efficient and reliable, especially when there are long distances between the manufacturing plant and the construction site (Skjelbred et al 2015;Bortolini et al 2019). Pheng and Chuan (2001) suggest that time savings from faster assembly may wither away if logistics operations are not properly planned and controlled.…”

“…Several previous studies have investigated the use of fourdimensional (4D) modelling to support production management in construction such as workspace planning (Choi et al 2014), detection of spatial and temporal conflicts (Kassem et al 2015), testing alternative sequences of tasks (Chau et al 2004), resource utilization management (Wang et al 2004), construction schedules and site space arrangement (Ma et al 2005), site material supply (Yu et al 2016), internal site logistics (Bortolini et al 2019), and analysis of the impacts of conflicts on health and safety (Zhang et al 2015). However, none of those studies have fully addressed the role of logistics management in the integration between the production and delivery of prefabricated building components and site assembly.…”

Pushing Digital Automation of Configure-to-Order Services in Small and Medium Enterprises of the Construction Equipment Industry: A Design Science Research Approach

“…Future research could aim at demonstrating how these data can be used in a structured way, even for continuous and longer-lasting production of the main construction industry beyond the phase of work preparation, which for example has already been pointed out by Bortolini et al [36]. In addition, sustainability considerations in accordance with [37] can be a walking direction from here.…”