Simulation of nonsteady construction processes

Construction, with its uniqueness and unusual operational characteristics, faces special handicaps dealing with process planning and control. In order to study the productivity and the resource efficiency of construction operations, one has to consider the impact of a wide variety of factors. This paper presents a framework for the identification of sources of process delays. It focuses on the study of the relationship between storage limitations of flow units within a production system and the productivity of the system. In addition, the effect of breakdown delays in combination with different storage conditions are discussed. The CYCLONE (CYCLic Operations NEtwork) modeling and simulation technique was used as an analytical tool for this study. Enhancements to the existing Micro-CYCLONE simulation program, which enable it to handle the necessary new modeling elements, will be introduced. The analysis shows that generally higher storage constraints result in higher overall productivity. However, certain constraints and process structures present specific conditions where the general rule does not apply.