Simulation-model-structuring methodology for industrial construction fabrication shops

The process of planning and scheduling industrial construction fabrication (ICF) jobs is difficult because the sequence of operations varies considerably from one product to another due to the unique design and configuration of products. Traditional critical path method (CPM)-related approaches are not effective due to CPM's limitation or inability to model the repetition of operations, interactions between resources, and what-if scenarios. Discrete event simulation (DES) is often used to model processes that are repetitive in nature; however, DES has limitations in modeling ICF shops due to considerable differences between operation sequences, which means a model can only be used once per project. This paper proposes a new simulation-model-structuring methodology, which directly addresses product uniqueness and complex routing issues in ICF shops and significantly simplifies the simulation-model development. This methodology fully supports shop scheduling and schedule updating essential for ICF shops that operate under highly dynamic project environments.