Simulation-based project control

Construction projects rarely proceed exactly as planned due to the conditions under which projects are implemented. The need for short term interval planning, long term planning, efficient progress reporting, and effective feedback mechanisms has, for a long time, been recognized by contractors. Short term planning involves numerous detailed activities showing interactions of resources, required quantities, expected production rates, and personnel involved. On the other hand, incorporating many detailed activities in a schedule places an overburden on management as related to the time and cost required to update the plans during project execution. This thesis describes the development of the SimCon (SIMulation-based project CONtrol) system that is geared towards (1) providing the capability to report project progress by exception in order to minimize data input and to generate variance analysis reports based on significant deviations, (2) providing planning facilities at multiple levels in such a manner that incorporates the dynamic nature of a construction process and its complex interrelated components, and (3) providing methods for better project control. New simulation constructs are developed to store project progress information, simplify the logical linking of simulation processes, and calculate various statistics. SimCon is implemented in a production breakdown structure by identifying cost control centers at the top of the hierarchy, followed by location breakdown centers and then construction process centers. Construction process centers are defined at various location centers and linked to each other using continuous and single production links that provide a more accurate representation of activity sequencing than traditional scheduling methods such as the critical path method. The computer prototype SimCon is implemented using object oriented concepts, event driven programming, relational database, and a simulation program language.