Estimating productivity using simulation: A case study of Gaza beach embankment protection project

Purpose – Recently, there has been increased interest in the use of simulation for real-time planning, scheduling, control of construction projects and obtaining optimum productivity. The purpose of this case study is to demonstrate the use of simulation as an effective tool for estimating production rates in an attempt to prepare optimal time schedules. Design/methodology/approach – Gaza Beach-Camp Shore Protection Project was taken as a case study. The case study is used to demonstrate how to estimate effectively the production rates of labour and equipment during the implementation of the project activities and to estimate the duration of the project using process simulation. The model simulates the construction of 1,600 m of gabions divided into 32 identical stations. Probabilistic distribution functions were used to fit the time functions for each process and sub-process based on 100 replications. Findings – The simulation output generated three probabilistic values for completing each activity upon which the overall project completion time is determined. The resources utilizations for all processes were also generated and used in the determination of the average production rates. Originality/value – The computation of productivity based on effective resources utilization has been demonstrated to give better results than estimating productivity based on aggregate resources assignments.