Benefits of Batch Size Reduction: A Case Study in a Residential Project
Caroline P. Valente1, Germano A. Montenegro2, Felipe L. Brito3, Clarissa N. Biotto4, Bruno P. Mota5 & Fábio K. Schramm6
1Civil Engineer, Lean & Green Coordinator, Construtora C. Rolim Engenharia, Fortaleza-CE, Brazil, [email protected]2Civil Engineer, Project Manager, Construtora C. Rolim Engenharia, Fortaleza-CE, Brazil, [email protected]
3 Civil Engineer, Project Supervisor, Construtora C. Rolim Engenharia, Fortaleza-CE, Brazil, [email protected]
4 Architect, Sistema de Planejamento e Produção - SIPPRO, Fortaleza-CE, Brazil, [email protected]
5Civil Engineer, Sistema de Planejamento e Produção - SIPPRO, Fortaleza-CE, Brazil, [email protected]
6 Architect, Associate Professor, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas-RS, Brazil, [email protected]
Abstract
The line of balance (LOB) is a tool used for long-term planning of projects, especially because it highlights visually, several information such as work place, sequence of activities, number of teams and work in progress (WIP). Because the LOB makes transparent workflows for project managers, this tool can be used to simulate different alternatives and discuss plans and installment strategies. This research presents a continuous improvement of a previous study in the same issue (using line of balance on simulation of execution strategy) published in 2008 at the IGLC Conference. This article aims to indicate through a case study at a Brazilian construction company, improvements that can be expanded to project’s management through reduction of batch sizes and balance of workflow. The methodology for developing this paper includes: literature review regarding the concepts of just-intime and line of balance, in order to identify which variables should be modified during the simulation of different scenarios; characterization of the company and the project to be studied; simulation of two scenarios with changes in the variables chosen; analysis of the simulated scenarios; choose the scenario that was leaner and met the needs of project managers, and, finally, identification of improvements from this new scenario. The results of this study reinforce the benefits suggested by the reduction of batch size, like reduction of amount of teams, increased repeatability, increased learning effect and greater control of project managers on site logistics. In fact, it was also identified a better adherence to production batch, reducing by 12% the project’s total term. Moreover, it’s possible to mention the difficulty of subcontractors to adapt to pace of the new LOB.
Keywords
Lean construction, line of balance, batch size reduction.
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Reference
Valente, C. P. , Montenegro, G. A. , Brito, F. L. , Biotto, C. N. , Mota, B. P. & Schramm, F. K. 2013. Benefits of Batch Size Reduction: A Case Study in a Residential Project, 21th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction , 1029-1038. doi.org/
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