Site Logistics Planning and Control Using 4d Modeling: A Study in a Lean Car Factory Building Site

A major challenge in most construction projects is the need to coordinate a large number of logistic operations in site installation. Despite the growing use of 4D models for planning and coordinating construction activities, the traditional approach adopted for those models is simply to represent the installation sequence defined in a CPM network, which is limited only to conversion activities, whilst a lean perspective suggests that production should also be seen as a flow. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how to plan and control logistics processes in engineer-to-order prefabricated building systems with the use of 4D BIM modeling. This paper investigates the use of BIM to simulate both value-adding and non value-adding activities, such as waiting, inventory and moving materials, as well as site layout. An empirical study was developed in an industrial project for a Car Manufacturing Company that is highly advanced in the implementation of lean production. The scope of the research project includes both the simulation of logistic operations and the monitoring of those operations in the construction site. This paper discusses the benefits and limitations of using 4D BIM for planning and controlling logistics operations in construction sites. Moreover, this study highlighted the need to plan and control site logistics processes hierarchically and focus on logistics critical processes.