A SCENARIO-BASED SIMULATION FRAMEWORK OF ON-AND OFF-SITE CONSTRUCTION LOGISTICS

Constructing a building is a very complex process including a vast number and variety of participants, tasks, materials and elements. Interdependencies between the on- and off-site logistics frequently lead to an error-prone and chaotic process. However, good communication can reduce the effects by enabling the different actors to react. Simulation is a classic approach to understand complex problems and has been widely applied in the construction field. Nevertheless, the existing construction simulation approaches still do not consider the entire construction logistics process. This paper proposes a concept to model and simulate on- and off-site construction logistics, to facilitate the understanding of the boundary-spanning dependencies of both on- and off-site domains. A framework is provided, including simulation fundamentals (i.e. logistic BIM model), simulation data preparation (i.e. process pattern definition) and implementation of a scenario-based simulation. Finally, a discussion of the possible benefits and improvements of the proposed approaches is provided.