Context of Production Control in Construction

It is commonly accepted that production control systems should correspond to the context within which they are operating, i.e. the production situation. However, rarely is this context indicated or made explicit; for example, the boundary conditions or the range of validity of a particular production control method. Thus, it is the aim of this paper to analyze how the production context could more sys- tematically be taken into account when determining which production control system to use. Whilst it is acknowledged that contextual issues can be approached in a variety of ways, this is dependent on the perspective being considered (e.g. from a management hierarchy perspective, or a process stage perspective). This investigation looks at context from a process stage perspective and firstly considers the major production control approaches (such as CPM, Line-of-Balance, Last Planner System and Critical Chain) to determine their range of validity. Secondly, we endeavour to identify a typology of production control situations (ideal types), together with a suggestion for production control in each case. Finally, we attempt to deconstruct production control into its constituent elements and evaluate the alternative suggestions at this elemental level in relation to their contextual assumptions. In the paper, all three approaches are discussed and illustrated, based on prior literature and field observations

Domain-oriented architecture design for production control software

this paper, we present domain-oriented architectural design heuristics for production control software. Our approach is based upon the following premisses. First, software design, like all other forms of design, consists of the reduction of uncertainty about a final product by making design decisions. These decisions should as much as possible be based upon information that is certain, either because they represent laws of nature or because they represent previously made design decisions. An import class of information concerns the domain of the software. The domain of control software is the part of the world monitored and controlled by the software; it is the larger system into which the software is embedded. The software engineer should exploit system-level domain knowledge in order to make software design decisions. Second, in the case of production control software, using system-level knowledge is not only justified, it is also imposed on the software engineer by the necessity to cooperate with hardware engineers. These represent their designs by means of Process and Instrumentation Diagrams (PIDs) and Input-Output (IO) lists. They do not want to spend time, nor do they see the need, to duplicate the information represented by these diagrams by means of diagrams from software engineering methods. Such a duplication would be an occasion to introduce errors of omission (information lost during the translation process) or commission (misinterpretation, misguided but invisible design decisions made during the translation) anyway. We think it is up to the software engineer to adapt his or her notations to those of the system engineers he or she must work with. Third, work in patterns and software architectures started from the programminglanguage level and is now moving..

Production control

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston University, 1940 Page 139 is missing from this thesis

Production control

This thesis analyzes important concepts in production control from the perspective of a typical manufacturing plant. The scope is further limited to include theory that is especially relevant for the case company. The case company is an electric motor manufacturer ABB Oy, Motors and Generators Vaasa. The purpose of the research is first to develop understanding of theoretical concepts regarding production control. Secondly the case company will be used as an example to show some applications of the concepts discussed. The goal is to find the most effective tools for the development of the case company’s production control. The research is divided into three parts: a theoretical part based on literature on production control, to the analysis of the case company’s production control and to a simulation study. The main focus will be given to principles that are directly applicable by the management of a manufacturing plant. The purpose of simulation will be to further increase the understanding of the theory discussed and to show the contrast of some varying production control configurations. The research problem is: How can theoretical frameworks regarding production control be used for significant improvement in a typical manufacturing plant such as the case company? By discussing and clarifying many of the practical activities and processes in production control with a theoretical framework, the research shows that understanding such a framework can give managers valuable insights and perspectives for the development of processes.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

On the Identification of Agents in the Design of Production Control Systems

This paper describes a methodology that is being developed for designing and building agent-based systems for the domain of production control. In particular, this paper deals with the steps that are involved in identifying the agents and in specifying their responsibilities. The methodology aims to be usable by engineers who have a background in production control but who have no prior experience in agent technology. For this reason, the methodology needs to be very prescriptive with respect to the agent-related aspects of design

Production Control and Production Contracts: Why Do Integrators Control Inputs?

Industrial Organization,

Intelligent Products: Shifting the Production Control Logic in Construction (With Lean and BIM)

Production management and control in construction has not been addressed/updated ever since the introduction of Critical Path Method and the Last Planner® system. The predominant outside-in control logic and a fragmented and deep supply chain in construction significantly affect the efficiency over a lifecycle. In a construction project, a large number of organisations interact with the product throughout the process, requiring a significant amount of information handling and synchronisation between these organisations. However, due to the deep supply chains and problems with lack of information integration, the information flow down across the lifecycle poses a significant challenge. This research proposes a product centric system, where the control logic of the production process is embedded within the individual components from the design phase. The solution is enabled by a number of technologies and tools such as Building Information Modelling, Internet of Things, Messaging Systems and within the conceptual process framework of Lean Construction. The vision encompasses the lifecycle of projects from design to construction and maintenance, where the products can interact with the environment and its actors through various stages supporting a variety of actions. The vision and the tools and technologies required to support it are described in this pape

Addressing information flow in lean production management and control in construction

Traditionally, production control on construction sites has been a challenging area, where the ad-hoc production control methods foster uncertainty - one of the biggest enemies of efficiency and smooth production flow. Lean construction methods such as the Last Planner System have partially tackled this problem by addressing the flow aspect through means such as constraints analysis and commitment planning. However, such systems have relatively long planning cycles to respond to the dynamic production requirements of construction, where almost daily if not hourly control is needed. New solutions have been designed by researchers to improve this aspect such as VisiLean, but again these types of software systems require the proximity and availability of computer devices to workers. Given this observation, there is a need for a communication system between the field and site office that is highly interoperable and provides real-time task status information. A High-level communication framework (using VisiLean) is presented in this paper, which aims to overcome the problems of system integration and improve the flow of information within the production system. The framework provides, among other things, generic and standardized interfaces to simplify the “push” and “pull” of the right (production) information, whenever needed, wherever needed, by whoever needs it. Overall, it is anticipated that the reliability of the production control will be improve