Optimal Component Types for the Design of Construction Processes

Within the project preparation phase, experienced professionals manually map design information onto process information with the aim to develop realistic and practical schedules. Unfortunately, the mapping itself is neither part of any underlying data model nor is it supported by current scheduling tools. As a consequence the process of setting up the data model for a schedule is still not supported formally. Huhnt and Enge described a modelling technique that addresses the missing linkage between design and process information[1]. The approach makes use of so called component types. These are template sub-processes that describe the fabrication procedure of typical building components. Decomposing the building into com-ponents and assigning a component type to each component allows for formal support while scheduling. Depending on the decomposition of the building into components and the complexity of the involved component types the specification effort differs. The question about optimal component types arises: Which layout of building components and component types results in minimal specification effort? This paper presents a branch and bound algorithm to determine optimal component types. For a given schedule, which has been modelled based on component types, all possible decompositions into sub-processes are determined. During the decomposition process the encountered configurations are compared. Those with minimal specifica-tion effort are registered. Theoretical and practical examples are examined and discussed.

Modification Management for Construction Processes

This paper presents an approach to handle different types of subsequent modifications in construction processes. It is focused on a formalized approach with the objective that effects of subsequent modifications are detected automatically. The approach presented in this paper makes use of an existing modeling technique specifically focused on construction processes. The modeling techniques result in a process description where all technological interdependencies between construction activities are considered and where consistency between the sequence of activities and the history of components is guaran-teed. This modeling technique is expanded by an existing concept for handling versions and dependencies between objects. The integration of these different concepts makes it possible to track effects of relevant types of subsequent modifications in construction processes on a formalized basis. Effects of subsequent modifications are detected by algorithms, different versions can be compared by algorithms and different versions are stored so that subsequent modifications are documented. The innovation of the approach presented is the completeness. Effects of different relevant types of subsequent modifications in construction processes are tracked on a formalized basis.