Understanding the planner’s role in lookahead construction planning

Capacity planning is instrumental in production planning as the variability witnessed in construction projects complicates the planner’s role in achieving a balance between weekly task load and available resources. The purpose of this article is to assess the effects of capacity planning on a project’s time and cost performance and to inform planners on the pitfalls of uninformed capacity planning. A simulation model is developed to test several project scenarios against different capacity planning methods. Cost, time and planning quality measures are developed to track project’s performance throughout the construction period. Results show that the planner’s choice of capacity planning method and the type of project both affect a project’s cost and duration. Interestingly, informed planners who are aware of a project’s characteristics are able to achieve the best balance between weekly load and capacity. They are able to reduce incurred costs wasted on idle resources without significantly affecting the construction period.