Applying Basic Control Theory Principles to Project Control: Case Study of Off-Site Construction Shops

Off-site construction has become increasingly popular in industrial construction projects over the past decade due to its advantages: higher productivity, better quality, better safety, and improved time and cost effectiveness. The fast-paced nature of off-site construction environments and the constraints induced by the construction site, along with the existing limitations within the shop, make the control process of off-site construction quite challenging. High-quality real-time data provided by utilizing new technologies can significantly improve and speed up the process of monitoring projects and identifying possible deviations; however, to be effective, decisions on corrective measures have to be made as quickly as possible. This paper presents an enhanced method based on the control theory concept for taking timely corrective actions to control the dynamic and fast-paced environments of off-site construction shops. The proposed method allows project managers to perform punctual nonlinear data analysis and predict the behavior of the performance of the shop. This leads to promptly determining the best corrective action in the case of variance to achieve a desired performance level with minimum cost. To illustrate its feasibility and potential for improving project control, the proposed approach was successfully implemented in an actual off-site structural steel fabrication shop. DOI:10.1061/(ASCE)CP.1943-5487.0000190. (C) 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.