TY  - CONF
TI  - Work-in-Process Buffer Management Using the Rational Commitment Model in Repetitive Projects
C1  - Manchester, UK
C3  - 16th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction
SP  - 667
EP  - 678
PY  - 2008
AU  - Gonzalez, Vicente
AU  - Alarcon, Luis Fernando
AU  - Maturana, Sergio
AU  - Bustamante, Jose Antonio
AU  - Mundaca, Fernando
AD  - M. Eng., Ph.D(c), School of Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 306, Santiago 22, Chile. Lecturer, Sc, Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile. E-Mail: vagonzag@puc.cl
AD  - Professor of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 306, Correo 22, Santiago, Chile. E-Mail: lalarcon@ing.puc.cl
AD  - Professor of Industrial Engineering, School of Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 306, Correo 22, Santiago, Chile. E-Mail: smaturan@ing.puc.cl
AD  - M. Eng., School of Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 306, Correo 22, Santiago, Chile. E-Mail: jabustac@ing.puc.cl
AD  - Well Engineer, Integrated Project Management, Schlumberger. E-Mail: mundaca@slb.com
ED  - Tzortzopoulos, Patricia 
ED  - Kagioglou, Mike 
AB  - The use of buffers (Bf) has been a common production strategy to protect construction processes from the negative impact of variability. Construction practitioners and researchers have proposed different buffering approaches for different production situations and contexts, but practical solutions to manage Bf at operational level in construction projects are not obvious. This research proposes an operational level methodology for Work-In-Process (WIP) Bf management in repetitive projects, using the rational commitment model (RCM). RCM is an operational decision-making tool for production planning and commitment negotiation. RCM helps determine WIPBf sizes for a short-term planning horizon using field information and planning reliability indicators at the construction level instead of variability levels. RCM allows managing WIPBf among different crews involved in construction processes. The proposed methodology was validated in real repetitive projects. An application is used to illustrate the robustness and practicality of RCM to manage WIPBf on-site, which can become a key factor for industry penetration of Bf production strategies based on Lean Production principles.
KW  - buffer
KW  - lean production
KW  - rational commitment model
KW  - work-in-process
PB  - 
T2  - 16th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction
DA  - 2008/07/16
CY  - Manchester, UK
L1  - http://iglc.net/Papers/Details/571/pdf
L2  - http://iglc.net/Papers/Details/571
N1  - Export Date: 20 April 2024
DB  - IGLC.net
DP  - IGLC
LA  - English
ER  -