| The ultimate goal for all AEC project planners is to deliver projects "on time and on budget." Accordingly, finishing a project ahead of schedule would be one way to exhibit exemplary performance and exceed expectations. Ahead of schedule completion would also have a positive effect on reducing the budget, due to the fact that reduction in project time leads to a reduction in overhead costs and there may be financial incentives in the contract for early completion. One method to reduce project delivery time is to employ concurrent engineering strategies by overlapping normally sequential, dependent design activities. The success or failure of the overlapping process depends on the characteristics of the activities, the overlap strategy and the degree of overlap employed. The primary objective of this study is to extend previous research dealing with the application of concurrent engineering principles to the AEC industry.; The major contribution of this thesis is the creation of a computer based simulation model utilizing the GoldSimRTM software package. The model provides a means by which various combinations of activity pair characteristics and activity durations can be tested to determine the optimum combination of degrees of overlap and overlap strategies for each activity pair. The optimum solution could be one in which the design cost or project cost is minimized, given a financial incentive for finishing the project ahead of schedule. The model also has the capability to serve as a pseudo-laboratory in which assumptions and input modifications can be tested and analyzed.; A second contribution arises from studying the results of hundreds of simulation model runs. Several significant trends have become apparent. These trends can be used to establish rules of thumb for construction project planners who are seeking to reduce their project delivery times. While this is a secondary result of the research, it may prove to be the most important contribution to the current body of knowledge dealing with concurrent engineering in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry. Suggestions for future research are also provided. |
