Floor-Level Construction Material Layout Planning Model Considering Actual Travel Path

Abstract

Unnecessary material transportation accounts for a significant portion of nonproductive work. Previous research has paid much attention to site-level transportation but little attention to floor-level transportation. This is because the distance of floor-level material transportation is relatively small compared to that at the site-level. With an increase in the size, height, and complexity of building projects, the impact of floor-level transportation on worker productivity and project performance has significantly increased. This paper introduces a floor-level construction material layout planning model which can represent (1) Various shapes of an installation task and (2) actual travel distance, both of which are necessary for a realistic representation of floor-level material transportation. Applied to a high-rise residential apartment project, the model has proven to be effective in minimizing travel distance and travel time. On the basis of this finding, this paper concludes that the model has great potential as an aid for reducing nonproductive work and ultimately enhancing project performance.