A decision support system for dynamic construction planning and control as a foundation for developing a productivity culture

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With the advancement of technology and computer-based tools, researchers have introduced several systems to measure project performance and guide control as the project progresses. However, construction projects still encounter planning failures and productivity losses as a result of planning deficiencies. This raises concerns regarding the capability of the current control mechanisms in alarming planners or practitioners and generating an early warning system to guide future actions. This research study aims to develop and apply a modern production planning decision-support system based on lean principles and advanced metrics to address several project performance areas that are currently partially measured. The developed planning system is expected to better describe, monitor, and control the various dynamic aspects of construction planning within the Last Planner System for production control. The proposed decision support system can provide a proactive detection of issues and constant visibility of project status so that planning teams can apply earlier control measures to improve reliable planning and reduce milestone delays. To support a productivity culture, this project will also develop a productivity database tracking and an artificial intelligence (AI) decision support system for improving productivity and increasing certainty when estimating project costs and schedule on construction projects, which are essential elements in project planning and control. The productivity database tracking system developed through this project will provide a standard approach for collecting and storing productivity data, measuring and tracking productivity during construction, and predicting productivity for future projects. The artificial intelligence decision support system developed through this project will use the data and expert knowledge stored in the database to support Ledcor Constructors Inc. ("Ledcor") in predicting productivity for future projects and suggesting productivity improvement strategies for ongoing and planned projects.