Learning curves and the construction industry -

Abstract

Learning is expected to have a significant effect on the performance of construction crews, this performance is expected to improve with experience and repetition. This is particularly true for repetitive construction projects, where the worker repeats the same task multiple times throughout the course of the project. This performance improvement is numerically portrayed mathematically by Learning Curves. Researchers have developed numerous learning curve models that vary in complexity and purpose. However, learning curve theory is not yet very popular among industry practitioners. The main driver behind this shy popularity, is the lack of consensus in the literature regarding a learning curve model that best suites the construction industry. In an attempt to rectify the above shortcoming, this study presents a new learning curve model. The presented model resembles the traditional Wright model by assuming an exponential form; however it employs recursion in order to place more emphasis on recent data. The research methods, used to develop this method and other aspects of this study include, a literature survey and case study analysis for a real life construction project and other case studies that were extracted from the literature. The developed model and the findings of the literature survey were used to develop a learning based automated scheduling tool. This tool displayed acceptable performance, when tested on case studies. The applicability of learning curve theory was extended for another dimension of construction projects, which is quality .The results of a real life construction project from the MENA region, have revealed a correlation between learning and productivity, however the same was not observed for learning and quality. The findings of this paper indicate that the learning curve model to be used varies according to the project characteristics and location. The findings also indicate that the relationship between learning and quality is more complex than that between learning and productivity