Analyzing construction workflow on BIM based oil and gas projects.

Abstract

Improving construction workflow is an essential step to ensure a proper continuous flow of resources on the project. However, in the OandG industry, this remains a challenge because the current planning practices being used like (CPM) does not visualize or measure flow. Hence, tools like location-based management system (LBMS) provide great visibility for the flow of work in construction sites. In order to analyze issues related to workflow in OandG projects, a gas processing project facility was chosen, data was collected, and the LBMS technique was used to plot flow lines for the design phase, initial plan, and actual construction. The project was divided into 24 areas that were examined and plotted. A comparison between plan and actual construction workflow were performed, then between design and planned work. Furthermore, multiple areas were presented and discussed together to check the activity flow between different locations. Bottlenecks in construction and design were spotted, in addition to deficiencies in the current planning method used. The findings identified multiple contributors to schedule delays on the project. These are design changes, out of sequence work, delivery of un-erectable steel items, trade stacking, and parallel work in multiple locations. The importance of this study is in displaying deficiencies in current planning and control practices employed in the O and G industry and showing the power of LBMS methods in visualizing and streamlining workflow during design, initial planning, and construction.