Simulation of scheduling logic using dynamic functions

Abstract

Since the late 1950s, researchers have studied the soft logic of scheduling, in particular the precedence constraint between activities used to compute the critical path. However, by proposing only external constraints and simulating work production through lags, the precedence logic lacks precision. These gaps diminish the reliability of the schedule and impair the internal monitoring of activity interdependencies. Chronographic logic addresses such limitations by introducing the internal division and proposing internal monitoring as a function of production. This paper proposes the concept of probabilistic production-based dynamic functions which would replace internal divisions with a mathematical function that permits the tracking of the dynamic interdependencies between two in-progress activities. A case study compares the overall schedule calculation using traditional precedence logic with the dynamic production-based function. This simulation was designed to investigate the overall impact on the critical path and the criticality of each activity. The result is a new method of implementing scheduling logic that takes into account the impact of the internal changes of workload and allows the use of internal margins. These self-adaptations provide a better simulation of construction-site conditions which help to produce more realistic results.