Simulation models for implementation of lean production concepts in earthmoving and paving

Studies show that, despite the resistance of professionals to new modes of production, the application of Lean Construction philosophy improves the operations productivity, reducing costs and improving the quality of the final product. However, methodologies which evaluate the impacts of the implementation of this philosophy to road construction operations are scarce. This study aims to verify the improvements that the application of the Lean Construction Philosophy can bring to earthwork and paving operations in a matter of execution time and overall cost by developing a computational model and simulating different application scenarios and checking their benefits through a comparison of activity durations and equipment costs. After model development and data analysis, it was found that the models that incorporated the guidelines of the Lean philosophy got faster (up to 30% reduction in runtime) and cheaper (reduction of up to 28% on cost) results in terms of use of equipment’s