We need to pause, reflect on our purpose, try to see different perspectives, different routes forward; bring light to our present.. We need to try different things, do things in different ways, make new connections.. A few weeks ago I was involved in a conversation about pharmaceuticals.
With Industry 4.0 now a key part of many sectors, research and development into construction automation is also a rapidly growing area.Additionally, the skill sets required to implement methods such as Discrete Event Simulation are becoming more commonplace as the industry steadily adopts more facets of digital design..
Despite the advances, construction planning is still typically done using static Gantt charts which, although highly detailed, often have the potential to be inflexible, inefficient and inaccurate, and cannot allow stakeholders to explore fully and rapidly the ‘what if’ of projects and the effects of their decisions on the final product.A lack of clear visualisation can also limit the communication of the planning to the project team and again result in an unclear relationship between project briefing, design and execution.With concept and design project stages – where this work is often done – being where the largest potential gains can be made, the power to positively influence a project with thorough optioneering to reduce risk and increase predictability is crucial..
Creating flexible, digital models that reflect the world around us.This is where the real strengths of Discrete Event Simulation (DES), or time-based process simulation, can be brought in.
Using tools such as Lanner Witness or AnyLogic, a digital model can be created from the macro to the micro scale, including global supply chain and logistics, down to individual site operations.
Digital models built within these tools are made with the logic and rules necessary to represent the real-world process and constrain the system.Samuel, Flora, Social Value Toolkit for Architecture, first edition (London: Royal Institute of British Architects, 2020), p. 6
Carmona, Matthew, Claudio De Magalhães, and Michael Edwards, 'What Value Urban Design?", URBAN DESIGN International, 7 (2002), 63-81.
Samuel, Flora, and Eli Hatleskog, "Social Value in Architecture", Architectural Design, 90 (2020), 9.Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 (London: HM Government, 2012).