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Standard Units of Measuring Productivity

Abdulhafiz SuaraMember for 15 years 2 months
Created
13
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Dear All,

Please what is the CORRECT way to refer to productivity (production) rates; is it:

A. Quantity of work per unit of resource e.g tonnes/hr

OR

B. Resource per unit of work e.g hrs/tonnes

I have come across this confusion across the internet even in PP rates & norms, where some are option A (above) biased and some otherwise. Or we can use these however we like? (I really doubt this).

I hope clearer light will be shone on this by respected planners.

 

Thanks,

Abdulhafiz

13 replies

Oldest first
  1. 0
    Vladimir Liberzon ·

    Both are used.A: It could be

    Both are used.

    A: It could be Volume of work (tonnes) per one hour of resource work, or

    B: Number of work hours per unit of work (tonn).

    In Spider Project we use first approach. A=1/B

  2. 0
    Mike Testro ·

    Hi Abdulhaviz The same system

    Hi Abdulhaviz

    The same system is used in asta Powerproject - you can toggle between each type of calculation when resource modelling.

    It all depends on the format of your source data. In any case it is easy to set up spreadsheet to swithch the formulas.

    Best regards

    Mike Testro

  3. 0
    Anning Sofi ·

    In the first case 5

    In the first case

     5 tonnes/hr,  = means 5 tonnes can be installed in an hour. The resource at issue is tonnage.

     

    In the 2nd case

    1 hr/ 5 tonne = imeans ione  hour is required to erect five tonnes. The resource at issue is hours.

     

    Do they mean they same thing? Not really, but   maybe yes,  conversely.

     

    This is my opinion.

  4. 0
    Rafael Davila ·

    In the construction industry

    In the construction industry hours is a measure of time, resources are the means to get the production like manhours, equipment hours and materials. Measures like cy or tonnes are considered volume of work.

    If in the sample provided there is no reference as to the resources such as crew composition and equipment required you got nothing.

    Here you will find a lot of tables of "nothing".

    By the same token you will find some software that do not differentiate work volume from hours effort as if one hour of effort equals work. It might be one hour of effort yields 50cy using some resources but using other more productive crew one hour of effort can yield twice the volume of work or perhaps even none.

  5. 0
    Mike Testro ·

    Hi Rafael Are you trying to

    Hi Rafael

    Are you trying to tell us that a 5 man gang can dig a bigger hole in 1 hour than a 2 man gang in the same time?

    Best regards

    Mike Testro

  6. 0
    Rafael Davila ·

    Mike,Seems like the people

    Mike,

    Seems like the people that place production rates tables at PP without giving information as to the crew composition think so.

    Seems like some software developers that created some of the software that cannot distinguish between time, effort and work think so. Even if you make cumbersome equivalencies it is easy to get lost, is not intuitive nor transparent.

    I heard somewhere that Asta is including some functionality for volume of work. This does not surprise me because they also have software like Tilos whose main logic driver is volume of work per unit time (the slopes of the lines).

    Mike, the crew composition matters, if union workers of our water utility then two will work but if the crew is of five three will obstruct the work of the only two willing to work and production will be zero.

    Best regards,

    Rafael

  7. 0
    Vladimir Liberzon ·

    Hi Mike,if there is a need to

    Hi Mike,

    if there is a need to dig 10 holes then 5 workers will do it five time faster than 1.

    Assigning resources it is necessary to assign certain and reasonable crews or define minimal and maximal resource quantities that may do certain work

  8. 0
    Sunil Babu ·

    Hi Hafiz, Productivity can be

    Hi Hafiz,

    Productivity can be either Time/Unit

    or Unit/Time  Whichever way you can calculate option is upto you only.

    Cheers,

    Sunil.

  9. 0
    Mike Testro ·

    Hi Rafael / Vladimir Of

    Hi Rafael / Vladimir

    Of course we all understand the principle of optimisation of gang composition but the software does not. It all comes down to the planners experience and skill in manipulating the resource modelling.

    The point of my question was to see how many others out there understand.

    Best regards

    Mike Testro

  10. 0
    Abdulhafiz Suara ·

    Dear All,I am now as clear

    Dear All,

    I am now as clear as glass (a new, transparent glass ofcourse!). Guess this is another place where maths and planning disagrees :-)

    Regards with gratitudes,

    Abdulhafiz

  11. 0
    Rafael Davila ·

    Mike,The point of my question

    Mike,

    The point of my question was to see how many others out there understand.

    I read you long ago but it is fun to follow the game once in a while, it is always good to debate with you.

    Regards,

    Rafael

  12. 0
    Arend Woltjer ·

    Dear all, My two pence

    Dear all,

    My two pence worth:

    'Productivty' is apparently a too general concept.

    You have to chose your own definition of things/time of men/ton or etc etc.

    For a serious and extensive article i refer to the wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Productivity

     

    Regards,

    Arend

  13. 0
    Ferdinand Fernandez ·

    Hi,    Measurement of

    Hi,

        Measurement of progress or productivity should be stablished before the project begins.

    there are lots of measurement and depends of kind of work to be done.

    For Concrete, it is measured by volume, for equipments sometimes by weight.

    For Welding depends on what to be weld steel or pipes,

    For electrical cables are per length, sometimes measured by tons too.

    You should establish first your type of measurement to be used.

    Hope this helps.

    F.Fernandez

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