A Comparative Analysis of Production Metrics across VDC Implementations

Production metrics (PM) are important yardsticks for AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) teams to determine whether their projects are on track. This paper reports on research that looked for empirical evidence of the use of PM from the literature (PML) in practice. Specifically, this research classified PM reported by 279 VDC (Virtual Design and Construction) professionals in Scandinavia and Latin America into 17 PML. About 3 PML (detailed schedule conformance, stakeholder involvement, and meeting efficiency) were found to be reported by more than 40% of the professionals while 7 PML (decision latency, detailed cost conformance, field material delivery, meeting agenda appropriateness, client satisfaction, safety, and visualization) were reported by fewer than 10% of the professionals. The biggest differences in the use of PML were in measuring meeting efficiency (Scandinavia: 44%, and Latin America: 78%), meeting effectiveness (Scandinavia: 40%, and Latin America: 3%), and BIM coordination consistency (Scandinavia: 23%, and Latin America: 40%). This study not only finds empirical evidence for commonly used PML, but also finds PML that seem theoretically useful are not used in practice, suggesting further research in metrics-driven management of AEC projects.