Reliability Of Workflows Research Articles

Enhancing Construction Project Workflow Reliability through Observe–Plan–Do–Check–React Cycle: A Bridge Project Case Study

This research aims to determine the appropriate level of effort required for each step of the Observe–Plan–Do–Check–React (OPDCA) cycle to improve the workflow reliability of a construction project. Empirical data on detailed weekly meeting minutes over 18 weeks and the planned and actual starting and finish times of 475 activities were collected from a bridge construction case project. The information theory approach was utilized to measure the information gained from discussions pertaining to the OPDCA cycle during weekly planning meetings. Cooperative game theory and the Shapley notation of fairness were used to compute the contribution of each OPDCA step to workflow reliability. Results showed that “Observe”, “Plan”, “Do”, “Check”, and “reAct”, contributed 18%, 23%, 23%, 24%, and 12% to observed variations in workflow reliability measured by the percent plan complete (PPC). Also, findings revealed that synergy exists between the “Check” step and other steps in the OPDCA cycle. The methodology developed in this paper has potential implications for engineering managers. The method can be generalized to help project managers find the balance between planning and control efforts to improve workflow. It also provides proven techniques for continuous improvement during project execution to facilitate project success. Furthermore, at the organizational level, the developed method can help higher-level managers make informed investment decisions for employees’ training and development to improve performance in future projects.

Integrating Cognition Cost With Reliability QoS for Dynamic Workflow Scheduling Using Reinforcement Learning

The rapid rise of microservice architecture poses severe challenges to workflow scheduling, resource allocation, and goal optimization. However, faults and failures usually happen during workflow running. To ensure the workflow's successful execution during scheduling microservices, this paper proposes a dynamic workflow scheduling algorithm by integrating cognition cost and reliability QoS for using reinforcement learning (WS-CCR). Firstly, we explore the ‘restart policy’ of containers in the Kubernetes architecture, which lays the foundation for our work that adopts the redundancy strategy to ensure workflow operation. Then we consider the cognitive cost based on the fact that users have a cognitive process for different microservices in selecting microservices. Additionally, another optimization goal is the reliability of workflows. On this basis, we design a reasonable reward function in reinforcement learning to generate dynamic strategies. Furthermore, following some generated strategies, our engine will schedule candidate microservices for tasks to execute step by step. A series of experiments on Alibaba and business areas workflows have proven the superior performance of our algorithm. Our WS-CCR can generate better Pareto solution sets than other baselines in terms of improving the reliability of running workflows. Finally, we give a case study to prove the practicability of our method.

Reliability-Aware and Energy-Efficient Workflow Scheduling in IaaS Clouds

Nowadays, more and more workflow applications with different computing requirements are migrated to clouds and executed with cloud resources. Workflow scheduling becomes a critical problem in the cloud environment, which focuses on meeting various quality of service (QoS) constraints. Workflow reliability and energy consumption are two essential parts in clouds and minimizing energy consumption for scheduling workflow with the reliability constraint is a challenging issue. In response to the challenge, we propose a workflow scheduling algorithm named REWS to reduce energy consumption and satisfy workflow reliability constraints. In REWS, a new sub-reliability constraint prediction strategy is adopted to break down the workflow reliability constraint to task sub-reliability constraints and the effectiveness of this strategy is proved. Moreover, an update method is adopted to adjust the task sub-reliability constraint for reducing energy consumption. In addition, a brief system framework which consists of five parts: workflow analyzer, reliability decomposer, resource manager, workflow scheduler and feedback processer is built to support the algorithm implementation of REWS. We conduct the experiments using both synthetic data and real-world data to evaluate the proposed REWS approach. The results demonstrate the superiority of REWS as compared with the state-of-the-art algorithms. <i>Note to Practitioners</i>&#x2014;Workflow scheduling is a challenging issue in emerging trends of the cloud environment that focuses on satisfying various QoS constraints. In this paper, we investigate a reliability-aware and energy-efficient workflow scheduling problem in cloud computing. A novel workflow scheduling algorithm called REWS, is designed to reduce the energy consumption and meet the workfolw reliability constraint. The basic idea of REWS is to divide the workflow reliability constraint into task sub-reliability constraints and schedule tasks with an energy-efficient scheduling strategy. We conduct the experiments to evaluate the proposed REWS and the results demonstrate that REWS outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithms.

WSFeIn: A Novel, Dynamic Web Service Composition Adapter for Cloud-Based Mobile Application

Service-Oriented Computing (SOC) has been a cornerstone development in today’s fast-paced world, covering the lifecycle of services and contributing to service delivery through distributed applications. SOC is striving to integrate cloud computing with complicated mobile apps. Dynamic and adaptable web service composition is the tip of the iceberg for SOA adoption. Dynamic service binding is vital for mobile computing due to the need for distributed mobile internet consumption at runtime. This study addresses SOC difficulties associated with web service composition, whose growth creates a paradigm change in identifying data type matching solutions. This allows for data type-level matching research to ensure high-quality web service creation. In this work, the composition process is divided into three phases: web service discovery, web service selection, and web service composition, where web service personalization and workflow reliability are emphasized. The final result is a complicated mobile app that runs without depleting device resources and an adaptable, reusable web service composition workflow. This improves matching at the data type level, an SOC pain point.

A Time and Reliability Optimization Algorithm for Workflow Scheduling in Heterogeneous Distributed Computing System

In the heterogeneous distributed computing systems, efficient task scheduling is necessary for high performance. System reliability and completion time are generally the two important metrics. In this paper, we proposed an algorithm named Merging and Duplication for Makespan and Reliability (MDMR) which combines task merging and task duplication to achieve single-objective constrained optimization of workflow reliability and completion time. The MDMR algorithm is divided into three phases: task merging, entry task duplication and reliability detection with nonentry task duplication. In the task merging phase, two tasks with a sole parent–child relationship are merged into a single task, then this process is iterated until no tasks satisfy the merging condition, thus simplifying the directed acyclic graph. In the entry task duplication phase, the entry task with the lowest reliability is duplicated on the processors, which are available at that moment to increase the reliability while reducing the workflow completion time. In the reliability detection and nonentry task duplication phase, the current workflow scheduling reliability is first calculated, then the result is directly output if the reliability is higher than the target value, otherwise the nonentry task duplication is executed with the aim of increasing the reliability until the value surpasses the target. According to the experimental results, MDMR dominates the compared algorithms and ensures that the entire workflow achieves the target reliability and shortens the workflow makespan as much as possible.

Технологии информационного моделирования (BIM) как основа бережливого строительства

Abstract. This article considers the problem of increasing the efficiency of construction companies by implementing new approaches to improving organizational structures and construction management methods, such as building information modelling (BIM) and lean construction (LC). A review of existing LC methods is carried out, describing such specific methodologies, as long-term planning, planning obligations, minimizing resource overruns, workflow reliability and project management. Strategies and supporting mechanisms for the implementation of efficient processes on construction sites for companies with the functions of general contractor are also considered. The application of lean construction, pull planning in particular, increases the efficiency of communication between the participants of the construction process. The concurrent use of LC and BIM methods allows construction costs to be reduced. The LC-based BIM technology can be applied in design, construction and project management throughout the entire life cycle of a construction project.

Valuation: A New Approach to Measure the Performance of Last Planner System

The Last Planner System (LPS) is a production planning and control system that utilizes the lean construction philosophy to improve workflow reliability. Although there are several metrics developed to measure the performance of LPS, the current metrics fail to genuinely reflect the actual performance of LPS. The literature review shows no evidence of existing researches that provide a holistic approach to measure the performance of LPS. Consequently, this research aims to propose a new holistic approach to measure the performance of LPS called valuation. The objectives of this research are: (1) to provide an overview of the current metrics used to measure the performance of LPS, (2) to propose 10 steps to measure the performance of LPS based on the valuation approach, (3) to utilize the valuation approach to derive numerous metrics based on all possible relationships between the main and sub (i.e., activity and constraint) categories of LPS that currently available or may emerge in the future. This research contributes to the body of knowledge by deriving metrics based on the valuation approach that are significantly more comprehensive and mathematically more robust since they integrate several criteria and rely on the value rather than the number or amount of activities or constraints. Hence, the valuation approach generates more accurate results. Moreover, the valuation approach can help the construction professionals to track the performance of LPS across phases or even projects by accumulating the data and measuring the proposed metrics.

A fault-intrusion-tolerant system and deadline-aware algorithm for scheduling scientific workflow in the cloud.

BackgroundRecent technological developments have enabled the execution of more scientific solutions on cloud platforms. Cloud-based scientific workflows are subject to various risks, such as security breaches and unauthorized access to resources. By attacking side channels or virtual machines, attackers may destroy servers, causing interruption and delay or incorrect output. Although cloud-based scientific workflows are often used for vital computational-intensive tasks, their failure can come at a great cost.MethodologyTo increase workflow reliability, we propose the Fault and Intrusion-tolerant Workflow Scheduling algorithm (FITSW). The proposed workflow system uses task executors consisting of many virtual machines to carry out workflow tasks. FITSW duplicates each sub-task three times, uses an intermediate data decision-making mechanism, and then employs a deadline partitioning method to determine sub-deadlines for each sub-task. This way, dynamism is achieved in task scheduling using the resource flow. The proposed technique generates or recycles task executors, keeps the workflow clean, and improves efficiency. Experiments were conducted on WorkflowSim to evaluate the effectiveness of FITSW using metrics such as task completion rate, success rate and completion time.ResultsThe results show that FITSW not only raises the success rate by about 12%, it also improves the task completion rate by 6.2% and minimizes the completion time by about 15.6% in comparison with intrusion tolerant scientific workflow ITSW system.

Colored Petri Net-Based Verification and Improvement of Time-Sensitive Single-Unit Manufacturing for the Soil Preparation Instrument of Space Missions

Various space missions, including the Russian and Chinese interplanetary exploration collaboration in 2011 and the Phobos-Grunt space project to be relaunched by the Chinese in 2025, carry a soil preparation system (SOPSYS), which is an instrument used for scientific experiments. The design and manufacture of this precision instrument require stringent manufacturing processes and workflow of the highest quality, with every process in the project carefully monitored and controlled. All processes should be completed within the deadline so that the space project can be launched at the scheduled time. The colored Petri net (CPN) modeling method can describe a variety of resource types and execution logic, and it can be formally verified. Based on these advantages, we clearly describe the complex structure of the SPOSYS unit production process. In addition, we use critical time and the 6 sigma system to evaluate the availability and reliability of workflows, and we use elimination and simplification (ECRS) methods and constraint theory to improve the manufacturing process of the SOPSYS unit. We further provide optimization theories, methods, and insights for workflow management in time-sensitive and independent manufacturing systems.

EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE OF SMART-TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION IN LOGISTIC PROCESS MANAGEMENT

The economic development due to the use of start-up technologies in the management of logistics processes is investigated. The experience of leading European companies is analyzed, which is accompanied by continuous introduction of the latest smart technologies in the system of logistics process management. The basic principles of logistics of smart technologies in the system of management of logistic processes are formulated such as: system, accuracy, reliability, efficiency, security, optimization, competence, mobility, productivity, economy and efficiency. Features of smart technologies are distinguished: Smart Logistics Grid (planning, optimization, provisioning, coordination and control), Smart Transportation (creation, provisioning and control), Smart Government (provisioning and optimization), Smart City (provisioning, optimization and management decision making), Smart London (management optimization and decision making), Smart ecosystem (integrated approach), Innovate18 (security), Heathrow pod (security), Blockchain platform (security, optimization), Smart Сontracts (optimization, control), Smart Sensor (control) in the logistics management system eyes. It has been proven that automated and digitized logistic processes minimize the use of human labor and paper documents, and as a result of the implementation, in particular of artificial intelligence platforms, can: first, provide comprehensive analysis and control of the supply chain; secondly, to improve the following functional areas of logistics: information logistics, supply logistics, transport logistics, distribution logistics, marketing logistics, warehouse logistics and inventory management, and more. The following main components of the cumulative economic effect of applying a logistic approach are proposed: effective coordination; integration of logistics resources; quality and efficiency control in various areas; establishing partnerships with suppliers; reducing order processing time, downtime, production cycle and logistics costs; improving product quality; optimization of integrated management structures; improving the reliability of workflow and quality of the logistics product; updating real-time data across all links in the logistics chain; reduction of logistical risks.

Task replication to improve the reliability of running workflows on the cloud

Clouds are heterogeneous service-oriented systems which are increasingly considered as platforms of choice for scientific workflow applications. Because resource and communication failures are inevitable in large complex distributed systems, insuring the reliability of heterogeneous service-oriented systems poses a major challenge. As it affects the quality of user service requirements, reliability has become an important criterion in workflow scheduling. Replication-based fault-tolerance is one approach for satisfying the requirements set to safeguard the reliability of an application. In order to minimize the workflow execution cost while respecting the user-defined deadline and reliability, the present paper proposes Improving CbCP with Replication (ICR) which includes three algorithms: the Scheduling, the Fix Up, and the Task Replication. The Scheduling employs the CbCP algorithm, where CbCP stands for Clustering based on Critical Parent and it is a previously developed algorithm by the same authors, to generate a schedule map of the workflow. The Fix Up algorithm checks the possibility of starting each task earlier in the leased resource without imposing any extra cost. The Task Replication algorithm utilizes the rest of the idle time slots in leased resources to replicate tasks. Experimental results from real and randomly generated applications at different scales demonstrate that the proposed heuristic, for the majority of studied scenarios, increases the execution reliability of workflows while reducing the workflows execution costs.

Improving Effectiveness of Constraints Removal in Construction Planning Meetings: Information-Theoretic Approach

AbstractTimely identification and removal of constraints is critical for improving workflow reliability. Construction project managers need to spend a significant amount of working time in various ...

Interrelationships among critical factors of work flow reliability in lean construction

Work flow in lean construction has a significant influence on project performance. Uncertain work flow will lead to waste and reduce labor productivity. Reliable work flow will contribute to improving project performance. We found twenty variables affecting work flow reliability by literature review. In order to identify critical factors of work flow reliability and explore interrelationships among them, we designed a questionnaire to collect data, applied factor analysis to identifying critical factors, and put forward hypotheses on the basis of previous research and applied struc­tural equation model (SEM) to exploring interrelationships among the critical factors of work flow. Final model con­firmed nine hypotheses and denied three hypotheses. Besides, this paper discovered other interrelationship among the critical factors except for the hypotheses. The result of this research will help project managers understand work flow easily and take effective measures to improve work flow reliability, which will contribute to implement lean construc­tion successfully.

A Systematic Approach Of Construction Management Based On Last Planner System And Its Implementation In The Construction Industry

The Last PlannerSystem (LPS) has been implemented on construction projects to increase work flow reliability, a precondition for project performance againstproductivity and progress targets. The LPS encompasses four tiers of planning processes:master scheduling, phase scheduling, lookahead planning, and commitment / weeklywork planning. This research highlights deficiencies in the current implementation of LPS including poor lookahead planning which results in poor linkage between weeklywork plans and the master schedule. This poor linkage undetermines the ability of theweekly work planning process to select for execution tasks that are critical to projectsuccess. As a result, percent plan complete (PPC) becomes a weak indicator of project progress. The purpose of this research is to improve lookahead planning (the bridgebetween weekly work planning and master scheduling), improve PPC, and improve theselection of tasks that are critical to project success by increasing the link betweenShould, Can, Will, and Did (components of the LPS), thereby rendering PPC a betterindicator of project progress. The research employs the case study research method to describe deficiencies inthe current implementation of the LPS and suggest guidelines for a better application ofLPS in general and lookahead planning in particular. It then introduces an analyticalsimulation model to analyze the lookahead planning process. This is done by examining the impact on PPC of increasing two lookahead planning performance metrics: tasksanticipated (TA) and tasks made ready (TMR). Finally, the research investigates theimportance of the lookahead planning functions: identification and removal ofconstraints, task breakdown, and operations design.The research findings confirm the positive impact of improving lookaheadplanning (i.e., TA and TMR) on PPC. It also recognizes the need to perform lookaheadplanning differently for three types of work involving different levels of uncertainty:stable work, medium uncertainty work, and highly emergent work.The research confirms the LPS rules for practice and specifically the need to planin greater detail as time gets closer to performing the work. It highlights the role of LPSas a production system that incorporates deliberate planning (predetermined andoptimized) and situated planning (flexible and adaptive). Finally, the research presents recommendations for production planningimprovements in three areas: process related, (suggesting guidelines for practice),technical, (highlighting issues with current software programs and advocating theinclusion of collaborative planning capability), and organizational improvements(suggesting transitional steps when applying the LPS).

Customer Earned Value: Performance Indicator from Flow and Value Generation View

AbstractThe earned value method (EVM) is considered an advanced project control technique that provides a quantitative measure of work performance. However, the EVM is effective only under the assumption that every activity is independent. Literature shows that the EVM lacks the value generation view even working against the reliability of workflow. The goal of this research is to propose a project metric system to supplement the EVM in terms of the workflow and value generation. The researchers suggest a new metric of customer earned value (CEV), which is defined as the budgeted amount of work completed and is used by the successors on a network. Through a hypothetical case study, this research investigates how the work-in-process between trades and schedule performance in each trade behave under different uncertainties. The result suggests that the proposed metrics can provide project managers with more relevant managerial information on project progress as well as on the level of collaboration. The pro...

A survey on production planning system in construction projects based on Last Planner System

Production planning has a critical role in obtaining project success through improving the reliability of workflow. Previous studies have shown the effectiveness of production planning in construction projects. This study aims to examine the current practice of production planning system in Vietnam Construction Industry (VCI) based on the Last Planner System (LPS). An assessment framework for production planning procedures has been employed according to the previous studies. Questionnaire survey, case study and expert survey were employed in this study. The results of analysis have indicated that most of production planning procedures at team workshop step and weekly work plan step in VCI are well performed; whereas most of procedures at lookahead plan step are superficially performed. Master schedule and weekly work plan are the most used plans when executing a construction project. Tool for constraints analysis and tool for measurement of percent plan completed are highly employed. ‘Low understanding of the concepts of LPS’ and ‘language and culture issues’ are the largest and smallest barriers respectively. ‘Indirect cost savings’ is the most beneficial factor if the present barriers are removed. This study then proposed some relevant solutions to enhance the performance of production planning processes in VCI.

Ensuring reliability in B2B services: Fault tolerant inter-organizational workflows

In the age of Business-to-Business (B2B) collaboration, ensuring reliability of workflows underlying inter-organizational business processes is of significant importance. There are, however, quite a few challenges towards achieving seamless operation. Such challenges arise from heterogeneity in infrastructure and coordination mechanism at participant organizations, as well as time and cost associated with recovery from failure. Our research presents foundations for a reliable scheme for recovery from failure of workflow processes spanning through multiple business entities. First, a system model is adapted from the mobile computing literature that serves to establish the requirements to be enforced by each participating organization. In our model, we adopt the Maximal Sequence Path (MSP) approach from Yoo et al. (Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence 2132:222---236, 2001), as a means of decomposing workflows into mobile agent-driven processes that communicate via web services at each organization. This decomposition ensures defining logical points within the dynamics of a workflow instance for locating accurate and consistent states of the system for recovery in case of a failure. Then, a set of algorithms for various business scenarios are developed and presented as practical solutions. These algorithms are shown to create checkpoints such that the system is always in a globally consistent state. As such, these algorithms constitute a set of standards that can be incorporated in business process management suites that support reliable inter-organizational collaboration.

A Dynamic Service Pool Size Configuration Mechanism for Service-Oriented Workflow

Service-oriented workflows are the fundamental structures in service-oriented applications and changes in the workflow could cause dramatic changes in system reliability. In several ways to re-heal workflows in execution, re-sizing service pools in the workflow is practical and easy to implement. In order to quickly adjust to workflow or environmental changes, this paper presents a dynamic service pool size configuration mechanism from the point of view of maintaining workflow reliability. An architecture-based reliability model is used to evaluate the overall reliability of a workflow with service pools and an optimal method is proposed to get the combination of service pool size aiming at minimizing the sum of service pool size subject to the workflow reliability requirement. A case study is used to explain this method and experiment results show how to change service pool size to meet the workflow reliability requirements.

Impact of Inspected Buffers on Production Parameters of Construction Processes

This paper examines the production implications of quality control inspections conducted on the buffer between processes in a construction project by modeling the linkage between these processes. Inspection of partially completed work at the end of one activity but before the beginning of work by the next activity is fairly common. Work that is deemed to be of sufficient quality is then made available for the next activity. Work that is deemed insufficient requires rework, typically by the trade appropriate to the activity that fed into the buffer, to bring the work into compliance. This has implications for workload management for that trade, of course, as well as for the reliability of work flow to the successor or downstream processes. While such situations are common in all construction sectors, an example from the residential construction sector was examined via a simulation model augmented by field data collected from residential construction projects. The impacts of the work flow into the predecessor process, the inspection pass rate, and resource availability were examined. The inspection pass rate was found to dramatically affect the reliability of work flow, unless resources are unlimited. Furthermore, the inspection pass rate was found to be functionally related to the production parameters of the process.

Learning to see work flow: an application of lean concepts to precast concrete fabrication

Reducing the lead time for engineered‐to‐order products can allow more time for exploration and testing of design alternatives, reduction of project durations, or some combination of both. Combined with improved reliability of work flow on site, more fabricated products can be pulled to site when needed, thus avoiding unnecessary inventories. Lead time reduction benefits both the design and the construction phases of projects, and it benefits the fabricator as well. Integration of engineering and detailing may offer the greatest potential for lead time reduction. However, fabrication lead times can also be reduced. This paper describes the application of lean production concepts and techniques to structural precast concrete fabrication. The key change was learning to identify and utilise work flow as opposed to focusing management effort on keeping workers and plant busy. Results included shop cycle time and lead time reduction, increased throughput rate, and improved productivity.