Trends and developments of on-site crane layout planning 1983–2020: bibliometric, scientometric and qualitative analyses

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to thoroughly examine the trends and developments of crane layout planning (CLP) in the construction field and reveal future research directions for modular integrated construction (MiC). Design/methodology/approach Through a rigorous systematic mixed-review methodology that integrates bibliometric, scientometric and qualitative analysis, this study explored the crane layout research trend; the scientometric analysis of journal sources and keywords occurrence network; the research contributions and links between influential countries; the classification of research articles based on the type of problems and solution approaches; the qualitative analysis of existing findings and research gaps; and the future research direction for CLP in MiC. Findings This study found five categories under the CLP domain, namely, crane selection, crane location, integrated crane selection and location, integrated crane location and allocation of supply points and hybrid problems. The major research approaches used to solve CLP is optimization (43%), visualization (23%), decision support systems (16%), simulation (11%) and qualitative techniques (7%). The possible future research directions include artificial intelligence-based models, multi-crane locations, CLP for MiC re-use, dynamic models representing real-life scenarios and building information modeling-based virtual reality models. Originality/value Through a mixed-review methodology, this study provides a comprehensive analysis of problem settings and solution methods of CLP while mitigating the subjectivity of traditional review methods. Also, it presents a repertoire on CLP and illuminates future directions for seasoned researchers in the context of MiC.

Construction 4.0 technologies and applications: a systematic literature review of trends and potential areas for development

“…Although AI and Machine learning seem to be discussed most frequently, their application in comparison find applications in CI to the extent other industries embraced them to improve business process efficiency and enhance decision-making. For instance, using AI for autonomous crane operating, can be developed to optimise site logistics and site operations for modular construction (Tariq et al , 2021). Future research may prove its applicability for using the data from the construction sites during the construction process.…”

Simulation-Optimization for the Planning of Off-Site Construction Projects: A Comparative Study of Recent Swarm Intelligence Metaheuristics

“…These objectives can be applied using a systematic review method [42,43]. This method consists of two main steps: the extraction of related studies and their analysis [44]. The first step starts by selecting a number of relevant keywords for the database search.…”

“…Fourthly, a local search is implemented by generating a solution around the best solution using Equations ( 39) and (40). Fifthly, the fitness value of the new solutions is calculated, and the parameters of the NBA are updated according to Equations ( 41)- (44). Finally, the previous steps are iterated until the satisfaction of the stopping criteria.…”