Revisiting the concept of natural rhythm of production in line of balance scheduling

The concept of ‘natural rhythm of production’ assumes that the highest productivity can be achieved as long as an activity is performed in a unit of production by one or multiple crews of optimum size. A scheduler who ignores the concept of ‘natural rhythm of production’ may perform poorly in developing a reliable schedule, which may in turn negatively affect the performance of a construction project of repetitive nature. This paper argues that considering the concept of ‘natural rhythm of production’ while establishing a line of balance schedule provides a realistic, continuous, and uninterrupted use of resources. The study demonstrates the existence of negative impacts if the concept of ‘natural rhythm of production’ is not considered, an area that is mostly ignored in the linear scheduling literature. The research presented in this paper contributes to the body of knowledge by showing that a linkage exists between improving productivity and the concept of ‘natural rhythm of production’, and makes it easier for researchers to understand what they can gain with the concept of ‘natural rhythm of production’.