An Emperical Survey on Production Planning Practice of Nigeria’s Small and Medium sized Construction Firms

Abstract

Effective production planning is vital for overall productive gains in the construction endeavors as its various processes are interwoven requiring careful planning from conceptualization through production process to enable control and effective delivery. Nigerian construction industry constantly faces challenges in effective production planning in light of the dynamic nature of the industry and misconception of production planning as a task related to plan generation rather than a managerial process. This Paper examines the effectiveness of production planning by small and medium construction firms in Nigeria; identify the factors militating against good production planning practice and recommend possible ways to overcome such challenges. Data were collected from construction professionals in charge of production planning in the firms in, analyzed and subjected to t-test. The results showed that production planning exercises is mostly carried out by project managers who in most cases use the bar chart technique for planning whatever type of projects. Also, factors militating against good production planning practice include: inadequate duration allowed for preparation of the production plan; inadequate project information; fluctuations in labour and material cost; cash flow inadequacies. It is recommended that adequate time should be allowed for production planning; appropriate planning technique should be used for projects as appropriate; adequate project information should be provided to project planners prior to production planning exercise and a realistic cash flow programme should be prepared and closely monitored to ensure that production plans are not hindered due to cash flow delays.