Line of balance

Line of Balance (LoB)

Definition
A simple diagram to show location and
time at which a certain crew will be
working on a given operation.

Focuseson balancing the time

taken for individual activities by
either re-distribution of resource or
by reducing process waste.

Line of Balance (LOB)

LOB is a Planning methodology to optimize
resources used
LOB is a GoodVisualtool that lets us see if
a construction program can be achieved with
the minimum waiting time between tasks
It is primarily used on projects that have
repeated elements like Highways, Pipelines,
High-rise buildings, hotel bedrooms, bridge
etc.

Benefits of LOB
Continuous resource use
Less starts and stops
Crews will spend less time and money on
later units once they develop a learning
momentum.
Improve productivity
Savemoneyandtime
Faster planning process
SuperiorVisualcontrol

Elemental trend analysis (=

LoB)
requirements

Items in the batch are independent

of each other
Same resource carries out the same
activity on every item of the batch
Only one resource can work on a
given item
Any resource constraints must be
removed before the analysis

Where it is useful?
Construction industry
Heavy engineering assembly
Road or railway building

Problem solving example

There is a project of building 5 identical row
houses.
On each house 4 work units (items) should be
made, each by a specialized team of workers:

Foundations (team A): 1 month per house,

Brickwork (team B): 2 months per house,
Roof construction (team C): 2 weeks per house,
Internal works (team D): 1 month per house

a)Plot a LoB chart. Follower team can start

working on a given unit immediately after
the predecessor team finished. Calculate
the TPT.
b)Redesign the LoB chart to eliminate idle
time of teams and minimize the TPT.

Solution (a)
House
5
House
4
House
3
House
2
House
1

TPT
12 .5
month
s

Solution (b)
House
5
House
4
House
3
House
2
House
1

TPT
14
mont
hs

Control with LoB

If the 2nd team performing only on
75%...

Control with LoB

House
5
House
4
House
3
House
2
House
1

TPT
17
mont
hs