Mapping simulation optimization requirements for construction sites: A study in the heavy-duty vehicles industry

The Construction and mining Industry comprises complex operations and interactions between various actors at different levels. Simulation has emerged as a valuable tool in this domain to better understand the site's behavior and optimize its operation. However, developing a simulation platform that can handle all the operations on the site is challenging due to the computational cost of the digital representation of reality along with the required accuracy level. This paper aims at extracting and mapping the optimization requirements of construction sites at three main levels: site level, operational level and dynamics level. More precisely, this work seeks to define and map the most important requirements between these levels that ensure simulation credibility and reliability. Based on interviews with experts in the domain, both from academia and industry, several key insights and recommendations emerged: at the site level, the layout and the key performance indicators, such as productivity, time, cost, number of machines and workers, need to be modeled and simulated. At the operational level, the simulation platform must include the main activities, such as loading, excavating, transporting and dumping. Moreover, the dynamics level should involve machine models and their interactions with the site's environment, such as earthmoving, drilling, excavating and blasting.