Factors Affecting Engineering Productivity

Liao, Pin; O’Brien, William J.; Thomas, Stephen R.; Dai, Jiukun; Mulva, Stephen P.

doi:10.1061/(asce)me.1943-5479.0000059

Cited by 30 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Furthermore, this industry is characterized as labor-intensive, wasteful, and inefficient because of its conventional on-site construction approach [16,17]. As indicated in Egan's report [18], improving productivity and environmental performance in the construction industry requires the diffusion of new construction methods such as lean production and prefabrication.…”

Section: Overview Of Off-site Prefabricationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative study of greenhouse gas emissions between off-site prefabrication and conventional construction methods: Two case studies of residential projects

Mao

Shen

et al. 2013

Energy and Buildings

403

215

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Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the construction stage will be more relatively significant over time.Different construction methods influence GHG emissions in the construction phase. This study investigates the differences of GHG emissions between prefabrication and conventional construction methods. This study sets a calculation boundary and five emission sources for the semi-prefabricated construction process: embodied emissions of building materials, transportation of building materials, transportation of construction waste and soil, transportation of prefabricated components, operation of equipment, and construction techniques. A quantitative model is then established using a process-based method. A semi-prefabrication project and a conventional construction project in China are employed for preliminary examination of the differences in GHG emissions. Results show that the semi-prefabrication method produces less GHG emissions per square meter compared with the conventional construction, with the former producing 336 kg/m 2 and the latter generating 368 kg/m 2 . The largest proportion of total GHG emissions comes from the embodied emissions of building materials, accounting for approximately 85%. Four elements that positively contribute to reduced emissions are the embodied GHG emissions of building materials, transportation of building materials, resource consumption of equipment and techniques, and transportation of waste and soil, accounting for 86.5%, 18.3%, 10.3%, and 0.2%, respectively, of reduced emissions; one a negative effect on reduced emissions is the transportation of prefabricated components, which offsets 15.3% of the total emissions reduction. Thus, adopting prefabricated construction methods contribute to significant environmental benefits on GHG emissions in this initial study.

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Section: Overview Of Off-site Prefabricationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative study of greenhouse gas emissions between off-site prefabrication and conventional construction methods: Two case studies of residential projects

Mao

Shen

et al. 2013

Energy and Buildings

403

215

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…... (6) ... (7) ... 8Deter mining the micro-level labor productivity in different sectors needs spending energy, time and expertise of CPMO in order to implement the measurement process. As described in the previous section, the sampling is conducted in this regard.…”

Section: Implementation Of Framework On the Studied Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

A New Model for Productivity Evaluation in Construction by New Insight Into the Baseline Productivity (Case Study)

Gavili¹,

Mortaheb²

2015

Curr. World Environ

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The construction industry contributes a major share of gross domestic product (GDP) and has a vital role in the economic growth of countries. Thus any performance improvement in this industry enhances the economic growth especially in developing countries. Due to the lack of reliable performance measurement models agreeable to industry and academy, this research seeks to take steps to introduce a novel functional and flexible method for measurement, analysis and comparison of labor productivity. Furthermore; an addition to the site organizational chart, called "Construction Productivity Management Office, CPMO", is introduced for implementation of this method. In a case study it was shown that this addition can improve productivity indicating its practicality and capabilities. The novel method also introduces a new index called the "net baseline productivity". This approach is based on filtering and excluding the total idle times that provides a managerial index called "Earned Performance Ratio (EPR)". This new method can provide an objective-based approach for measuring the productivity as well as introducing a new insight into the baseline productivity. The introduction of CPMO with dynamic duty description of measurement, analysis, and comparison of productivity and its relevant indexes is one of the other achievements of this research. Effective implementation of productivity concepts can play a key role in achieving the ultimate goals of projects and organizations.

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“…Benchmarking has been defined as a systematic approach of measuring one's performance against that of recognized leaders with the purpose of determining best practices for continuous improvement (Liao et al 2011). Thus, benchmarking can be regarded as an external focus on internal activities, functions, or operations in order to achieve continuous improvement.…”

Section: Background Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Potential of Construction Project Benchmarking in the Vicksburg District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

LaBarre

El-adaway

Eid

2014

Construction Research Congress 2014

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Construction projects are becoming plagued more than ever by conflicts, claims, and disputes. To this end, performance measurement has become a commonly used tool for evaluating processes, managing human resources, and formulating corrective strategies. One of the most important aspects of performance measurement is the ability to perform benchmarking. Using case studies of projects carried out by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in its Vicksburg District, this paper investigates how benchmarking can be potentially used to evaluate and measure performance of the associated contractors. The utilized methodology encompassed three interdependent steps where the authors: (1) collected project data for 40 contractors who performed work for USACE using internal file reviews; (2) defined the associated performance measures; (3) and analyzed the results to identify areas in which contractors needed to improve in order to increase efficiency. The authors identified five performance measures including quality control, timely performance, effectiveness of management, compliance with labor standards, and compliance with safety standards. These measures were applied on a five-point rating system and categorized using three characteristic groups including use of subcontractors, contract modifications, and final contract price. This research provides an opportunity to promote changes within the Vicksburg District based on knowing strengths and weaknesses.

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Factors Affecting Engineering Productivity

Cited by 30 publications

References 12 publications

Comparative study of greenhouse gas emissions between off-site prefabrication and conventional construction methods: Two case studies of residential projects

Comparative study of greenhouse gas emissions between off-site prefabrication and conventional construction methods: Two case studies of residential projects

A New Model for Productivity Evaluation in Construction by New Insight Into the Baseline Productivity (Case Study)

The Potential of Construction Project Benchmarking in the Vicksburg District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

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