Carlos Torres Formoso

Safety and production: an integrated planning and control model

A safety planning and control model (SPC) has been integrated into the production planning and control process. The model integrates safety into three hierarchical levels of production control. Safety long‐term planning starts with the preliminary hazard analysis (PHA) of construction processes. These plans are detailed and updated at both medium‐ and short‐term planning levels. The main performance measure adopted for safety evaluation at the short‐term level is the Percentage of Safe Work Packages (PSW). It monitors the degree in which work packages are safely carried out. The model also proposes a participatory mechanism that allows workers to point out existing risks as well as to evaluate risk controls. This paper discusses two empirical studies in which the model was implemented in industrial construction projects.

An exploratory study on the applicability of process transparency in construction sites

Several industrial sectors have recently experienced important changes on the organization of their production activities, indicating that a new production management paradigm is emerging. Although there is no consensus in the literature about the meaning of this new paradigm, an opportunity has been created for establishing a coherent body of shared principles for the management of production systems. This paper discusses the increase of process transparency, which has been pointed out as one of the core principles of the new production management paradigm. It is concerned with making the production process observable in order to facilitate control and improvement. The main objective of this article is to investigate how this principle can be applied in construction sites, and to identify existing barriers for its implementation in this industry. It is based on a literature review, and on six exploratory case studies carried out in Brazil and England. The practical and theoretical implications of the principle are discussed and a number of examples from construction are used to illustrate its main points. The study has indicated that it is feasible and worthwhile to apply this principle in construction sites. It can bring direct benefits for the performance of production systems, and it can also be used as a support principle that enables other principles to be effectively implemented. The case studies also indicated that there is much potential for increasing process transparency in construction sites.

Mass Appraisal With Genetic Fuzzy Rule-Based Systems

The use of mass appraisal techniques is a common practice in real estate taxation. The models of real estate market have several sources of imprecision, such as errors in the transitions between submarkets, generating difficulties to construct mass appraisal models. Fuzzy Rule-Based Systems (FRBS) are able to generate flexible systems and may be useful in considering vagueness or imprecision presents in real estate market. This paper verifies the extraction of fuzzy rules from real estate data through genetic algorithms, performing Genetic Fuzzy Rule-Based Systems (GFRBS). These GFRBS used TSK rules, which are formed by linear equations and may be seen as hedonic models. Two approaches were tested. The first one is a GFRBS based on the gross building area of the properties, tested in systems with 3 to 7 rules. In another view, a system of rules based on location of the properties was constructed, in which each rule is specialized in determined region, and contributes to a general estimate. The systems were implemented with data of the city of Porto Alegre (Brazil), comparing the fuzzy models with a traditional hedonic regression model. The results have indicated the potential of fuzzy rules in mass appraisal.

Expanding the meaning of standardisation within construction processes

Discusses the effectiveness of construction practices on standardisation based on six case studies developed both in Brazil and in the UK, focusing on the “bricklaying” process. The case studies showed a paradox: construction companies developing written standards but failing to implement and maintaining standard practices. Written standards were extremely ineffective in the case studies due to the lack of teamwork and problem solving activities. It became clear that the abstract meaning of standardisation has far larger possibilities than simply developing descriptions of practice in written documents. Information on standards could be displayed in the packing system or equipment, for instance. Most importantly, information on standard procedures should be available when and where the construction worker needs it, despite the great need for workstation mobility. Hence, concludes that there is an urgent need for promoting a more widespread use of “visual management” approaches in order to enable effective dissemination and use of standard practices within the construction environment.

Setting stretch targets for driving continuous improvement in construction: analysis of Brazilian and UK practices

An effective way to promote a continuous flow of ideas for improvement in production systems is to challenge people with “stretch targets”. This should generate a creative tension between a desired situation and the present situation. In the UK, the potential of this approach has been recognised by the Construction Task Force in their report, Rethinking Construction, which recommended that construction companies should establish challenging targets for improving the quality and efficiency of their processes. Investigates to what extent construction companies are currently using targets for driving continuous improvement in their production processes. The analysis is based on the empirical evidence collected on six Brazilian and UK construction sites. The analysis shows that most construction managers in the case studies did not use “stretch targets” as a strategy for driving continuous improvement in construction processes. “Stretch targets” were generally contingent to project constraints and were not supported by other fundamental complementary practices.

Visual Management in Brazilian Construction Companies: Taxonomy and Guidelines for Implementation

Visual management (VM) is the managerial strategy of consciously integrating visual tools in workspaces with the aim of increasing transparency on construction sites. Several VM tools and approaches that had been originally developed in the manufacturing context were implemented in construction. However, research on the application of VM in construction as a managerial strategy is scarce. This paper aims to investigate and classify the types of visual devices that can be used in construction sites through multiple case studies carried out in nine construction companies actively implementing VM. It also discusses strategies for the implementation of VM in construction. The main contributions of this investigation are: (1) a VM tools taxonomy that can be used to identify VM application opportunities, providing a basis for evaluating the level of VM implementation in construction; and (2) identification of critical factors for the implementation and various features of the VM strategy in construction.

Segurança e produção: um modelo para o planejamento e controle integrado

This paper presents a safety planning and control model (SPC) that has been integrated to the production planning and control process. The model was developed through two action research empirical studies in industrial construction projects. Safety requirements are integrated into three hierarchical levels of planning and control process. At the long-term level, safety planning is featured by preliminary hazard analysis of construction processes. These plans are updated and detailed through its integration into both medium-term and short-term planning levels.

Proposta de um protocolo para o processamento de requisitos do cliente em empreendimentos habitacionais de interesse social

Several studies have pointed out the importance of client requirements management and the difficulties for implementing it in the construction industry due to the complex nature of its processes. In the low-income housing sector, final clients rarely take part directly in the product development process and for this reason their needs are usually not properly captured and translated into requirements, and consequently these are not properly considered by the design team. This requires important changes in the way the product development process is managed. This paper presents a study on requirements processing of a set of projects of the Residential Leasing Program. This study emphasizes the task of client requirements processing in this context, based on the integration of different sources of evidences, with the perceptions of different clients involved in the design. The main contribution of this investigation was the development of a protocol for requirements processing, which uses visual displays and the House of Quality tool, which support the systematic processing of client requirements data.

Avaliação de empreendimentos habitacionais de interesse social com base na hierarquia de valor percebido pelo usuário

A avaliacao de empreendimentos tem grande importância no esforco de melhoria da habitacao de interesse social, podendo auxiliar na avaliacao de resultados, e identificacao de erros e acertos frente aos objetivos e acoes do projeto. No entanto, a diversidade e dinâmica de programas habitacionais e a falta de clareza nos objetivos dos empreendimentos podem dificultar o processo de avaliacao desse tipo de produto. Com frequencia, as avaliacoes realizadas nos empreendimentos de habitacao de interesse social tem como foco os atributos do produto, sem estabelecer uma conexao com os objetivos esperados. Neste artigo, propoe-se um modelo para estruturar as avaliacoes de empreendimentos habitacionais de interesse social, adotando uma hierarquia de valor que vincula os atributos as suas consequencias de uso e aos objetivos esperados. O modelo nao esta limitado a um programa habitacional especifico e parte da ideia de produto ampliado, ou seja, nao esta focado apenas no produto habitacao. As principais contribuicoes do estudo referem-se ao mapeamento do produto habitacional e a identificacao de influencias entre os atributos do produto avaliados e os resultados esperados pelos gestores e percebidos pelos usuarios.

Identificação de práticas de gestão da segurança e saúde no trabalho em obras de construção civil

O setor da construcao civil apresenta indices de acidentes de trabalho mais elevados em relacao a maioria dos demais setores industriais. Melhorias nas praticas atuais de gestao da seguranca e saude no trabalho (SST) podem trazer beneficios como a preservacao da vida humana e o aumento da competitividade das empresas no mercado com a reducao dos custos decorrentes de acidentes, multas e embargos. Este artigo apresenta um levantamento e uma avaliacao do grau de implementacao das praticas de gestao em SST e a identificacao das dificuldades na implementacao destas praticas e no cumprimento das normas, na perspectiva dos responsaveis pela gestao da seguranca em empresas construtoras. Os dados foram coletados atraves da realizacao de uma survey , com questionarios aplicados nos canteiros de obra de 40 empresas do segmento de edificacoes residenciais de Porto Alegre (RS). Estes dados foram comparados com os resultados de uma survey similar realizada na Espanha com 20 empresas construtoras. Para analisar e classificar as praticas utilizaram-se tecnicas estatisticas de analise de componentes principais e multiplas respostas. Foram criadas cinco categorias de praticas de gestao da SST, sendo analisadas as praticas individuais mais utilizadas na amostra de empresas. Faz-se tambem uma comparacao entre as categorias de praticas mais utilizadas e a percepcao de importância por parte dos gerentes.