M Wang

A framework of electronic tendering for government procurement: a lesson learned in Taiwan

To render government procurement efficient, transparent, nondiscriminating, and accountable, an electronic government procurement system is required. Accordingly, Taiwan Government Procurement Law (TGPL) states that suppliers may employ electronic devices to forward a tender. This investigation demonstrates how the electronic government procurement system functions and reengineers internal procurement processes, which in turn benefits both government bodies and venders. The system features explored herein include posting/receiving bids via the Internet, vender registration, certificate authorization, contract development tools, bid/Request For Proposal (RFP) development, online bidding, and online payment, all of which can be integrated easily within most existing information infrastructures.

Taiwanese construction sector in a growing ‘maturity’ economy, 1964–1999

Using 12 input‐output tables compiled in Taiwan between 1964 and 1999, the role of the construction sector in the development of the Taiwanese economy is examined and analysed in relationship to other economic sectors. Analytical results reveal a two‐stage inverted U‐shaped relationship between the share of construction in GNP versus GNP per capita. The ‘pull effect’ of the Taiwanese construction sector is approximately equal to that of the Japanese construction sector over time, demonstrating that construction is more closely linked to the wider economy in Taiwan than elsewhere, like Italy, the UK and the USA. The ‘push effect’ increases significantly over time, indicating that the M&R (maintenance and repair) construction expenditures are growing in Taiwan. Finally, the direct and total construction input from manufacturing initially increased from 1969 and then declined after 1981, while the input from the service sector has been steadily growing. These findings confirm the increasing ‘maturity’ of the Taiwanese economy, a trend that mirrors the economic development of other AICs like Italy, Japan, the UK and the USA.

Development of an object-oriented scheduling model for construction projects

The relations of the construction activities can be demonstrated by fixed and soft logics. The fixed logic provides only a logic sequence of the construction activities. On the other hand, soft logic provides other possibilities of analyzing the activities. The current network techniques presume that there is only one logical sequence of the activities in a project. Therefore, planners need to choose one particular logical sequence even if there is more than one solution. This causes the time-consuming problem of schedule updating on soft-logic sequencing. This paper discusses the factors that influence the sequencing of the soft-logic and the heuristic sequencing principles. It develops algorithms incorporating with the heuristic sequencing principles to automatically identify the logical sequence of activities with soft logic that satisfies the given factors, and encapsulates the concept in a model with object-oriented paradigm.

Characterizing the corporate governance of UK listed construction companies

In response to the emergence of scandals involving many high‐profile companies during the 1990s, corporate governance is considered as an area requiring immediate reform. The government of the United Kingdom has conducted a series of reviews on corporate governance and incorporated the recommendations of these reports into regulatory codes. Compliance with these codes can be considered to indicate the implementation of best corporate practice. A question of interest is how UK construction companies perform in corporate governance. The answer can be revealed by comparing construction companies with the top 50 companies listed in the UK, based on the provisions of corporate governance codes. Construction companies are found to (1) disclose less corporate governance information; (2) display lower levels of structural board independence in terms of separate roles of chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) and percentage of independent directors; (3) rely less on external consultant advice in assisting the decision making of three board committees. Research thus should be conducted on whether these disparities cause adverse effects on construction company performance.

An Application of Auto-Identification System in Steel Structural Construction Process

Being an integral part of accessing the modern automated system, Auto-ID (Automatic Identification) system is a proven technology of providing a more accurate, detailed, timely and advanced information for architectural operation. Currently, the various technologies that are used for Auto-ID are: barcodes, optical character recognition (OCR), radio frequency identification (RFID), magnetic stripe and voice recognition. The focus of this study is mainly on the interface integration of Auto-ID system, including barcode, radio frequency, wireless technology and database systems etc. Among the diversified expert fields in the construction industry, the methodologies used for site-casting and pre-casting steel structure are very similar to that of manufacturing industry. By setting up suitable Auto-ID system module for construction environment and taking actual steel structure construction case as an example, a preliminary prototype has been developed in this study. After the prototype is thoroughly analyzed, guidelines that aim at effectively initiate the utilization of this Auto-ID system is formulated and ideas for further research are recommended.

Object-Oriented Construction Scheduling

Current network techniques presume that there is only one logical sequence of the activities in a project, therefore planners need to choose one particular logical sequence of the activities even if there is more than one possible sequence. This may request engineers expend many work hours to update the variable relationships between activities to keep a meaningful schedule, which effectively controls the progress of a project. This paper discusses the logic changes during the course of delivering the project. An object-oriented algorithm and computer system, called OERT and OERTSS respectively, have been developed to automatically update the logic changes providing the impact of logic change on the project completion date and the critical path thereby reflecting the progress of the project faster.

A Study on Contractual Information Sharing System

Traditionally, the contractually required data are delivered with paper format, which could cause many problems such as waste of papers, difficulties in managing documents, error-prone in data processing, etc. If the owner and contractors in a construction project do not share the information specified in their contract efficiently and consistently, their communication cannot be effective and correct. Such problems can be improved by using advanced information technologies. This paper presents the concept of a model-based CITIS system for establishing a contractual sharing information system. By making use of Object-Oriented techniques, this research then proposes Contractual Document Information Model (CDIM).

Construction Quality Control Through Pen-Based Computers

This paper describes research results and the experience gained by applying pencomputers to the area of construction quality. A pen-based computer system has been developed to include the functions of signature, error detection, drawing capability, form navigation, user instruction, and decision making. The system eliminates the required effort to convert the inspection data from paper forms to computers input. Moreover, it contains statistical algorithms to automatically facilitate either accepting or rejecting the quality of a finished construction product. A pen-based computer provides many benefits. This paper will begin with a brief review of the pen-based computer technology followed by detailed design of the pen-based computer system for quality inspection of steel bridge painting. Finally, conclusions and recommendations will be provided.

Applied Natural Language Processing: An Overview

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is concerned with the development of computer programs that emulate human intelligence. In the recent past AI has emerged from research laboratories into the commercial world. Among the various subfields of AI three areas that could have a significant impact on the practice of engineering are: knowledge-based expert systems (KBES), natural language processing (NLP), and robotics.