Søren Wandahl

User-driven Innovation in a Construction Material Supply Network

Purpose – User‐driven innovation (UDI) has been proven to successfully increase the value of products and services in single companies with direct linkages to the end‐user. The construction material industry often has no direct linkages to the end‐user, due to supply networks through builder merchants. Moreover, a lack of user knowledge is common in such networks, and companies rarely have explicit knowledge on how their products and services are in fact used and valued by their end‐users. Thus, it is clear that UDI is not directly applicable to the construction material industry without further developments. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that a network perspective is essential when adapting and implementing UDI in the construction material industry and to let the advantages of doing so surface.Design/methodology/approach – The research design includes a number of different approaches and types of interaction between the researchers and industry. Additionally, an extensive literature ...

Visual value clarification ‐ A method for an effective brief

Abstract The purpose of this research is to explore the processes in the conception of construction projects, ie the brief. More specifically, the intention is to discuss how it can be ensured that the client receives the right product, ie that the real and justified needs of the client and the users are captured, and that they through an iterative process are transformed into building requirements. The research is carried out by a literature study on the briefing process. This reveals that todays briefing process is far from perfect, and a lot of challenges exist. It is when discussed which factors influence the effective briefing process, and a method to facilitate this is proposed. The visual value clarification method is a simple method for supporting the client and the project team in the briefing process. It should help the client recognise his real needs, create a better communication and give the project team a better understanding of the clients needs.

Scheduling of large, complex, and constrained construction projects – an exploration of LPS application

Scheduling of construction projects is by nature complex. The construction process is unreliable and difficult to forecast. Last planner system (LPS) is introduced in construction in order to achieve greater reliability and productivity in the process. To ensure that implementation is successfully anchored in the organisations, differences between theory and application are investigated. To determine the theoretically correct application a literature survey is conducted. A questionnaire survey is made to collect empirical date of the practical application. Comparison between theory and application revealed that often only parts of LPS are applied. A partly applied LPS can be a main barrier to increased reliability in the scheduling process. Furthermore, the questionnaire showed that failures in the execution processes often start in the look-ahead plan. Here, lacking knowledge of the execution process is causing problems to be overlooked. To increase the level of knowledge foremen should be involved in the look-ahead planning.

Future cooperation trends in the building industry

Advanced forms of cooperation concepts have begun surfacing in the construction industry, inspired by cooperation between companies in other industries. The purpose is often of strategic character and these cooperation forms are hence long-term. These cooperation concepts are striving for continuous improvements in regard of both delivering more value to the client and removing waste in the supply chain. The experiences so far reveal that cost reduction up to 50% and reduction of lead time up to 80% is possible. This could set new standards for the construction industry and raise productivity.

Exploration of the reasons for delays in construction

Construction sites are dominated by chaos and complexity, enforcing challenging conditions for establishing reliable and robust schedules that are easy to observe. The consequence is a large amount of delayed activities that again results in an unreliable schedule. Last planner system (LPS) was introduced as a production planning and control system to increase the reliability of scheduling task. By focusing on the removal of constraints, the LPS has successfully decreased the number of delayed activities. To further decrease delays, this research investigates the causes for delays at three construction cases. In total, 5424 scheduled activities were followed, whereof 1450 were delayed. The delayed activities were, besides the unidentified ones, categorized into 11 different categories and a statistical test of means was performed. The research revealed six often-occurring causes to delay: connecting work, change in work plans, workforce, external conditions, material and construction design. Furthermore, the study revealed five seldom-occurring causes to delay: space, equipment, rework, unexpected conditions, and safety. The findings have been structured in accordance to the preconditions used in the LPS theory. Therefore, the results can directly be applied to the making-ready process and used as guidance of where to intervene in attempt to reduce future delay.

On the Road to Improved Scheduling: Reducing the Effects of Variation in Duration

Scheduling in onsite construction is based on commitments. Not kept commitments are resulting in non-completions which lead to waste. Moreover, it is important that commitments are made realistic to avoid both positive and negative variation in duration. Negative variation is destructive to plans and schedules, and is resulting in delays; while positive variation is destructive to productivity by creating unexploited gap between activities and thus inducing unexploited capacity. By registering non-completion at three construction sites, the magnitude of activities inducing negative variation has been mapped. In total 5424 activities has been registered whereof 1450 activities ended up as non-completions; thus, did 27% of the scheduled activities not finish on scheduled. Both positive and negative variation can be minimized by improving the quality of the commitments. Moreover, positive variation can be exploited by A) ensuring that the crew finishing an activity to early can continue their work and B) ensuring that any connecting activity can start as fast as possible.

Sustainable Industrialization in the Building Industry: On the Road to Energy Efficient Construction Management

Since the Brundtland report in 1987 sustainability has been an issue in all parts of the world, and the focus is increasing in these years. The building industry has in the same period also been under heavy pressure to increase productivity in the same pace as other manufacturing industries. An important question is then how well these two highly relevant areas can go hand in hand. By means of comparing the main ideas and drivers behind sustainability and industrialization respectively, common threads, possible synergies and evident barriers put forward in this discussion paper. The main method is a review to track past merits in the two domains and to detect knowledge gaps that has research potential. A strategic research agenda focusing on energy efficient construction management is outlined showing the need for future focus on combining industrialization in construction management with sustainability and energy concerns in construction management.

Practitioners’ perception of value in construction

AbstractValue delivery is basically the main purpose of construction, and in fact it is not the physical construction in itself that a client buys but the attributes or value the building provides. This value delivery is undertaken in a complex endeavour of collaboration. Throughout a building project value is in focus both implicit and explicit. Often challenges or direct problems arise during the process, which may be due to an incongruent perception of value. A survey was conducted among practitioners of the Danish building industry, aiming at investigating whether or not practitioners perceive value differently. The survey revealed that the practitioners had a diverse understanding of how to perceive value in a building project. This is problematic for the efficiency and effectiveness of building projects. Value is the underlying concept of emerging methods and concepts such as Lean Construction, Value Management and Partnering. When a homogeneous understanding of value does not exist, the full potent...

Enablers of Innovation in the Construction Material Industry

The construction material industry is often acknowledged as slightly more innovative than the overall construction industry and could hence serve as a valuable learning place for how innovation could flourish in the construction industry. Construction is viewed as network or supply chain based, which creates a strong interdependence between the different supply network partners and can be seen as a hindrance for innovation. Innovation models must embrace such a contemporary business structures, where competition often takes place between supply chains rather than between individual companies. By exploring case-based innovation processes the purpose is to discover enablers of innovation in the construction material industry. The research design is based on explorative case studies. By applying case study as method, the research is drawn towards inductive research, where we investigate patterns suitable for generalization on enablers for innovation. In total, six cases of successful innovation are investigated. The conclusion of this research validates that open innovation in a network approach is a precondition for a successful innovation journey in the construction industry. In addition, it was found that different approaches for facilitating this journey exists, based on company characteristics. This paper adds to the body of knowledge on how to succeed with innovation in the construction industry. The increased awareness of an open and cooperative approach to innovation is of value both theoretical and practical.

A Lean Framework for Production Control in Complex and Constrained Construction Projects

Production conditions in construction are different than in the manufacturing industry. First of all, construction is rooted in place and conducted as on-site manufacturing. Secondly, every construction project is unique and a one-of-a-kind production, managed by a temporary organization consisting of several companies. Thirdly, highly interdependent activities have to be conducted at limited space, with multiple components, a lack of standardization, and with many trades and subcontractors represented on site. This interrelation results in a production where different contractors perform interacting and overlapping activities. This increases uncertainty and make the construction process very difficult to plan and control. Additionally, a lot of unpredictable factors (e.g. climate conditions) affects control, and makes construction even more complex. Production control is an essential part of any complex and constrained construction project. Even though several tools have attempted to add structure and to create order, to the complex, dynamic, and uncertain context in which constructions is conducted, none has yet fully succeeded in providing a robust production control system. With outset in the lean tool Last Planner System of Production Control, a robust construction production control framework has been developed.