William J. O’Brien

Comparative evaluation of Received Signal-Strength Index (RSSI) based indoor localization techniques for construction jobsites

This paper evaluates the accuracy of several RSSI-based localization techniques on a live jobsite and compares them to results obtained in an operating building. RSSI-based localization algorithms were tested due to their relative low cost and potential for accuracy. Four different localization algorithms (MinMax, Maximum Likelihood, Ring Overlapping Circle RSSI and k-Nearest Neighbor) were evaluated at both locations. The results indicate that the tested localization algorithms performed less well on the construction jobsite than they did in the operating building. The simple MinMax algorithm has better performance than other algorithms, with average errors as low as 1.2 m with a beacon density of 0.186/m 2 . The Ring Overlapping Circle RSSI algorithm was also shown to have good results and avoids implementation difficulties of other algorithms. k-Nearest Neighbor algorithms, previously explored by other construction researchers, have good accuracy in some test cases but may be particularly sensitive to beacon positioning.

Critical Success Factors and Enablers for Optimum and Maximum Industrial Modularization

AbstractModularization is a well-established technique that can improve the construction industry by exporting a portion of site-based work to fabrication shops. However, its application in the industry is limited. The Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) industry needs new approaches to reach higher levels of modularization. The purpose of this study is to determine what changes in current EPC processes are needed to create an optimal environment for a broader and more effective use of modularization. In creating such an nvironment, it is necessary to know the factors that lead to success. The most influential critical success factors (CSFs; 21 total) have been determined by the expertise of a research team who compiled a detailed list by adding CSF enablers. CSF enablers are additional steps that can facilitate accomplishment of the associated CSF. A closer look at the top five CSFs indicates that project teams should pay particular attention to module envelope limitations, team agreement on ...

Factors Affecting Engineering Productivity

Engineering performance has a major impact on subsequent project phases, such as procurement and construction, and thus, has the potential to affect the overall project outcome. This study utilizes metrics and a database from the Construction Industry Institute (CII) benchmarking and metrics program to investigate relationships between factors thought to affect direct engineering labor productivity during detailed engineering. Collaborating with industry practitioners, quantitative assessments were analyzed with industry input through various CII committee meetings and industry forums. Significant correlations are found between engineering productivity and project size, project type, project priority, and phase involvement. Correlations are also found between degree of modularization, funded front-end planning effort, and quality management and engineering productivity. These findings extend and, in some cases, contradict previous research.

Standardization Strategy for Modular Industrial Plants

AbstractModularization is a well-established technique in which a portion of site-based work is exported to fabrication shops, thereby contributing to an improved construction. When modularization is combined with design standardization, according to the literature of the shipbuilding and manufacturing industries, the result is a leveraging opportunity. Such an approach can incorporate all the benefits from both design standardization and modularization and can constitute a strategy for augmenting modularization. This paper addresses a leveraging opportunity for modularization augmentation by examining how modularization and design standardization relate to one another in the industrial sector. A research team comprised of industrial and academic members identified standard modules as well as a modular standardized plant (MSP) as distinct approaches to combining modularization and design standardization. The research further identified 10 types of economic advantages and 3 types of economic disadvantages ...

Strategic Procurement Practices for the Industrial Supply Chain

AbstractEarly sourcing decisions have a critical impact on the performance of industrial construction projects. However, the industrial construction sector has been relatively understudied, especially the sourcing and supply chain practices typically implemented in early phases of capital projects. This study reports on how engineering-procure-construction (EPC) firms select suppliers in the early stages of the project. Particular focus involves the decisions firms make in sourcing process and the types and roles of supporting information. The paper reports on five case studies with large EPC firms. Data were collected from multiple individuals in each firm with extensive supporting documentation. A cross-case analysis describes similarities and differences between EPCs and helps to compare empirical findings with the broader literature. Findings contradict some areas of the literature, in particular the push for strategic supplier alliances. Other findings confirm the strategic importance of early procur...

Approach to Classifying Freight Data Elements Across Multiple Data Sources

Multiple freight data sources, both public and private, are available to practitioners for understanding freight demand and evaluating current and future freight transportation capacity. The challenge of working with multiple data sources is dealing with the syntactic and semantic heterogeneity in these sources. To assist practitioners in addressing this challenge, a unified perspective from which data elements from multiple sources can be examined is proposed. The role-based classification schema (RBCS) organizes and classifies data elements within their respective parent databases such that similar data elements across multiple sources can be grouped. RBCS is based on two levels of classification: a primary group that characterizes data elements according to the type of object that they describe and a secondary group that differentiates between elements that identify objects and those that describe features related to the objects. When similar data elements are ascertained, the subsequent process of resolving syntactic and semantic heterogeneity becomes much clearer, especially with hundreds of data elements. The proposed schema was validated by classifying 1,624 data elements from 28 freight data sources, and it was compared with the existing mnemonic CODMRT, which defined key attributes of freight-related shipments: commodity, origin, destination, mode, route, and time. Examples of applications in the areas of data bridging and multidatabase querying are also presented.

Civil Integrated Management for Highway Infrastructure: Case Studies and Lessons Learned

The use of information modeling and digital data for highway projects has seen a considerable surge over the past decade. These tools have enhanced the predictability and performance of several tasks in the project delivery process. This study explores the implementation of civil integrated management (CIM) practices in four case studies and documents the lessons learned to enhance CIM inclusion in project delivery processes. CIM encompasses the system of interdependent technologies and practices that facilitate collection, management, and utilization of digital information for project delivery and asset management processes. CIM is an emerging practice, and studies concerning integration of CIM technologies with project life cycle are limited. Through case studies of four highway projects, this study emphasizes the standards and processes that played a vital role in utilizing CIM technologies for contract documentation, design coordination, construction automation, and project management. The two small-scale projects investigated as part of this study demonstrate that pilot initiatives could be successfully carried out to harvest best practices in overcoming contract and legal challenges while embracing new technologies in agencies’ workflow. The two large-scale projects indicate that with the owner’s participation and expertise, the role of CIM technologies can be further enhanced toward performing project management functions. The lessons learned from the case studies are organized to provide a synthesis of process and organizational considerations that would enhance the agencywide adoption of CIM technologies.

Student Background and Implications for Design of Technology-Enhanced Instruction

AbstractKnowledge of students’ construction and technology background is an important input to the process of designing technology-enhanced instruction. Current literature in student background is either not specific for the construction/civil engineering student population or lacks direct implications for pedagogical design. This paper presents a survey study that assesses students’ self-reported technology skills and attitude, learning preferences, and baseline construction knowledge. The survey is designed as a questionnaire with three sections: demographic and background information, technology attitude and exposure, and construction-related knowledge. From the 280 data points collected, it was found that today’s students are exposed to a wide range of technology applications. They had a positive attitude toward technology, were enthusiastic video-game players, and strongly preferred learning activities that involved interactions, whether these interactions were face-to-face or mediated by technology....

IOP Tool: Assessing the Benefits and Hindrances of Information Integration Implementation Opportunities

AbstractThis paper presents a tool assessing the benefits and hindrances of specific information integration opportunities (IOP) identified by firms for potential implementation. Firms face numerous choices about which of many potential information integration opportunities to pursue. However, they lack guidance in selecting opportunities and preparing for successful implementation. In addition, there are many nontechnical factors that need to be considered for successful implementation of information integration. The tool, developed by an industry research team consisting of 15 members from leading contractors, construction clients, and academia in the U.S., uses 37 benefit driver and 34 implementation hindrance questions that are scored to provide an assessment of a specific integration opportunity. The questions in the tool take market/legal, organizational and process, and people-related issues pertinent to the implementation of information integration into account. The tool has been applied to 16 tes...

Advanced work packaging as emerging planning approach to improve project performance : case studies from the industrial construction sector

Despite the progress made in the development of scheduling techniques and tools, the industrial construction sector is frequently characterized by informal and unstructured procedures during initial planning stages. This results in planning deliverables that are scarcely aligned across the different business divisions and poorly structured to support field operations. Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) methodology consists in an enhanced project breakdown structure that prescribes an organized planning approach, aiming at the alignment between construction, engineering, and procurement disciplines since the preliminary planning phase. AWP is an emerging planning approach in the industrial construction sector and the present article is aimed at exploring AWP impact on project performance. Research methodology is based on multiple case studies concerning two industrial construction projects. The case studies involved the construction of projects with identical scope, one with and one without AWP implementation. These case studies were performed at the same time, in neighboring sites, and by the same project participants, thus representing reliable units of analysis to investigate AWP impact. Findings show that AWP implementation is related to improved performance in terms of project cost, schedule, quality, and safety. The present article contributes to the validation of an emerging project planning methodology and highlights the criticality of the early planning phase, which systematic characterization represents a valuable and still under-explored research avenue.