Youngsoo Jung

Project Management Information Systems for Construction Managers (CM): Current Constituents and Future Extensions

This paper explores future requirements of project management information systems (PMIS) for professional construction management (CM) firms. Current constituents and effectiveness of CM-PMIS were analyzed first by surveying ten CM firms in South Korea. The composition of PMIS was quantitatively investigated by two dimensions; system configuration (e.g. in-house developed, ERP/ASP, groupware, professional software) and construction business functions (e.g. design, estimating, cost, time etc.). Information requirements from the owners and contractors are compared in order to examine the CM’s role among these project participants. Current and future levels of practical utilization of CM-PMIS were also surveyed in order to evaluate the issues and needs. Findings indicate that the Korean CM firms plan to actively enhance PMIS in the areas of ‘sales’ and ‘cost control’ business functions in near future.

Standard Classifications and Project Numbering System for Integrated Construction Management of Modernized Korean Housing (Hanok)

A comprehensive research effort in order to develop and disseminate modernized Korean housing (Hanok) has recently been initiated by Korean government. This large scale research project encompasses a wide spectrum of housing development including public policy, architectural plans, modules, construction materials and methods, prefabricated assemblies, automated production, construction management, and advanced information systems. For the purpose of integrating and automating the whole processes from an industry perspective, it is of great importance to develop a standard classification system and project numbering system (PNS) for the modernized Korean housing. This paper focuses on the standard classification systems and PNS for cost and schedule control. The distinct characteristics and managerial requirements were explored and embedded into the proposed classifications for modernized Hanok.

INTEGRATED COST AND SCHEDULE CONTROL: VARIABLES FOR THEORY AND IMPLEMENTATION

The purpose of this paper is to identify the variables for integrated cost and schedule control in terms of reducing required workload. Potential variabl es including project delivery system, contract type, level of outsourcing, degree of specialization, progress measurement methods, budget format, management detail, vertical integration, and so on are identified first. The variables are then reviewed in order to detect any interdependencies. An evaluation of these variables is performed by estimating the potentiality of reducing workloads . Two real-world cases are briefly introduced in order to illustrate the practical application of variables identified in this paper. Details and implications of the case stud ies are outlined as well.

New Building Materials and Methods for Modernized Korean Housing (Hanok)

Modernized Korean housing (Hanok) with competitive price has been actively developed due to the increased interests in traditional Korean housing. Developing new building materials and methods is an essential area for Modernized Hanok. This paper compared and analyzed two mock-up buildings of Modernized Hanok and one mock-up of Traditional Hanok those were actually constructed as test-beds. Many different new methods were introduced, and their influences on construction cost and schedule were analyzed in order to verify the research results as well as to find implications for future direction. As a result, the construction cost and schedule of Modernized Hanok have been decreased by about 40% and 20%, respectively, when compared with traditional one. ‘Wood frame’ and ‘Roof’ are found as being the most influencing areas with highest weights in terms of cost and schedule. Therefore, further development in these two areas would facilitate to reduce overall cost of Modernized Hanok with improved building performance. Keyword : Building Methods, Cost, Schedule, Geometry Breakdown Structure (GBS/OBS), Modernized Korean Housing (Hanok)

A Project Progress Measurement and Management System

A progress management in construction projects plays an important role in providing as-built information for project planning, control, cost engineering, and many others. However, progress information has not been collected through objective methods or criteria but mainly based on an individual’s own experience or subjective judgment, which results in the limits of consistency, objectiveness, and accuracy in the progress management. This research aims at proposing a progress measurement framework that allows managing and applying various measurement methods dependent on work items to overcome the problems and limits of the current progress management. The framework was developed with a focus on integration of work breakdown structure, cost breakdown structure, and progress measurement methods, and it consists of three main objects: work, activity, and progress measurement unit. Base on the framework, an information system named PROSYS (project PRogress management SYStem) was developed to generate activities and progress measurement units depending on the characteristics of projects and work items, and to keep track of project progress more efficiently and effectively.

Evaluation of CM Capability based on Business Functions for International Plant Construction

Ever expanding overseas construction is one of the most important issues for Korean construction companies. Among these issues, strategies for overseas plant construction have widely been discussed, because the plant construction has features of low competitiveness and high ripple effects when compared with other construction sectors. In this sense, the purpose of this research is to evaluate the CM capability of Korean construction industry for overseas plant construction. Fourteen construction business functions and four techniques were defined first. Based on these functions and techniques, CM capability was quantified for As-Is (2013), To-Be (2018) and Gap analyses. Findings of this research reveal that 1) capability for construction is quite competent, 2) capabilities for planning, design management, contracting, and risk management are found to be relatively low, where higher value can be added. In addition, it is found that R&D needs to be extended to develop systemized management techniques. It is also required to secure specialists and original technologies at national·industrial level.

Growth Model for Korean CM Firms based on 2012 Statistics

CM services have been increasingly practiced over the two decades in the Korean construction industry, and recent efforts focus on further development in advanced CM capabilities and expansion to overseas market. However, there has been lack of holistic research to investigate current status and future direction of CM industry in Korea. In this context, the purposes of this study are 1) to analyze current status of Korean CM industry in terms of owners, market, CM firms, contracts, and work scopes, 2) to define different types of CM practices, and 3) to propose growth models for Korean CM firms based on the defined CM project types. An extensive literature review and statistical analysis of 2012 CM contracts were performed in order to analyze the CM status. Based on the analyses, ten different CM types are defined, and growth paths of CM firms are illustrated. Implications and lessons learned during the statistical analysis and workshops are briefly introduced as well.

Data Acquisition Technology (DAT) Selection Algorithm for Automated Progress Measurement and Management

Progress measurement provides project participants with valuable information in terms of `current status`, `corrective countermeasure`, and `forecast of future risks`. However, the managerial effort (or workload) required to acquire and maintain detailed progress data has been the major barrier to practical implementation. Even though recent efforts in utilizing data acquisition technologies (DATs) have actively attempted to automate the progress measurement process, previous DAT research has only been focused on limited construction tasks or selected technologies. This paper proposes a DAT selection algorithm that automatically assign an appropriate DAT for every commodity item for an entire constriction project. Five different criteria were identified and developed in order to comprehend specific requirements for automating the progress measurement of each commodity group. A case-study and also a survey from practitioners were conducted in order to validate the proposed methodology.

Interoperability Analysis for BIM software Based on User-defined Properties

Abstract : The utilization of Building Information Modeling (BIM) has increased in order to enhance the integration of information for management and resources throughout the construction projects. Therefore, various BIM softwares have been used under open BIM environments in the building and plant construction industry. However, it has obstructive factors due to the lack of interoperability. In order to address this problem, this study conducted an interoperability analysis of BIM software focused on user-defined properties for enhanced function and efficiency. Result of the analysis shows that authoring tools have more interoperability problems than viewer tools and simulation tools have. In terms of interoperability, user-defined properties outperforms than those of system basic properties and logic data. Therefore, it was found that functional improvement and workload minimization in BIM can be attained by applying the GBS (an user-defined property for automatic manipulation of BIM proposed by Jung et al. 2013) that enables automatic link between geometric data and non-geometric data. In this respect, this study concludes that the application of user-defined property (e.g. GBS) can be an effective method for information integration throughout construction projects.

Strategy for Various CM Applications based on Comparative Case Analysis

Abstract : Domestic CM market has continued to grow since the enactment of CM policies in 1996. In addition, future CM market is forecasted to have potential high growth. Therefore, it is necessary to apply various CM business models reflecting the owner’s requirements and characteristics in order to improve in the CM industry and to strengthen the competitiveness in the overseas construction market. In this context, the purpose of this study is to suggest strategies of various CM applications based on comparison of 4 cases analyzed by ‘business weight’ and ‘business depth’ in terms of business function as well as by the types of ‘CM market’ and ‘CM practice’. Result of this comparative analysis shows that each case presents differences in terms of type, business weight, and business depth of CM practice. However, domestic public CM services are currently being challenged to strengthen capability throughout the project life-cycle against the limitation of government’s CM policies focused on the construction supervision. In order to address this problem, this study proposes the strategies of various CM applications from several different perspectives.