Construction Innovation and Process Improvement

The construction process has come under intense scrutiny in recent times and this is set to continue as building owners and users demand better value for money from a more sustainable built environment. The construction sector’s actors are responding to the challenges implicit in this drive for greater competitiveness and social responsibility. New forms of procurement, innovation programmes, knowledge management, CAD-supported processes, predictive and diagnostic tools, and many more initiatives are helping to transform the sector. Construction Process Improvement showcases 21 examples of how directed efforts are being taken to raise productivity and quality, reduce waste and costs, and provide more certain and durable products for the sector’s customers. Each example is the subject of a closely coupled collaborative project in which answers are being sought on matters of strategic importance to companies. The chapters that describe and discuss these projects balance state-of-the-art reviews with details of the work being undertaken and, in many cases, the results that are being implemented within the companies. Construction Process Improvement deals with issues that matter to best practice companies and researchers in industry and universities. It covers, amongst other topics, modularisation for manufactured housing, life cycle methods in housing, commercial buildings and services installations, tools and techniques for performance prediction and diagnostics, coordination of design and production processes, novel use of traditional materials, new forms of procurement and the role of innovation, public private partnerships, partnering structures, learning organisations, management of major refurbishment, management information systems, TQM and continuous improvement, CAAD methodology, tools and 4-D CAD, and facilities management. This book analyses the way forward for improving the construction process, in particular the links between research and development and industrial competitiveness. The implementation of new methods and thinking in companies is examined and important advice for senior managers and researchers is offered.

To deliver a construction project on time, at cost and of appropriate quality, it is critical to manage the design and construction process effectively… This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the field of process management in design and construction in order to meet the business needs of the construction industry as they change in today’s highly competitive global environment. It identifies the current state of the industry in the process management field, describing trends and developments (including information technology), and demonstrates these through case study evidence. Practical guidance is offered by identifying potential pitfalls, illustrating best practise drawn from construction and appropriate manufacturing applications. The overall approach is a holistic one, based on practical experience gained throughout the past decade both in the academic and industrial environments, including leading a number of research projects on process and IT related topics in construction and manufacturing industries. Process Management in Design and Construction will provide students on construction and project management related courses with a description of the state of process management in design and construction – including current process models – as well as a future vision based on up-to-date research findings and good practice in the construction industry. The book also offers practical guidance to industrial and consultancy organisations on undertaking and implementing process management projects – including re-engineering their customer delivery processes through effective project

The budget and financial reporting processes are well known sources of frustration for most CFOs. Seeking a quick fix to the problem, the common solution is to pour more money into new and better software. This leaves the root cause, the inefficient and dysfunctional underlying processes and routines, unaddressed. As this book shows, substantial and sustainable improvements are only achieved through an holistic approach to process improvement, technology, strategy, and people. —Tom Henry Knudsen, Executive Vice President, Telenor Eiendom Fornebu AS, Proven methods for improving efficiency Corporations face a high turnover among financial managers, rapid changes in technology, lack of time and process redesign skills, and ongoing ambiguity about primary objectives behind the budgeting and financial reporting processes. Amid this frenzy, it is the fundamental efficiency of these processes that dramatically impact overall business performance. Process Improvement for Effective Budgeting and Financial Reporting provides financial managers with a compelling blueprint for increasing efficiency and eliminating waste of time and energy. Four operational experts lay out an 80/20 plan-improving 80% of processes in 20% of the time it would take to improve 100%-and explain a Business Process Improvement (BPI) plan that incorporates: The emerging trends affecting financial managers today Step-by-step process implementation Interviews with industry leaders, consultants, and managers who have successfully instituted BPI plans Appraisals of the available software that can help or hinder the process There is no substitute for improved efficiency. CFOs, controllers, budget managers, and financial analysts will significantly benefit from adding this authoritative guide to their professional libraries.

Shows how the design process can be successfully applied to satisfy market needs and trends Fashion design seems to be a glamorous mystery for which only the fortunate few have sufficient talent to succeed. In reality, commercially successful results can be achieved if the right processes are followed in the early design process. Fashion Design sets out basic principles and exercises in order to make fashion design a logical process, providing a framework from which they can expand your skills steadily. Fashion Design, 2nd Edition: Shows how the design process can be successfully applied to satisfy market needs and trends Has a problem solving approach, with practical design projects and portfolio exercises to encourage readers to develop their innovation, experimentation and versatility Pays special attention to computer-aided design (CAD) and employment opportunities, including an overview of what is involved in studying and becoming a designer in the contemporary fashion industry.

Construction innovation is an important but contested concept, both in industry practice and academic reflection and research. A fundamental reason for this is the nature of the construction industry itself: the industry and the value creation activities taking place there are multi-disciplinary, heterogeneous, distributed and often fragmented. This book takes a new approach to construction innovation, revealing different perspectives, set in a broader context. It coalesces multiple theoretical and practice-based views in order to stimulate reflection and to prepare the ground for further synthesis. By being clear, cogent and unambiguous on the most basic definitions, it can mobilise a plurality of perspectives on innovation to promote fresh thinking on how it can be studied, enabled, measured, and propagated across the industry. This book does not gloss over the real-life complexity of construction innovation. Instead, its authors look explicitly at the challenges that conceptual issues entail and by making their own position clear, they open up fresh intellectual space for reflection. Construction Innovation examines innovation from different positions and through different conceptual lenses to reveal the richness that the theoretical perspectives offer to our understanding of the way that the construction sector actors innovate at both project and organizational levels. The editors have brought together here leading scholars to deconstruct the concept of innovation and to discuss the merits of different perspectives, their commonalities and their diversity. The result is an invaluable sourcebook for those studying and leading innovation in the design, the building and the maintenance of our built environment.

The book sets out deliberately to challenge the current construction improvement debate and the way in which it is conducted. It confronts the supposedly neutral nature of construction 'best practice' and demonstrates that that the advocated recipes seldom stand up to critical scrutiny. It further argues that commonly accepted components of best practice such as lean construction, partnering and collaborative working rarely live up to the claims made on their behalf. Such recipes invariably suffer from definitional vagueness, and are constantly reinterpreted to suit the needs the different audiences. Making Sense of Construction Improvement argues that construction sector improvement techniques cannot be understood in terms of their substantive content, and are best understood in terms of the rhetoric within which they are presented. The author also contends that the persuasiveness of such recipes depends upon the extent to which practitioners can adopt them for the purposes of making sense of the changes they observe happening around them. To be accepted as 'best practice' construction improvement techniques must also resonate with broader agendas of socio-technological change. The author charts how the best practice debate has developed from the aftermath of the Second World War through to the election of David Cameron's coalition government in 2010. Attention is given to the way in which the improvement debate throughout the 1960s and 70s was shaped by the broader aspirations of the post-war social consensus and the associated desire for a centrally planned economy. Attention thereafter is given to the way the construction sector was radically re-shaped by the advent of the enterprise culture. The privatisation of the sector's client base, coupled with the withdrawal of the state as a provider of mass housing, caused a significant and long-lasting shift in the construction landscape. Private sector clients similarly experienced extensive downsizing while outsourcing their procurement capabilities. Such strategies were frequently justified by mobilising the rhetoric of business process re-engineering (BPR). Contracting firms simultaneously faced unpredictable workloads and increasing market competition. In response, the sector at large chose to base their competitive advantage on leanness and agility. Hence the emergence of the hollowed-out firm as the dominant form of organising. These structural trends combined to provide the backcloth to the industry improvement agenda throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Making Sense of Construction Improvement argues that the popularity of improvement recipes such as partnering, collaborative working and integrated teams can be understood as strategies for overcoming the loss of control associated with downsizing and outsourcing. In contrast to other textbooks, Making Sense of Construction Improvement does not offer advice on how to manage construction projects more effectively; the aim is rather to understand the forces which have shaped the construction sector improvement agenda over time.

Exploring methods and techniques to optimize processing energy efficiency in process plants, Energy and Process Optimization for the Process Industries provides a holistic approach that considers optimizing process conditions, changing process flowschemes, modifying equipment internals, and upgrading process technology that has already been used in a process plant with success. Field tested by numerous operating plants, the book describes technical solutions to reduce energy consumption leading to significant returns on capital and includes an 8-point Guidelines for Success. The book provides managers, chemical and mechanical engineers, and plant operators with methods and tools for continuous energy and process improvements.

Interpretation and Construction examines the interpretation and products of intentional human behavior, focusing primarily on issues in art, law, and everyday speech. Focuses on artistic interpretation, but also includes extended discussion of interpretation of the law and everyday speech and communication. Written by one of the leading theorists of interpretation. Theoretical discussions are consistently centered around examples for ease of comprehension.

A modern reference to the principles, operation, and applications of the most important compressor types Thoroughly addressing process-related information and a wider variety of the major compressor types of interest to process plants, Compressors and Modern Process Applications uniquely covers the systematic linkage of fluid processing machinery to the processes they serve. This book is a highly practical resource for professionals responsible for purchasing, servicing, or operating compressors. It describes the main features of over 300 petrochemical and refining schematics and associated process descriptions involving compressors and expanders in modern industry. The organized presentation of this reference covers first the basics of compressors and what they are, and then progresses to important operational and process issues. It then explains the underlying principles, operating modes, selection issues, and major hardware elements for compressors. Topics include double-acting positive displacement compressors, rotary positive displacement compressors, understanding centrifugal process gas compressors, power transmission and advanced bearing technology, centrifugal compressor performance, gas processing and turbo-expander applications, and compressors typically found in petroleum refining and other petrochemical processes. Suitable for plant operation personnel, machinery engineering specialists, process engineers,as well as undergraduate students of this subject, this book's special features include: * Flow schematics of modern process units and processes used in gas transport, gas conditioning, petrochemical manufacture, and petroleum refining * Listings of licensors for each process on the flow schematics * Identification of each process flow schematic of compressors, cryogenic, and hot gas expanders at their respective locations * Important overview of surge control, estimating compressor performance, applications for air separation and gas processing plants, petroleum refinery issues, and important criteria that govern compressor selection and application Placing hundreds of associated process flow schematics at the fingertips of professionals and students, author and industry expert Heinz Bloch facilitates comprehension of the workings of various petrochemical, oil refining, and product upgrading processes that are served by compressors.

Gain a stronger foundation with optimal ground improvement Before you break ground on a new structure, you need to analyze the structure of the ground. Expert analysis and optimization of the geo-materials on your site can mean the difference between a lasting structure and a school in a sinkhole. Sometimes problematic geology is expected because of the location, but other times it's only unearthed once construction has begun. You need to be able to quickly adapt your project plan to include an improvement to unfavorable ground before the project can safely continue. Principles and Practice of Ground Improvement is the only comprehensive, up-to-date compendium of solutions to this critical aspect of civil engineering. Dr. Jie Han, registered Professional Engineer and preeminent voice in geotechnical engineering, is the ultimate guide to the methods and best practices of ground improvement. Han walks you through various ground improvement solutions and provides theoretical and practical advice for determining which technique fits each situation. Follow examples to find solutions to complex problems Complete homework problems to tackle issues that present themselves in the field Study design procedures for each technique to simplify field implementation Brush up on modern ground improvement technologies to keep abreast of all available options Principles and Practice of Ground Improvement can be used as a textbook, and includes Powerpoint slides for instructors. It's also a handy field reference for contractors and installers who actually implement plans. There are many ground improvement solutions out there, but there is no single right answer to every situation. Principles and Practice of Ground Improvement will give you the information you need to analyze the problem, then design and implement the best possible solution.