On-site installation flexibility for disruption management in modular off-site construction systems

Modular off-site construction is one of the methods adopted by the construction industry in a recent drive to modernise its operations and increase its productivity. Operations that were traditionally performed on-site are instead completed at an off-site factory, with finished modules then being transported on-site for installation. Operating across two locations in this way can provide numerous gains in speed, quality, and costs. However, it does mean that construction companies must now understand and manage a new and wider range of potential disruptions to their operations. This thesis is concerned with addressing disruptions that delay the delivery of modules to site. To identify operational disruptions and their corresponding disruption management strategies, an exploratory study was performed consisting of five case studies and an industrial workshop. An over-reliance on storing modules as a means of coping with disruptions was uncovered. Construction sites typically follow a fixed module installation sequence because of on-site installation constraints. As such, when delivery of a module is delayed, subsequent modules in the sequence must be stored until the delayed module arrives for installation. As the industry expands towards manufacturing larger projects at higher production rates, storage may become a less viable disruption management strategy given the lack of storage space, particularly in urban areas. To overcome these challenges, a novel disruption management strategy is proposed and evaluated: on-site installation flexibility. There are four types: vertical assignment flexibility, lateral assignment flexibility, vertical sequence flexibility, and lateral sequence flexibility. Each type relaxes one of the on-site installation constraints, thereby allowing completed modules to continue to be installed in the event of a module being disrupted. Several conclusions were drawn from studying on-site installation flexibility as a disruption management strategy. Implementation roadmaps developed during a workshop using an Impact Matrix Cross-Reference Multiplication Applied to a Classification analysis and Interpretive Structural Modelling revealed that implementing on-site installation flexibility requires coordination and many changes across a range of organisational functions. A Discrete Event Simulation model developed and applied to a case study showed that on-site installation flexibility can reduce installation delay and storage requirements. Furthermore, combining more than one type of on-site installation flexibility can significantly improve system performance. However, greater co-ordination effort would be required to control module installation operations. Finally, a Simulation-Based Optimisation model was formulated and applied to a second case study and showed that investing in a combination of on-site installation flexibilities in conjunction with other disruption management options can achieve cost savings. Hence, on-site installation flexibility was demonstrated to be a promising disruption management strategy for modular off-site construction systems

Construction supply chain resilience in catastrophic events

In the wake of a number of catastrophic events, construction supply chain (CSC) vulnerability has become a major issue in the industry. Construction organisations today focus on strategies to minimise the impact of catastrophic events and manage risk by creating more resilient supply chains. However, there is lack of a mechanism to minimise the impact of catastrophic event on CSC. Therefore, this chapter focuses on the impact of catastrophic events on CSC and proposes a strategic framework to minimise their ultimate impact on the construction organisations. This aim is achieved through a comprehensive literature review, preliminary investigation and structured questionnaire survey. According to findings, most likely catastrophes that disrupt CSC are non-terrorist events and in fact are not always the most severe catastrophes. The aggregate effect of likelihood and severity revealed that disruption to transportation has the extreme risk level on CSC, while the most significant impact of catastrophic events is business failure and least significant impact is loss of focus to work. Thus, the catastrophic event risk minimisation strategic framework presented in this chapter will assist construction organisations to identify most suitable strategic actions to minimise the impact of catastrophic events on CSC in order to create resilient construction industry

Monitapaustutkimus muutosten hallinnasta sairaalarakennusprojektien aikana

The healthcare facilities in Finland as in many other countries need significant investments during the next decade. The old-fashioned buildings are in many cases not able to answer the demands posed by the evolving medical technology, changes in demographics, care trends, and capacity needs, or political decision-making. However, there is clearly room for improvement with how efficiently the hospital projects are carried out to make the most out of these investments. Hospitals are perceived to have a relatively high number of changes compared to many other types of construction, even in the late project phases, and changes often have negative effects to the project efficiency. Changes are overall known as a significant factor causing cost and schedule overruns in construction projects, while they cause disturbances to the planned workflow and are a primary reason for rework. This thesis focuses on three question related to project changes: 1) why changes are needed in hospital construction projects, 2) what effects do changes have on the different stakeholders, and 3) how changes could be managed better during the project. A multiple case study of five recent hospital construction projects from Finland, Sweden and the U.S. was conducted with semi-structured interviews. The findings show that the procurement of medical equipment and extensive user involvement in the design are two important change sources in the hospital construction context, which have not earlier been included in more general change categorizations. Furthermore, the identified change root causes can often be linked to project complexity, mainly in the structural complexity, uncertainty, and socio-political complexity dimensions. This leads to the conclusion that changes are to some extent needed to answer the changing demands inside and outside the project, being necessary to project success. The concept of project flexibility is suggested as an approach to mitigate the negative effects of changes, by allowing for changes later during the project. The thesis has several theoretical implications: new change source categories were created to suit the hospital construction context, construction changes had not previously been linked with project complexity factors, and the use of project flexibility strategies as a change mitigation measures is a new approach compared to the dominant change avoidance. Important managerial results include the practical methods of executing flexibility in projects and the possibility of better collaboration between the owners and contractors through trust and relational project delivery methods.Terveydenhuollon kiinteistöt niin Suomessa kuin ulkomailla tarvitsevat tuntuvia investointeja seuraavan vuosikymmenen aikana. Vanhanaikaiset rakennukset eivät monesti pysty vastaamaan kehittyvän terveydenhuoltoteknologian, muuttuvan väestön, hoitopolkujen ja kapasiteetin, tai poliittisten päätösten asettamiin vaatimuksiin. Sairaalaprojektien toteutuksessa on kuitenkin selviä tehostusmahdollisuuksia investointien hyödyntämiseksi parhaalla tavalla, sillä niissä on huomattu tapahtuvan enemmän muutoksia kuin muissa rakennusprojektityypeissä, jopa myöhäisissä projektin vaiheissa. Muutokset suunnitelmiin tai vaatimuksiin heikentävät usein projektin tehokkuutta ja niiden tiedetään olevan merkittävä syy projektien aikataulun ja kustannusten ylityksiin, koska ne aiheuttavat häiriöitä projektin työjärjestykseen ja ovat yksi pääsyistä työvaiheiden uudelleentyöstämiselle. Tämä diplomityö keskittyy kolmeen muutoksiin liittyvään kysymykseen: 1) miksi muutoksia tarvitaan sairaalarakennusprojekteissa, 2) mitä vaikutuksia muutoksilla on eri sidosryhmille, ja 3) miten muutoksia voisi hallita paremmin projektin aikana. Tutkimus suoritettiin monitapaustutkimuksena, ja teemahaastatteluja tehtiin viidestä viimeaikaisesta sairaalarakennusprojektista Suomessa, Ruotsissa ja Yhdysvalloissa. Tulokset osoittavat, että sairaalalaitteiden hankinta sekä laaja käyttäjien osallistaminen suunnittelussa ovat tärkeitä muutoksen lähteitä sairaalarakentamisen yhteydessä, eikä niitä ole aikaisemmin huomioitu yleispätevimmissä muutosluokitteluissa. Lisäksi tunnistetut muutosten juurisyyt yhdistyvät usein projektin kompleksisuuteen, pääosin rakenteellisen kompleksisuuden, epävarmuuden sekä sosiopoliittisen kompleksisuuden kautta. Tästä voidaan päätellä, että muutoksia tarvitaan tietyssä määrin vastaamaan muuttuviin vaatimuksiin projektin sisältä ja ympäristöstä, ja että muutokset ovat välttämättömiä projektin menestykselle. Projektin joustavuuden käsitettä ehdotetaan lähestymistavaksi lieventää muutosten kielteisiä vaikutuksia sallimalla muutoksia myöhemmin projektin aikana. Työllä on monia uutta teoriaa koskevia ehdotuksia: uusia muutoskategorioita luotiin sopimaan sairaalarakennuksen kontekstiin, muutoksia ei ennen ollut yhdistetty projektin kompleksisuuden osa-alueisiin, ja uutta näkökulmaa edusti myös joustavuuden käyttö muutosten vaikutuksen lieventämiseen verrattuna hallitsevaan tapaan vältellä muutoksia. Johtamissuositusten osalta merkittäviä tuloksia ovat tavat toteuttaa joustavuutta käytännössä sekä omistajan ja rakentajan välisen yhteistyön parantaminen luottamuksen ja yhteistyötä palkitsevien projektintoteutusmuotojen kautta

Supply Chain Management Under The Threat Of International Terrorism

On the morning of September 11th, 2001, the United States and the Western world entered into a new era – one in which large scale terrorist acts are to be expected. The impacts of the new era will challenge supply chain managers to adjust relations with suppliers and customers, contend with transportation difficulties and amend inventory management strategies. This paper looks at the twin corporate challenges of (i) preparing to deal with the aftermath of terrorist attacks and (ii) operating under heightened security. The first challenge involves setting certain operational redundancies. The second means less reliable lead times and less certain demand scenarios. In addition, the paper looks at how companies should organize to meet those challenges efficiently and suggests a new public-private partnership. While the paper is focused on the US, it has worldwide implications

Supply chain risk management: capabilities and performance

Growing environmental turbulence and increasingly complex supply chain networks have resulted in greater supply chain disruptions. Firm supply chain risk management performance varies due to differences in recognition of the need for and ability to cultivate supply chain risk management capabilities. This study helps to identify which capabilities have the greatest effect in supply chain risk management and firm performance as well as describes how to achieve them. A meta-analysis of empirical supply chain risk management studies reveals the confounding state of the field and points toward future work which can provide consensus and progress. A multiple case study describes organizational learning from supply chain disruption and identifies a new construct of bracketing necessary to deviate from firm risk dominant logic and respond to changes in the environment

Humanitarian Aid Logistics: Response Strategies in the 2015 Refugee Crisis

Humanitarian aid logistics is an emerging field that applies principles of supply chain management and logistics to the humanitarian relief sector. This thesis explores humanitarian aid logistics strategies in the context of the 2015 Refugee Crisis. An unprecedented number of refugees sought asylum in Europe beginning in 2015, where European officials and humanitarian organizations were largely unprepared to provide for them. The 2015 Refugee Crisis offers a unique perspective on humanitarian aid logistics because it requires both short-term and long-term response strategies. Through the framework of management science, a subfield of supply chain management, and logistics, this thesis creates a model that addresses the lack of adequate shelter sites and capacity for refugees in Greece. This is still a relevant problem today as a number of refugees still reside there, and the model adjusts for fluctuating capacity and conditions of the shelters. Long-term issues are discussed as the effects of the Crisis continue. Through analysis of short-term and long-term relief strategies, this thesis provides a foundational understanding of humanitarian aid logistics in crises that involve a complex network of stakeholders and unpredictable timelines. It is also useful for discussions about future implications of humanitarian aid logistics and other crises occurring in other parts of the world

Energy-aware coordination of machine scheduling and support device recharging in production systems

Electricity generation from renewable energy sources is crucial for achieving climate targets, including greenhouse gas neutrality. Germany has made significant progress in increasing renewable energy generation. However, feed-in management actions have led to losses of renewable electricity in the past years, primarily from wind energy. These actions aim to maintain grid stability but result in excess renewable energy that goes unused. The lost electricity could have powered a multitude of households and saved CO2 emissions. Moreover, feed-in management actions incurred compensation claims of around 807 million Euros in 2021. Wind-abundant regions like Schleswig-Holstein are particularly affected by these actions, resulting in substantial losses of renewable electricity production. Expanding the power grid infrastructure is a costly and time-consuming solution to avoid feed-in management actions. An alternative approach is to increase local electricity consumption during peak renewable generation periods, which can help balance electricity supply and demand and reduce feed-in management actions. The dissertation focuses on energy-aware manufacturing decision-making, exploring ways to counteract feed-in management actions by increasing local industrial consumption during renewable generation peaks. The research proposes to guide production management decisions, synchronizing a company's energy consumption profile with renewable energy availability for more environmentally friendly production and improved grid stability

Mass Customization Strategies And Their Relationship To Lean Production In The Homebuilding Industry

Current housing trends point to an increasing interest from homebuyers to demand houses that reflect their personal and unique styles, and which are individually configured according to these needs (NAHB, 2004). These homebuyers in turn are unwilling to settle for standard models that sacrifice what they really want in a home. At the same time this creates pressure on builders who are reluctant to sacrifice production efficiencies by deviating from standard models. Such customization desired by demanding customers can disrupt the entire estimating, production, delivery and management process, making it even more difficult to manage homebuilding efficiently and effectively. The question faced by homebuilders in this conditions is, how to manage this trade-off and deliver exactly what homebuyers want, at reasonable prices and lead times with minimal disruptions in efficiencies. Mass Customization (MC) is an emerging production paradigm that seeks to manage the trade-offs between product variety and mass efficiency, while fulfilling individual customer requirements. The general purpose of this research is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of housing production through the implementation of mass customization strategies. More specifically, this research focuses on the study of the production system through the application of lean production principles, as an approach to enable mass customization. This study first characterizes how much product choice is currently being offered by U.S. homebuilders and what is the impact of customization on production efficiency; and then focuses on the evaluation of the relationships between mass customization and lean production principles. Results revealed that homebuilders offering increased product choice are likely to suffer poorer labor productivity, greater inventory, higher production costs, more quality issues, less satisfied homebuyers, and lower space efficiency. In general, operational performance deteriorated with an increase in product choice. Therefore, industrialized housing manufacturers have not reached the ideal of mass customization and are paying a price for offering more choices to their customers. Homebuilders could mitigate these challenges by using lean concepts. In general, case studies showed that product choice does not necessarily make the implementation of lean concepts more difficult. Some lean concepts, like workload balancing and standardizing tasks, clearly facilitated the handling of product choice. Other lean concepts, like creating a continuous process flow, can be made to work well, even with increased choice. Case study results suggested that good concepts for lean (e.g., efficient continuous flow, effective pull system, workload leveling, defect-free processes, standard tasks, good visual controls, and reliable technology) were also good concepts for (or easily accommodated) handling a range of product choice

Supply chain design approaches for supply chain resilience : a qualitative study of South African fast-moving consumer goods grocery manufacturers

ORIENTATION : In today's globalised and complex business environment, firms are ever more vulnerable to supply chain disruptions, originating both internally and externally from the supply chain. Supply chain resilience minimises the impact of a disruption through design approaches, which allows the supply chain to respond appropriately to disruptive events. RESEARCH PURPOSE : This article investigated the supply chain risks faced by grocery manufacturers in the South African fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry and explored supply chain design approaches that enable supply chain resilience. MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY : South African grocery manufacturers are faced with distinct risks. Whilst supply chain risk management studies have provided firms with certain guidelines to mitigate risk, supply chains are still vulnerable to unanticipated risks. Literature on supply chain resilience in the South African context is scant. The concept of supply chain resilience provides firms with strategies that are built into the supply chain that allow firms to react and recover swiftly from disruptions. Furthermore, supply chain resilience strategies assist firms in becoming less vulnerable to possible disruptions. RESEARCH DESIGN APPROACH AND METHOD : This study was conducted by using a descriptive qualitative research design. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with senior supply chain practitioners specifically within the South African FMCG grocery manufacturing industry. MAIN FINDINGS : The study found that labour unrest is the most common risk faced by the industry. Furthermore, strategic stock and supply chain mapping are of the most useful design approaches to enhance supply chain resilience. PRACTICAL/MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS : The study provides managers with new insights in guiding supply chain design decisions for resilient supply chains. Through the identification of risks and appropriate solutions linked to the various risks, the study allows managers an array of options to choose from when enforcing a resilient supply chain. CONTRIBUTION/VALUE-ADD : The study contributes to the body of knowledge by being one of the first empirical studies conducted on supply chain design approaches for supply chain resilience in the South African context. The study also adds to the scarce literature on supply chain resilience in the FMCG industry, both globally and in a South African context.http://www.jtscm.co.zaBusiness Managemen