Streamlining the Decision-Making Process on Tubular Rigid Busbar Selection During the Planning / Designing Stage by Utilizing 3D Substation BIM Design Software

For Utilities, each substation is regarded as an asset. Managing of assets is one of domains of Asset Management including Life Cycle Costing (LCC) as a decision-making criterion. However, LCC as a decision-making criterion should be applied on an entire substation taking into account all of the potential cost influences for the purpose of achieving of an effective substation management. Asset management as a decision-making process should be observed within a larger context and should be more focused on risk management, as all real decisions include an element of risk due to present uncertainties. Two promising avenues are explored in regards to more comprehensive and rigorous up-front planning through usage of Information Technology (IT). While up-front planning falls under the domain of Lean philosophy, Building Information Modeling (BIM) falls under the category of agile decisionsupport tools. Utilization of both is explored from a perspective of design-uncertainties under both product and process design. Standard specifications and standard designs are another form of applied Lean Philosophy that reduces design-uncertainty and variability. However, a range of technical solutions stemming out of the standardization can be quite wide. Customization involves specification and design of new / innovative designs with wide range of technical solutions as well. Due to external pressures focused on shortening of the project delivery time, there is a need for a faster project time throughput. This is reflected in the form of a requirement for more rapid engineering decision-making and faster decision cycles. Streamlining of a decision-making process related to the engineering is all about engineers’ awareness of the situation from the project level perspective coupled with utilization of decision-support tools for creation and reuse of knowledge. Plan – Do – Study – Orient (PDSO) cycle is a decisionmaking model that supports creation and reusability of knowledge along with providing an explanation in regards to the time dimension relating to decision-making, and as such is presented in this paper. The rigid busbar system design is an iterative process influenced by many factors, defined either as design variables or design constraints. As rigid busbars are gaining more popularity for both greenfield and brownfield investments, the rigid busbar system design is explored from a perspective of decision-making streamlining. The case of the rigid busbar system design of El Chaparral project in El Salvador is given

Information technology as boundary object for transformational learning

Collaborative work is considered as a way to improve productivity and value generation in construction. However, recent research demonstrates that socio-cognitive factors related to fragmentation of specialized knowledge may hinder team performance. New methods based on theories of practice are emerging in Computer Supported Collaborative Work and organisational learning to break these knowledge boundaries, facilitating knowledge sharing and the generation of new knowledge through transformational learning. According to these theories, objects used in professional practice play a key role in mediating interactions. Rules and methods related to these practices are also embedded in these objects. Therefore changing collaborative patterns demand reconfiguring objects that are at the boundary between specialized practices, namely boundary objects. This research is unique in presenting an IT strategy in which technology is used as a boundary object to facilitate transformational learning in collaborative design work

User adoption of a CRM-based information system within a financial services organisation: An empirical analysis

Financial Services firms require processes and systems which can support and maintain customer-related information for the purposes of core business-focussed activity. Specifically within the investment banking sector, the importance and criticality of such customer information underpins the firm’s ability to transact sales, trading and other advisory-based services in an efficient and relevant manner. The design and development of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems to address the given external vs. internal customer information touchpoints, therefore provides a vital link between financial services professionals, client data and business processes. In doing so, the input of CRM user requirements is a key step in deriving benefit from such a technology solution. This paper henceforth identifies and details user requirements and experiences of such an information system within a case study company and highlights pertinent issues for the adoption of such systems within the given secto

BIM adoption and implementation for architectural practices

Severe issues about data acquisition and management arise during the design creation and development due to complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity. BIM (Building Information Modelling) is a tool for a team based lean design approach towards improved architectural practice across the supply chain. However, moving from a CAD (Computer Aided Design) approach to BIM (Building Information Modelling) represents a fundamental change for individual disciplines and the construction industry as a whole. Although BIM has been implemented by large practices, it is not widely used by SMEs (Small and Medium Sized Enterprises). Purpose: This paper aims to present a systematic approach for BIM implementation for Architectural SMEs at the organizational level Design/Methodology/Approach: The research is undertaken through a KTP (Knowledge transfer Partnership) project between the University of Salford and John McCall Architects (JMA) a SME based in Liverpool. The overall aim of the KTP is to develop lean design practice through BIM adoption. The BIM implementation approach uses a socio-technical view which does not only consider the implementation of technology but also considers the socio-cultural environment that provides the context for its implementation. The action research oriented qualitative and quantitative research is used for discovery, comparison, and experimentation as it provides �learning by doing�. Findings: The strategic approach to BIM adoption incorporated people, process and technology equally and led to capacity building through the improvements in process, technological infrastructure and upskilling of JMA staff to attain efficiency gains and competitive advantages. Originality/Value: This paper introduces a systematic approach for BIM adoption based on the action research philosophy and demonstrates a roadmap for BIM adoption at the operational level for SME companie

Streamlining Internal Supply Chain, based on mapping processes

Context Background Globalisation, increasing product complexity, volatile demand, and financial crisis all put strains on the supply, processing, and distribution of goods. That’s why supply chain management has become the area to focus on to gain competitive advantages and reduce costs. Saint-Gobain Sekurit Scandinavia (SGSS) is part of a large global French enterprise, Saint-Gobain that’s a world leader in its markets. SGSS also operates globally in three markets and manufactures windshields for the automotive and transportation industries. SGSS’s overall a high performing company that over the years has conducted numerous improvement projects and is both ISO/TS 16949 and ISO 14001 certified. It currently has several employees that have world class manufacturing belts and are continuously managing projects to improve performance. SGSS currently uses a balanced score card type of measurement system and puts a lot of effort on maintaining and improving quality. Problem SGSS’s supply chain processes are not currently defined which makes overview of the supply chain not optimal from management point of view and raises thoughts about the supply chain processes potential for improvements. Distribution of responsibilities is not fully clarified and creates a platform for conflicts and communication problems. That in turn increases the risk for delays of delivery to customers as a result. Other perceived problems are long lead-time, increasing complexity, and high WIP. Purpose Identify and recommend improvements and/ or how to eliminate bottlenecks in information flows within the internal supply chain, based on mapping processes. Improvements are supposed to address the operationalization of strategy and have the purpose to create a sustainable solution Methodology The study assumes systems approach to research and attempts to create a solution that’s greater than single components of analysis. The study begins inductively with the process map, in the second phase it becomes deductive when analysing challenges, the measurement sysVIII tem is a result of both methods iterating and cannot really be defined. The measurement system that is the final result of the study attempts to be normative and the study is therefore considered to be normative as well. Credibility has been important to this study for several reasons, partly because it attempts to be normative; triangulation has been used extensively to ensure credibility. It’s overall a qualitative study even if some quantitative aspects exist. Data is an even mixture of primary and secondary nature. The collection of data is executed through interviews, observations, and archive analysis. Findings Recommendations are separated into three types: primary, secondary, and tertiary recommendations, depending on estimates of required time, dedication and size of investment. SGSS should use the process map and measurement system to improve communication related issues and the measurement system to communicate the relation between operations and strategy so that employees better understand the purpose of their work. Delays can be decreased by restricting forecast changes to the different safety stocks in the supply chain and by using the appended fault tree analysis to understand root causes to delays. SGSS should give supply chain management more attention to take advantage of the on-going market trends and define their value proposition to better align operations. Reorient to the process view in order to reduce hierarchy, i.e. delegate responsibility and authority by empowering process owners, involving employees into decisions, and creating systems that allow employees to get their ideas realized. This also means that SGSS should map the remaining core processes and integrate them with each other. Companies in general and Saint-Gobain Sekurit in Eslöv should take the outside in perspective to strategy. To do that they should benchmark the frame of reference in the performance management system. This will better align strategy with reality

An evaluation of the total quality management implementation strategy for the advanced solid rocket motor project at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center

An evaluation of the NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) strategy to implement Total Quality Management (TQM) in the Advanced Solid Rocket Motor (ASRM) Project is presented. The evaluation of the implementation strategy reflected the Civil Service personnel perspective at the project level. The external and internal environments at MSFC were analyzed for their effects on the ASRM TQM strategy. Organizational forms, cultures, management systems, problem solving techniques, and training were assessed for their influence on the implementation strategy. The influence of ASRM's effort was assessed relative to its impact on mature projects as well as future projects at MSFC

Alignment: A New Software Architecture Approach to Support Streamlining Business Processes

Traditional business structures nowadays have to change fast to keep up with customers needs, which is often not possible due to monolithic software architectures and multiple software systems that do neither respond to process requirements nor interact well. Many existing software systems, however, are too complex and too unrelated to the business to support this change accurately. New ways of software architecture are needed to respond to changing requirements and support the business processes. Information systems have to be integrated into the organization’s structures. It seems that a component-based software architecture, which supports the whole value chain, forms the basis for a business process reorganization to enable changes. In this paper we introduce a modeling approach based on Clabjects. We demonstrate how that approach can be applied to an industrial case in order to streamline and support the business processes. Further, this paper further describes the envisioned business process improvements

A systematic literature review of the use of social media for business process management

In today’s expansion of new technologies, innovation is found necessary for organizations to be up to date with the latest management trends. Although organizations are increasingly using new technologies, opportunities still exist to achieve the nowadays essential omnichannel management strategy. More precisely, social media are opening a path for benefiting more from an organization’s process orientation. However, social media strategies are still an under-investigated field, especially when it comes to the research of social media use for the management and improvement of business processes or the internal way of working in organizations. By classifying a variety of articles, this study explores the evolution of social media implementation within the BPM discipline. We also provide avenues for future research and strategic implications for practitioners to use social media more comprehensively