Challenges in Improving Customer Focus in Small-Sized House-building Companies in Brazil

Some important changes in the business environment in several countries are forcing house-building companies to change their competitive strategies. This paper discusses a set of customer servicing practices, which have been adopted by small-sized house-building companies in Brazil that have been involved in quality management improvement programs, emphasizing customer satisfaction measurement. Such practices are referred to a model of the customer servicing process that integrates the main customer-interaction functions from product inception to building operation. Based on multiple case studies and also on a literature review, the main difficulties faced by this sector in terms of improving customer satisfaction are discussed and some improvement opportunities are pointed out

Automated compliance checking in healthcare building design

Regulatory frameworks associated to building design are usually complex, representing extensive sets of requirements. For healthcare projects in the UK, this includes statutory and guidance documents. Existing research indicates that they contain subjective requirements, which challenge the practical adoption of automated compliance checking, leading to limited outcomes. This paper aims to propose recommendations for the adoption of automated compliance checking in the design of healthcare buildings. Design Science Research was used to gain a detailed understanding of how information from existing regulatory requirements affects automation, through an empirical study in the design of a primary healthcare facility. In this study, a previously proposed taxonomy was implemented and refined, resulting in the identification of different types of subjective requirements. Based on empirical data emerging from the research, a set of recommendations was proposed focusing on the revision of regulatory documents, as well as to aid designers implementing automated compliance in practice

THE CHALLENGES OF MANAGING STAKEHOLDER REQUIREMENTS IN A URBAN REGENERATION PROJECT

ABSTRACT Traditional project management approaches have been criticised in recent years for being inadequate for the growing complexity of construction projects. Among the main criticisms are the inadequacy to deal with a social and political context, the dynamics of the environment and the need for further judgment during project implementation. Within this context, studies are looking at alternatives to move beyond this traditional view of project management. This paper presents the results from a case study carried out in an urban regeneration project in Brazil. The aim is to illustrate the challenges of dealing with myriad requirements that result from different stakeholders groups involved in complex construction projects. In such complex projects, there is a wide range of stakeholders, which change over time. This is partially due to long periods of project development and implementation. Moreover, their influence cannot always be predicted from the outset. Thus, despite the contributions in the literature regarding the need to manage stakeholder expectations and influences, this empirical study shows that in practice many challenges remain, and alternative solutions are still lacking in the project management literature

Design science research in lean construction: Process and outcomes

Design science (or constructive) research is a mode of producing scientific knowledge. It differs from explanatory research whose goal is to describe, understand and eventually predict phenomena of a particular field. Alternatively, the goal of design science research is to develop scientifically grounded solutions that are able to solve real-world problems. In this way, it establishes an appropriate link between theory and practice, strengthening the relevance of academic research. This paper discusses the design science research approach and illustrates through the analysis of two Ph.D investigations how it can be adopted in lean construction. In this paper, the outcomes and the research process adopted in these investigations are presented. At the end, some conclusions concerning the outcomes achieved and the activities involved in conducting design science in lean construction are discussed

Plasma?-III tubulin, neurofilament light chain and glial fibrillary acidic protein are associated with neurodegeneration and progression in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a progressive disorder characterized by multiple psychotic relapses. After every relapse, patients may not fully recover, and this may lead to a progressive loss of functionality. Pharmacological treatment represents a key factor to minimize the biological, psychological and psychosocial impact of the disorder. The number of relapses and the duration of psychotic episodes induce a potential neuronal damage and subsequently, neurodegenerative processes. Thus, a comparative study was performed, including forty healthy controls and forty-two SZ patients divided into first-episode psychosis (FEP) and chronic SZ (CSZ) subgroups, where the CSZ sub group was subdivided by antipsychotic treatment. In order to measure the potential neuronal damage, plasma levels of beta-III tubulin, neurofilament light chain (Nf-L), and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were performed. The results revealed that the levels of these proteins were increased in the SZ group compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Moreover, multiple comparison analysis showed highly significant levels of beta-III tubulin (P = 0.0002), Nf-L (P = 0.0403) and GFAP (P < 0.015) in the subgroup of CSZ clozapine-treated. In conclusion, beta-III tubulin, Nf-L and GFAP proteins may be potential biomarkers of neurodegeneration and progression in SZ

Building information modelling to cut disruption in housing retrofit

There is a large stock of solid-wall homes in the UK with poor thermal insulation and low energy performance. Although the UK government has supported efforts to improve these buildings, the identification of appropriate technical solutions that effectively improve the existing stock remains challenging. This research investigates how four dimensional building information modelling (4D BIM) could improve the retrofit of social housing, specifically that of ‘no-fines’ solid-wall homes, through the development of what-if scenarios that enable the analysis of alternative solutions considering costs, energy performance and disruption to users. This paper focuses on the use of 4D building information models to evaluate disruption to end users. The results indicate that the development of such models supports a better understanding of the retrofit process on site. It also supports the definition of production plans with as minimal disruption as possible to users while delivering energy-oriented and cost-effective solutions

Guidelines for the Implementation of Mass Customization in Affordable House-Building Projects

Mass customization (MC) is a business strategy that stands for the ability to develop high value-added products within short time frames and at relatively low costs. It emerged from the manufacturing industry and has been applied to several industrial sectors, including housing. However, the segment of affordable housing programs in developing countries has been criticized for having a high degree of product standardization, and failure to meet customers&rsquo; specific needs. The aim of this paper is to propose guidelines for implementing mass customization in affordable house-building projects. It is based on a design science research study carried out in a small-sized company, which explored the possibility of adopting mass customization ideas to offer some flexibility for customers while maintaining low costs. The main contributions of this research study are concerned with expanding the current understanding of the components that enable MC to be implemented in the context of house-building companies that adopt traditional construction technologies. From a practical perspective, this investigation outlines several practices that can be introduced for the implementation of MC strategies at a relatively low cost by small-sized house-building companies

A quantitative analysis of data collected from the Last Planner system in

ABSTRACT In Brazil, a large number of companies have implemented the Last Planner system in order to improve the performance of their production systems. However, most research studies developed so far have emphasized the analysis of qualitative data, based on a small number of case studies. Therefore, there seems to be a good opportunity to learn more about production control by analyzing data from a larger sample of projects, based on performance measures such as the percentage of plans completed (PPC) and the causes for the non completion of work packages. This paper presents further developments of a research project that was first presented at the IGLC13 Conference. It is based on data from 133 projects. Some of them have been investigated in previous research projects at the Building Innovation Research Unit (NORIE) of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). The remaining data have been provided by companies that have been using the Last Planner system for several years. At first, the average PPC and the reasons for the non completion of tasks were analysed using descriptive statistics. In a sample of 96 projects multivariate regression analysis was used for explaining the variance of weekly PPC, using as independent variables the causes for non completion of work packages, number of assignments completed and timing of the projects. The results indicated that a major problem in most projects is the lack of effective implementation of look-ahead planning. Moreover, for multivariate regression analysis, some causes for the non completion of work packages, such as work force and planning have a strong contribution for explaining the variance of weekly PPC. KEY WORDS Last Planner, performance measurement, multivariate regression analysis