Risk and Spare Parts Inventory in Electric Utilities

With deregulation, utilities in the electric power sector face a much more urgent imperative to emphasize cost efficiencies as compared to the days of regulation. One major opportunity for cost savings is through reductions in spare parts inventory. Most utilities are used to carrying large volumes of expensive, relatively slow-moving units because of a high degree of risk-averseness. In this paper we discuss risk in the context of utilities, with a focus on nuclear power, and overview an ongoing research project that is aimed at incorporating risk and costs into a quantitative decision analysis framework for controlling spare parts inventories

Key Factors Affecting Labor Productivity in Offsite Construction Projects

Offsite construction has been shown to possess many advantages and benefits in dealing with the construction industry\u27s challenges, which include poor labor productivity. Nevertheless, all previous productivity-related research studies have focused mainly on factors impacting labor productivity in traditional stick-built construction methods. This paper filled this knowledge gap by following a multistep interrelated research methodology. First, a research team of 19 construction professionals and academics developed and distributed an industry survey to (1) quantify the likelihood of occurrence and relative impact of risk factors that adversely impact labor productivity in offsite construction projects; (2) identify and prioritize key risk factors that adversely affect labor productivity in offsite construction operations; and (3) examine how labor productivity risk factors are perceived by various project stakeholders. Second, different statistical analysis tests and methods (i.e., internal and external reliability, statistically significant differences, clustering analysis, and concordance analysis) were used to critically analyze the results and draw conclusions. Based on a total of 100 responses and 20 labor productivity risk factors, the findings reflected that the top five risk factors adversely affecting labor productivity in offsite construction projects included (1) unskilled labor and improper workforce training and development; (2) poor logistics; (3) errors, omissions, and rework; (4) work area congestion and overcrowding; and (5) insufficient coordination. Also, the findings indicated that labor productivity factors can be clustered into two groups: factors with high overall risk and factors with low overall risk on offsite construction labor productivity; 80% of the risk factors were found to fall into the first category. The results of this study also reflected the need for offsite construction companies and industry practitioners to carefully establish mitigation plans and corrective actions for the identified key risk factors adversely affecting offsite construction labor productivity. This study adds to the body of knowledge by exploring and ranking productivity factors in offsite construction projects. Ultimately, this study will help the industry and research communities better understand factors affecting offsite construction labor productivity, more effectively direct future efforts to enhance labor performance, and devise productivity improvement strategies

Risk and Spare Parts Inventory in Electric Utilities

Abstract With deregulation, utilities in the electric power sector face a much more urgent imperative to emphasize cost efficiencies as compared to the days of regulation. One major opportunity for cost savings is through reductions in spare parts inventory. Most utilities are used to carrying large volumes of expensive, relatively slow-moving units because of a high degree of risk-averseness. In this paper we discuss risk in the context of utilities, with a focus on nuclear power, and overview an ongoing research project that is aimed at incorporating risk and costs into a quantitative decision analysis framework for controlling spare parts inventories

An Analytic Network Process (ANP) Approach to the Project Portfolio Management for Organizational Sustainability

As a preliminary research of development of a comprehensive management tool for organizational sustainability, this paper discusses the difficulty of achieving organizational sustainability in today’s complex business environment. It explains why Analytic Network Process (ANP), a general form of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), is an appropriate approach to the project portfolio management for success in organizational sustainability. It proposes a generic ANP model via the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework for the evaluation and prioritization of projects based on their potential contribution to an organization’s sustainability initiative. The paper then demonstrates the model through an illustrative problem

Quantification of the State of Practice of Offsite Construction and Related Technologies: Current Trends and Future Prospects

Although some researchers and practitioners have perceived that the current reliance on offsite construction methods is high, other studies have hypothesized that the use of offsite construction techniques is still considered to be somehow limited. To this end, this paper aims to quantify the state of practice of offsite construction in terms of current trends and future prospects for the overall industry as well as the following main sectors: industrial, building and commercial, and infrastructure. First, a questionnaire was formed, pilot-tested, distributed, and completed by 100 construction practitioners. Second, the questionnaire\u27s internal and external validity and reliability were examined using statistical analysis. Third, the research findings were validated. The results showed that the future offsite construction operations will be different from the current operations by shifting from single-trade fabrication to modularization, shifting from customized offsite construction components to standardized offsite construction components, shifting from permanent offsite construction structures to relocatable or portable offsite construction structures, and shifting the reliance on single-skilled labor to multiskilled labor. In addition, 87% of industry practitioners perceive that the future offsite construction growth rate in the coming decade will be higher than that of the previous decade. This research also showed that offsite construction will become the norm rather than the exception because (1) the current average offsite construction percentage of 33.64% will substantially grow to reach an average of 54.9% in the future, (2) the offsite construction industry will grow 4.33 times, on average, in the coming decade, (3) companies are planning to increase their offsite construction utilization rate by an average of 5.03-fold, and (4) the offsite construction automation percentage will increase by 7% in the future. The research outcomes also provided guidance on the key technologies that the industry shall currently invest in and consider leveraging in the future

The Impact of Offsite Construction on the Workforce: Required Skillset and Prioritization of Training Needs

Offsite construction has showed great potential in addressing many of the industry\u27s problems. While multiple research efforts have been directed at examining different offsite construction aspects, few studies investigated the workforce-related aspects. Therefore, this study aims to address this knowledge gap by examining the impact of offsite construction on the workforce, as represented by the following five workforce categories: offsite, onsite, engineering and design, construction and fabrication, and administrative workforce. To this end, this paper (1) determined the impact of offsite construction on the skillset (reskilling or upskilling) and the demand (shrink or growth) for the offsite and onsite construction workforce occupations; (2) evaluated the impact of offsite construction on the technical and managerial skills of the engineering, construction, and administrative workforce occupations; and (3) identified the specific required skills that need to be incorporated into the offsite construction training programs for the workforce. The results showed that the skillsets for all offsite and onsite workforce occupations need to be upskilled. While the demand for the offsite construction workforce will increase, the demand for around 79% of the onsite workforce occupations will decrease. The findings also reflected that a total of 20 main skills are needed for the offsite construction engineering and design workforce, a total of 24 key skills are needed for the construction and fabrication workforce involved in offsite construction operations, and 22 skills are needed for the offsite construction administrative workforce. This study adds to the body of knowledge by helping offsite construction industry practitioners in workforce planning and management, in the prioritization of training needs and programs, and in identifying the required skillset to improve the quality of the workforce involved in the offsite construction operations

Listening and Negotiation

Negotiation is an important skill for faculty at all stages of their career, but one that research suggests is often uncomfortable for women faculty to employ. This paper focuses on the topic of negotiation, with an emphasis on providing practical ideas and strategies relevant to academic professionals at both entry-level and mid-career who find that they need to negotiate a career opportunity. The paper will review negotiation basics, as well as discuss what can be negotiated, how one might proceed to discuss these, and how listening is critical to negotiation. By viewing negotiation as a wise agreement 1 that seeks to meet the needs of both parties to the extent possible, this paper presents several common cases or scenarios that illustrate the importance of understanding the elements involved both from the faculty member’s perspective as well as from the perspective of their department head, dean or provost