Construction Innovation: The Implementation of Lean Construction towards Sustainable Innovation

The prevalent theory of construction has been seen as a hindrance to construction innovation. The concept of lean construction is concerned with the application of lean thinking to the construction industry. However, in lean construction there are many arguments supporting the view that ‘the prevalent theory of production (or specifically, theory of construction) is counterproductive, and leads to added costs and reduced overall performance through the deficient production control principles based on the theory’. Presently, the construction industry and all other organisations face various problems as a result of the uncertainties of the global economic climate; including labour redundancies, delayed projects and zero margin contract bids. The construction industry is seen as one of the worst performing industry as regards innovation. This calls for concern about the poor state of construction innovation. The emergence of lean construction is to bring significant reform to the construction industry to achieve the objectives of sustainability within the built environment in the critical social, economic and environmental aspects. Increasingly, lean construction offers new techniques of constructing sustainable projects. It is about reducing costs by cutting waste, innovating by engaging people and organising the work-place to be more efficient. Hence, the aim of this paper is to highlight the cost and benefits of the potential contribution of lean construction to the attainment of sustainable innovation in construction. An exploratory method of investigation is adopted in achieving the aim of this paper by critically reviewing, exploring, and synthesising literature and industry case studies related to the subject matter. Evidence from the literature reveals that innovation through lean improvement in construction processes has provided proof of sustainability outcomes in terms of reduced waste, effort and time. Hence, lean construction impacts significantly on innovation by enhancing competitiveness, innovativeness, and resource efficiency within the construction industry. Keywords: Construction industry, Construction innovation, Lean construction, Sustainabilit

Deliberate Ceiling for Career Progress of Female Public Service Employees: A Contemporary Transformation Trend in South Africa

Female employees are rarely found in senior level decision-making roles in the public service sector. Rather they are concentrated in larger number at the lower management levels in the workplace. This study evaluates barriers to female employees’ career progress within the South African public service sector. Prior studies relating to progress of female employees into the senior and top managerial levels within the South African public service sector have revealed an exclusion and inability to climb the decision-making ladder. Employing a questionnaire that included evaluative tools from previous scholarly studies (e.g., the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), Women as Managers Scale (WAMS) and the Career Barrier Inventory (CBI) scale), a sample of 286 employees working in selected South African public service organisations within the Gauteng province formed the foundation for the current assessment. The raw data was evaluated with standard statistical software (e.g. Microsoft Excel) and the results pointed to an insignificant positive correlation between gender role perceptions and women’s career progress; a slightly insignificant positive relationship between women managerial capability and women’s career progress; and a slightly insignificant negative relationship between gender stereotype and women’s career progress. The overall outcome of the study reveals that the pace of women’s career progress within Gauteng province is affected by workplace barriers

LEAN PROCUREMENT: THE USE OF LEAN CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES IN PROJECT VALUE ENHANCEMENT

Lean construction is characterised by a set of clear objectives in project delivery involving the concurrent design of products and processes, and the application of production control throughout the project life cycle to maximise value for money to customers. The successful delivery of construction projects requires the effective use of project management techniques such as risk and value management to achieve the optimum performance of a constructed facility over time. However, it has been argued that lean construction came about as a result of the failure of traditional project management to provide an integrated project delivery process in which design, construction, operation, and maintenance are considered as a whole with an understanding of how to enhance value delivery to clients, stakeholders (including occupants), and society in general. This paper explores in depth the lean construction techniques that support environmentally sustainable benefits and value enhancement in the design and construction processes (including supply chain management). It also explains how the implementation of lean techniques in construction project delivery and procurement strategy (including partnering relationships between contractors, consultants and manufacturers) delivers a high level of benefits and value. Keywords: construction project, lean construction, procurement, value, value managemen

Biodeterioration of the African star apple (Chrysophylum albidum) in storage and the effect on its food value

The biodeterioration of the African star apple fruits in storage was investigated at Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria. Eight fungal isolates were found associated with the deteriorating fruits. The fungi are Botryodiplodia theobromae, Rhizopus stolonifer, Aspergillus niger, A. tamarii, A. flavus, Fusarium spp, Penicilium spp and Trichoderma spp. All the fungal isolates were pathogenic on the star apple fruits with the exception of Trichoderma spp. The African star apple fruits stored for up to 5 days were associated with severe fungal infections and had significantly reduced crude protein, crude fat and moisture content while dry matter, potassium, calcium and sodium increased compared to the freshly harvested fruits. (African Journal of Biotechnology: 2003 2(3): 56-59

Solar Electricity System Design for Administrative Buildings

Regular availability of electricity is fundamentally important for everyday running and productivity of any organisation. In any modern society, stable and reliable electric power is a basic need, without which living condition becomes substandard and smooth business operations become difficult. Unreliability of power services in Nigeria is taking its toll on administrative, academic and research activities at Federal Polytechnic, Ede, just like other institutions in the country. Diesel generator on which the institution depends for alternative power source during outage is not sustainable as outage is too frequent and the duration is usually long, at times for days. This results in a very high running cost if normal activities in the institution are to go unimpeded. This work is on the design of 172.84kWP Solar Photovoltaic (PV) System aimed at permanently addressing the electric power challenges at the Administrative Blocks of the Federal Polytechnic, Ede. The proposed project’ design was simulated and the results show that its real life performance is highly promising. The least energy yield of the PV system occurs in June with 549.93kWh/day as against the maximum demand of 457.30kWh/day. The system performance is much higher in the months of September to March as solar irradiance is higher in these months. The PV plant has active service life of over 25years without significant change in its efficiency. The benefits of the proposed project are manifold. The project if implemented will solve the electric power problem of the institution at the Administrative’ Building by providing stable, adequate and reliable 24-hour a day electricity. The estimated cost of the proposed project is N45, 000,000  which is much cheaper than diesel generator and interestingly, is appreciably less than the cost of unreliable power supply from the grid. Keywords: Energy yield, off-grid, photovoltaic system, solar electricity, solar photovoltai

Effect of Pregnancy and Childbirth on Sexuality of Women in Ibadan, Nigeria

A study of 375 antenatal attendees to assess women's views and experience in sexual matters during pregnancy and following childbirth. Explanatory variables included the perception women had of sex during pregnancy and after childbirth. Outcome variables were frequency and satisfaction of sexual activity. The commonest reasons for having coitus in pregnancy were marital harmony and facilitation of delivery. Libido rose throughout pregnancy but orgasms were less often experienced. The man-on-top position became less practised. Vaginal intercourse remained the commonest type. Masturbation and anal intercourse increased, while oral sex declined throughout. Marriage (OR 9.0, 95% CI 1.0–79.5) and current cohabitation (OR 13.6, 95% CI 1.6–113.4) were predictors of sex in pregnancy. Dyspareunia and partners' extramarital affairs were deterrent. Vaginal delivery and episiotomy were not significant predictors of postnatal sex. The respondents and their partners seem able to adapt to pregnancy changes and enhance their marital bonds. Anticipatory guidance and informed counselling may encourage this

Benefiting from biomimicry through 3D printing to enhance mechanical properties of polymeric structures: Simulation approach

© 2023 Aberystwyth University.Numerous biological structures have intricate compositional arrangements, well-organised pieces and stronger mechanical qualities than the materials that make them up. Therefore, this study focused on enhancing the mechanical characteristics of three-dimensional (3D)-printed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) structures. Selected parts/systems of three natural (animal/plant) materials were designed/modelled and analysed to mimic their natural lattice structures (biomimicry), using CATIA V5 and finite element method/Ansys software. The simulation results showed that the tensile strength of the biomimetic-designed beetle increased by 13.63%, the bending strength of the biomimetic lotus stem improved by 2.00 and 19.86% in simple and three-point bending tests, and the compressive strength of biomimetic trabecular bone enhanced by 87.59%, when compared with their conventional structures. Also, the biomimetic design recorded 10.00% higher compressive strength than a fillet design and nearly 64.00% than the repeated pattern. It was evident that biomimetic designs enhanced the mechanical properties of all the 3D-printed ABS structures

Pre-harvest deterioration of Sour sop (Annona muricata) at Ibadan Southwestern Nigeria and its effect on nutrient composition

The etiology of pre-harvest deterioration of Soursop (Annona muricata) fruit in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria and the effects on its nutrient composition was investigated. Four fungal pathogens including Botryodiplodia theobromae, Fusarium sp., Rhizopus stolonifer and Aspergillus niger were found associated with the pre-harvest deteriorating soursop . B. theobromae was the most prevalent and the most pathogenic inducing rot of 75 mm in diameter within four days of inoculation. There was a remarkable reduction in carbohydrate and protein contents of the fungal infected fruits while all other nutrients and mineral assayed were higher in the infected fruits than the non-infected ones. (African Journal of Biotechnology: 2003 2(1): 23-25