Advancing the Competitiveness and Efficiency of the U.S. Construction Industry (2009) / Chapter Skim
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3 Opportunities for Breakthrough Improvements in the U.S. Construction Industry
3 Opportunities for Breakthrough Improvements in the U.S. Construction Industry
Pages 27-36
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From page 27... ...
Nonetheless, these sectors also share common issues and obstacles to improving construction productivity, including the following: • A diverse and fragmented set of stakeholders: owners, users, designers, builders, suppliers, manufacturers, operators, regulators, manual laborers, and specialty trade contractors, including plumbers, electricians, masons, carpenters, and roofers; • Segmented processes: planning, financing, design, engineering, procurement, construction, operations, and maintenance. Each process is typically performed sequentially and each involves different groups of stakeholders, shifting responsibilities, and shifting levels of financial risk, which in turn often leads to adversarial relationships, disputes, and claims; • The image of the industry -- work that is cyclical, low-tech, physically exhausting, and unsafe -- which makes it difficult to attract and retain skilled workers and recent graduates; • The one-of-a-kind, built-on-site nature of most construction projects; • Variation in the standards, processes, materials, skills, and technologies required by different types of construction projects; • Variation in the building codes, permitting processes, and construction-related regulations propagated by states and localities; • The lack of an industry-wide strategy to improve construction efficiency; • The lack of effective performance measures for construction-related tasks, projects, and the industry as a whole; and • The lack of an industry-wide research agenda and levels of funding for research that are inadequate.
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From page 28... ...
The committee believes that improving efficiency will also improve overall productivity and help individual construction firms produce more environmentally sustainable projects and become more competitive. To help determine which activities offer the greatest potential for resulting in breakthrough improvements, the committee first identified the attributes that would characterize an efficient capital facilities sector of the U.S.
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From page 29... ...
WIDESPREAD DEPLOYMENT AND USE OF INTEROPERABLE TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS Interoperability is the ability to manage and communicate electronic data among a project's owners, clients, contractors, and suppliers, and across a company's design, engineering, operations, project management, financial, and legal units. As noted in Chapter 2, a range of modeling, virtual design, and other technologies for construction-related processes are already available and are often referred to as Building Information Modeling.
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From page 30... ...
Digital databases provide a platform for improving design quality, reducing errors and omissions, and reducing costs. Having a common set of real-time information accessible to project owners, contractors, subcontractors, project managers, and other involved parties saves time, improves communication, and reduces errors caused by conflicting information in individual documents or applications.
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From page 31... ...
Improved project and job-site management through the effective use of technologies requires well-trained, educated workers who can work collaboratively and communicate effectively and who possess technical knowledge. Traditionally, construction firms have recruited engineering graduates for design and project management positions.
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From page 32... ...
The ASCE has established a task force to define, recognize, and incorporate engineering paraprofessionals as an important part of civil engineering.5 And a number of professional societies and construction firms have established mentoring, internship, and awards programs to stimulate the interest of high school students in pursuing a career in construction (in Appendix E, see the section entitled "Recruiting Tomorrow's Workforce")
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From page 33... ...
. INNOVATIVE, WIDESPREAD USE OF DEMONSTRATION INSTALLATIONS Although automated equipment, prefabricated components, virtual models, information technologies, and other innovations are available, deploying them throughout the capital facilities sector is difficult.
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From page 34... ...
Federal entities such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Defense, and scientific laboratories have developed "technology readiness indexes" to evaluate the maturity of high-risk, high-cost, untested technologies for deployment. Technology readiness indexes are systematic measurement systems to support the assessment of the maturity of a particular technology and the consistent comparison of maturity among different types of technology (Mankins, 1995)
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From page 35... ...
Basic technology elements integrated with reasonably realistic supporting elements. Prototyping implementations conform to target environment and interfaces.
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From page 36... ...
, to policy makers, and to research-oriented organizations in government, academia, and the private sector. Because these are lagging indicators that are not highly time sensitive, their value to individual project owners and contractors is limited.
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