Neuman, Y; Alves, T D C L; Walsh, K D and Needy, K L (2015) Quantitative analysis of supplier quality surveillance practices in EPC projects. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 141(11): 04015039, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
This study was funded by the Construction Industry Institute (CII) to investigate effective supplier quality practices that can reduce rework associated with supplied components in engineering-procure-construct (EPC) projects. The motivation was to analyze how the level and amplitude of inspection in different stages of a supply chain (from fabrication to mechanical completion) affect the resulting quality of products as measured by the number of nonconformances (NCs) found in its different stages. Quantitative data were collected using an instrument used by CII member organizations to submit data on actual purchase orders and analyzed using the Mann-Whitney (M-W) test on the nonparametric set of data obtained. Following the statistical analysis, interviews with subject matter experts, face-to-face presentations, and sharing of reports with the research team were used to clarify questions, interpret the data, and validate conclusions. The results provide insights regarding where inspection is most needed and indicate that some of the following supplier quality surveillance (SQS) practices are correlated with improved supplier quality: observation and inspection in the supplier's facility; development and use of a quality control or inspection and testing (QC/IT) plan; planning in concert with suppliers; increased communication before and during execution; and postproject completion assessments (PPCAs) of supplier performance. Results also showed that registered or certified suppliers do not show a statistically significant relationship to improved quality. Finally, the study contributes to explaining how process inspections are directly linked to the number of resulting product nonconformances, identifying which practices used by suppliers and owners/contractors are more effective in reducing the number of nonconformances in a product, and identifying potential indicators that can be collected during the execution of purchase orders and associated with the final quality of products.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction materials and methods; procurement; quality management; supplier relationships; vendor |
| Index terms: | construction material, owner, testing, motivation, Construction Industry Institute, surveillance, interview, statistical analysis, face, inspection, rework, quality management, quality control, quantitative analysis, fabrication |
| Subjects: | operations management, building materials, project delivery, data analysis and analytics, manufacturing engineering, data collection methods, professional practice, monitoring and control systems, sociology, data science, psychology, quality assurance, research organizations |
| Topics: | Stakeholder Management, Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Organizational Design, Project Management, Quality Management, Human Resources, Governance |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here