AlMaian, R Y; Needy, K L; Walsh, K D and Alves, T D C L (2016) A qualitative data analysis for supplier quality-management practices for engineer-procure-construct projects. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 142(2): 04015061, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
The process of assuring the procured and fabricated materials for an engineer-procure-construct (EPC) project are within their quality requirements is challenging because nearly every EPC construction project is complex and distinctive from previous projects in terms of its size, supply chain, and materials usage. In particular, EPC projects include contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers who collaboratively perform the engineering design for the project, procure the required materials and equipment, and then construct. Many (or most) construction organizations, representing owners and contractors, place high importance on documenting and tracking the quality performance of their suppliers as part of their sup plier quality management (SQM) to ensure that procured and fabricated materials are within the quality specifications. However, these organizations still face problems with their SQM, evidenced by the large number of rework tasks and replacement efforts for the supplied materials in the EPC projects. This highlights the importance of investigating the current supplier quality practices to explore effective practices to deliver products with the expected quality and zero rework. In this paper, six structured interviews were conducted with contractors, and 92 SQM documents including procedures and reports from 21 owners and contractors in the EPC industry were analyzed to identify the current practices used by these organizations with regard to SQM, and the most effective practices that construction engineering managers could borrow to improve the existing SQM in the EPC projects. The contribution of this research can be used by stakeholders in the construction industry to improve SQM within their organizations. Researchers can also benefit from this research to better understand SQM practices within the construction industry.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction supply chain; contracting; grounded theory; qualitative data analysis; rework; supplier quality process map; supplier quality management |
| Index terms: | construction project, engineer-procure-construct, management practice, documents, replacement, subcontractor, interview, manager, data analysis, specification, face, rework, construction engineering, quality performance, engineering design, construction supply chain, quality management, construction industry, construction organization, grounded theory, owner |
| Subjects: | engineering methods, theoretical framing, management, professional development, design process, production management, contractual condition, sociology, quality assurance, industry analysis, organization, data collection methods, practitioner, construction logistics, materials science, operations management, psychology, project delivery, contractual arrangements, data analysis and analytics |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Contract Administration, Digital Applications, Quality Management, Supply Chain Management, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Procurement, Business Strategy, Project Management, Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Information Management |
| 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