Wong, F W H; Lam, P T I and Shen, L Y (2004) A dynamic design management system for improving buildability of construction. In: Khosrowshahi, F (ed.) Proceedings of 20th Annual ARCOM Conference, 1-3 September 2004, Edinburgh, UK.
Abstract
For many years, improving buildability of designs, an abstract concept that is hard to be grasped by designers, has been pursued by practitioners in the construction industry. Yet, because of the fragmented nature of the industry, designers do not have the practical intuition nor the incentive for developing designs that facilitate ease of construction and economic use of resources. The adversarial culture further hinders successful collaborations between designers and constructors. System dynamics deals with the issue of how a system responds to dynamic forces thereby enabling decisions on actions to be undertaken ahead. It copes with changing circumstances surrounding a system as time passes. In view of a project organisation being regarded as a system and the factors affecting buildability of designs changing perpetually, a design management system which is operated on a continuous basis with inputs and feedbacks from contractors and other project participants ensures smooth project delivery. With the dynamic system in hand, designers with or without adequate practical knowledge and experience can constantly enrich and update themselves for improving buildability. In the long run, the incentive for developing buildable designs would be enhanced from which clients and contractors will benefit the most. By identifying the major factors affecting buildability of designs, this paper highlights the need and principles for devising a dynamic design management system for improvement of buildability. A conceptual framework for the dynamic system is built up as illustrated by an Influence Diagram.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | buildability; design management; system dynamics |
| Index terms: | buildability, project organization, designer, design management, collaboration, system dynamics, practitioner, construction industry, conceptual framework, intuition, project delivery |
| Subjects: | cognitive psychology, industry analysis, design efficiency, management, theoretical framing, organizational theory, design process, project delivery, profession, practitioner, computing systems |
| Topics: | Design Practice, Digital Applications, Organizational Design, Project Management, Research Practice, Procurement, Roles and Professions |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
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