Jang, H (2002) Construction material logistics: Project manager level of satisfaction and facilities layout planning. PhD thesis, University of Wisconsin - Madison, USA.
Abstract
Construction management researchers have only recently highlighted the relationship between the contractors and the ultimate customers. To improve the understanding of the significance of customer satisfaction regarding construction logistics tasks, a pilot study has been undertaken. Customer satisfaction and continuous improvement are the fundamental goals of construction logistics tasks. Therefore the logistics manager who coordinates these operations with all parties to a contract is very important to the successful completion of a construction project. This thesis examines how construction logistics affect a senior project manager's level of satisfaction and also defines through the use of a survey which logistics factors correlate the most with customer satisfaction. Two hundred twenty-three experienced managers provided valuable data to the study. Five important factors relating to satisfaction were found through interviews with logistics managers and a literature review. They are personnel, material flow, schedule adherence, contractor's organization, and information flow. The study results suggest that material flow and information flow are worthy of the most attention. Poor usage of space at construction sites is one of the leading causes of decrease in productivity in the construction industry; however, it is both preventable and manageable. The most commonly used method for space management in the industry is development of site plans. These plans outline how to manage material deliveries, staging areas, and crane locations for construction sites in suburban area but not in congested urban areas. This study focuses on how to efficiently manage space for construction facilities on high-rise buildings in congested urban areas where normally space for facilities around a building footprint is not available. The limitations of available horizontal space create a need to explore vertical expansion of facilities. This raises new aspects of vertical material handling and flow that need to be considered in the facility design problem. The construction facilities layout plan method provides layout planners with a valuable technique to develop efficient sequences of work that optimally defines how to efficiently utilize the construction facilities and minimize the travel of specific facilities effort on multiple-floor buildings. In this thesis, a genetic algorithm-based heuristic will be presented for generating block layouts for multiple-floor layout problems.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Russell, J S |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | continuous improvement; personnel; construction project; high rise; logistics; material handling; heuristic; productivity; construction site; project manager; interview |
| Index terms: | productivity, continuous improvement, heuristic, project manager, satisfaction, construction industry, construction material, customer satisfaction, construction logistics, planner, construction site, literature review, survey, information flow, suburban area, manager, interview, personnel, genetic algorithm, material handling, high-rise building, high rise, urban area, construction project |
| Subjects: | risk assessment, construction type, profession, data collection methods, construction logistics, practitioner, work location, building materials, data analysis and analytics, product delivery, project delivery, performance measurement, management, urban form and morphology, algorithms, service delivery, production management, urban design, industry analysis, information systems |
| Topics: | Supply Chain Management, Quality Management, Engineering Principles, Project Management, Risk Management, Digital Applications, Urban Studies, Human Resources, Site Management, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management, Construction Technology |
| 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