Taggart, M; Koskela, L K and Rooke, J A (2014) An improvement strategy for the defects and rework management process within an SME: An action research approach. In: Raiden, A and Aboagye-Nimo, E (eds.) Proceedings of 30th Annual ARCOM Conference, 1-3 September 2014, Portsmouth, UK.
Abstract
Irish construction reported strong growth towards the end of 2013, after years of industry recession. Following a property led economic collapse which started in 2007 construction output fell by circa eighty percent. Many construction companies went out of business; those remaining are strongly focused on their bottom line and increasing efficiency to ensure survival. Defects and rework, common in construction, are both wasteful and a cost that can be avoided, thus presenting an obvious target for improvement. A regional SME main contractor collaborated on a project to improve the efficiency of their current processes for the identification, management and elimination of defects and rework in their supply chain. An action research strategy was employed on several field projects, to investigate the problems faced by the company in this area and to develop an improvement plan. Action research involves a five stage problem solving cycle (1) problem diagnosing; (2) action planning; (3) action taking; (4) evaluation of results; (5) specification of learning. Action planning elements emerging from the cycle (at stage 2) are presented here. They are very wide ranging and include; process standardisation; sign off procedures; use of ICT as a collaborative platform; freeware information repository; cost modelling; benchmarks for improvement; planning workshops; root cause analysis of defects and subsequent development of learning materials. Preliminary results indicate a sophisticated understanding of the defects and rework process across the supply-chain, but a general lack of forum and opportunity to contribute to improvement. The results indicate a wide diversity of abilities and resources in SMEs, including human, capital and technological, meaning one size fits all solutions to efficiency improvements are difficult to attain. Prescriptions thus need to be both simple to implement and flexible. The results here offer detailed reflective insight into best practice in designing improvement plans of this nature.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | action research; defects; rework; supply chain management |
| Index terms: | construction company, rework, strategy, meaning, platform, action research, workshop, specification, recession, main contractor, efficiency, root cause analysis, construction output, survival, modelling, problem solving, prescription, standardization, best practice |
| Subjects: | contractual condition, digital design, performance measurement, medical science and clinical practice, management, performance management, decision-making and reasoning, sociology, practitioner, construction type, risk assessment, data collection methods, organization, business, environmental science, economic analysis, analytical methods, operations management |
| Topics: | Risk Management, Roles and Professions, Construction Technology, Sustainability, Business Strategy, Health and Safety, Research Practice, Project Management, Engineering Principles, Contract Administration, Digital Applications, Quality Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
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