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Aboukhadra, W (2021) Learning organisation, affective commitment and cultural intelligence: the case of expatriates in the Gulf Co-operation Council countries, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Nottingham Trent University.
Adnan, H B (2004) Joint venture projects in Malaysian Construction Industry Factors Critical to success, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Property and Construction, Nottingham Trent University.
Agyekum-Mensah, G (2013) The development of an innovative sustainable total planning and control system for construction projects, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment, Nottingham Trent University.
Ahmed Namadi, S i (2019) A framework for collaborative costing in the UK construction industry, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment, Nottingham Trent University.
Alharbi, F (2020) Critical delay factors in housing construction projects in Saudi Arabia: Assessment and solutions, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Nottingham Trent University.
Asnaashari, E (2011) A holistic conceptual model for managing construction logistics in building projects: the case of Iran, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University.
Boyal-Seth, H (2011) Assessing the business case for supplier diversity in the construction housing sector, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University.
Coupar, G (2009) Modern approaches to repairs and maintenance procurement within the social housing sector, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University.
Daniel, E I (2017) Exploratory study into the use of Last Planner® System and collaborative planning for construction process improvement, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment, Nottingham Trent University.
Dowd, V G (1999) The pervading role of risk allocation as the link mechanism between factors of influence and construction procurement practices adopted in the UK construction industry over the period 1965-1995, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Nottingham Trent University.
Dupin, P (2021) Using pull and flow systems to improve production stability in real estate development projects, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Nottingham Trent University.
- Type: Thesis
- Keywords: manufacturing; real estate; scheduling; SMEs; employee; action research
- ISBN/ISSN:
- URL: http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/43929/
- Abstract:
The objective of this thesis is to understand the effects of the application of flow-based management systems on medium-size sites (€2-50 million work turnover) made by medium-sized companies (20-200 employees). The purpose of this research is to develop and evaluate a pull scheduling system based on the Last Planner™ System (LPS) to improve production flow stability of real estate developments made by SMEs. The research investigates the application of pull systems from manufacturing industries and those that have not been fully tested in the construction industry. A three-block real estate development project in Brussels was used to ground the context where action research was chosen to initiate the research. Action research follows an ascending spiral that consists of 4 phases described in 1991 by Zuber-Skerrit: 1) planning, 2) acting, 3) observing and 4) reflecting. Once the first circle is initiated, the four activities lead to the next cycle. The reflections phase of circle (n) then leads to the planning phase of circle (n+1). These loops can be derived indefinitely or at least while the research has not met its objectives. Passing from action to critical reflection and back and vice versa in a cyclical process helps build a wider view and a greater understanding. In this context, three action circles were conducted. In this way, the methods, data and interpretation were continuously refined (Dick, 2002). The sequential development of the three blocks made by the same teams eased the process of capturing insights from a phase and building an optimal scheduling process. A lack of works planning, and progress understanding was found to be a major issue when the research started on the ongoing works of the first block. 5S and LPS were tested as a means of improving construction works planning at both the physical and managerial levels. The application of the first three Ss (sort, set, shine) yielded an impact on respect for the work site but were not sufficient to significantly affect the planning. The application of the first two steps of the LPS (master planning, phase planning and make ready) showed improvement but were also limited in their impact in the search for planning reliability. On-site measurements showed that despite a high percentage plan completion (PPC) score in the LPS, analysis of the progress of each apartment showed high volatility from one 23 / 408 week to the next. This volatility came from a lack of visibility in the scheduling system. Although the progress of each week was determined by what was and should have been done based on the LPS, more structure in the scheduling system and more reliability in the forecasts of the works were needed to increase the works stability. Given that takt time has been successfully used in the manufacturing industry to address variability in the demand, and that significant similarities exist between a construction site and a manufacturing line, it was decided to test this as a complement to the LPS in the research action taken on the second block of the building development. Encouraging results were measured, and on-site work in this block was improved. It was found that the discipline needed to respect the system, the rules and sequence of the work demanded high-level and constant surveillance from site management. In the long run, this could put the whole system at risk. In order to be as efficient, sustainable and duplicable as possible, the scheduling system should be visual, need no interpretation and lead works in a pull flow. Manufacturing has successfully used a simple but efficient system named kanban to achieve level production and ensure a fully pulled system in a variable demand environment while limiting the sources of errors. The third block proved that such a method can work in conjunction with takt time and LPS and improve the works stability by favouring a self-pull system. Following the scheduling system developed by the action circles in Block 2, there has been a reduction of nearly 20% of the lead time measured and a significant increase in quality (the number of snagging works decreased by 95%). Therefore, the stress on the site management team decreased (captured by interviews). The early findings and encouraging results are signs of the importance of the research undertaken. The research has been conducted on traditional sites regarding typology, size, techniques, management structure, and contractors, so the findings are addressed to a wide audience across the construction industry. The limitation of the research comes from the domain of the construction observed: real estate in Belgium. Although it is highly probable that the issues detected on site by the research and the mechanisms used to address those issues are duplicable in other domains of the construction industry, there is, at this point of the research, no clear evidence.
Grada, M (2007) The impact of economic value added measure in assessing the business performance of UK construction companies, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Nottingham Trent University.
Hackett, V (2017) The impact of a collaborative planning approach on engineering construction performance, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Nottingham Trent University.
Hamza, A (2002) Partnering in the construction industry: an empirical investigation into the critical success factors, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Property and Construction, Nottingham Trent University.
Hurst, A G (2009) Management education, training and development of construction managers: will they ever learn?, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University.
Idan, C K (2003) Quality function deployment (QFD) in the UK construction industry, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Nottingham Trent University.
Jaafar, T (1992) A unified methodology for project planning risk, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Nottingham Trent University.
Jackson, F (2006) Biodegradable hydraulic fluids: Reducing oil-related pollution in the construction industry, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Nottingham Trent University.
Keats, R J (2014) An exploration of how professional associations advance innovation and promote innovation pedagogy, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Nottingham Trent University.
Khadour, L (2010) Total quality environmental management framework towards sustainability (UK novated D&B principal contractors), Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment, Nottingham Trent University.
Khalid, U (2022) Investigation into the development of a human reliability analysis framework for the safety management of construction projects, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Nottingham Trent University.
Kings, S (2002) Pricing documentation for contractors' estimators: Establishing a more effective approach, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Nottingham Trent University.
McLean, M (2014) A longitudinal analysis of a partial mediation model of employee engagement in a knowledge-intensive firm, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University.
Musa, M M (2019) A framework for implementing target value delivery to enhance value creation in the construction industry, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Nottingham Trent University.
Owen, K J (2002) Success factors in the procurement of privately financed tolled transportation infrastructure projects in the UK, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Property and Construction, Nottingham Trent University.
Payne, B (1998) Project risk analysis, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University.
Pritchard, C (2005) Skin cancer prevention in the house building industry, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Nottingham Trent University.
Rashid, K B A (1998) The processes of construction procurement in Malaysia: Identification of constraints and development of proposed strategies in the context of 'vision 2020', Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Nottingham Trent University.
Sarhan, S (2018) Institutional waste within the UK construction industry: an exploratory study, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment, Nottingham Trent University.
Sharif, A (1996) A functional analysis of building procurement systems and strategies in an international context, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Nottingham Trent University.
Taylor, M S (2021) Strategic management accounting practices in medium sized UK construction companies: a mixed-methods approach, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Nottingham Trent University.
Ward, A D (2016) Development of a contextualised understanding of the diffusion of innovation among quantity surveyors in the UK construction industry, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment, Nottingham Trent University.