Construction Productivity: Measurement and Improvememt

MPDM

Method productivity delay model- time study model, work sampling and queuing model

TQM concept

is to remove the causes of the problem, such that the need of inspect or supervise results diminishes.

TPQM Tools

1) Techniques for challenging the work process 2) graphics and modeling 3) program for personnel management 4) program for communications 5) strategy for job sites layout 6) material handling 7) equipment management 8) planning and scheduling 9) record keeping and controls 10) accident controls

TQM process for collecting and charting data and measurement

1) cause and effect diagram 2) flow charts 3) pareto diagram 4) scatter diagram 5) control chart 5) histogram

Top management by example are to provide the following four critical elements

1) commitment to the process 2) recognition of all involved in the process 3) drive out fear such that all employees are willing to give new ideas and employees will it he threatened for giving new ideas 4) delgate and drive new decision making and problem solving to the lowest pratical level

Various means the supervisor can use to measure productivity improvement

1) worker status of Craftsmen when they are not being closely supervised 2) productive, support, and non-productive work states 3) ratio of productive equipment hours to standby hours 4) ability to construct project within budget or planned duration 5) gross profit margin and measured risk of project as a function of number of projects completed 6) number of construction disputes and claims 7) supervisor hours required to monitor labor and equipment

Demining 14 points

1) create consistency of purpose of improvement of product and service 2) adopt the new philosophy 3) cease dependence on mass inspection 4) end the practice of awarding business on the process tag alone 5) improve constantly and forever the process of production and service 6) institute training 7) institute leadership 8) drive out fear 9) break down barriers between staff areas 10) eliminate slogans, exhortation and targets for the work force 11) eliminate numerical quotas 12) remove barriers to pride of workmanship 13) institute a program of education and retaining 14) take action to accomplish the transformation

Three main components of TQM

1) customer satisfaction 2) involvement of everyone 3) continuos improvement

TQM

1) do it right the first time;zero defects 2) minimize production and quality variation and risk 3) participative mangement; invole everyone 4) benchmarking; comparing performance against standards 5) provide continual training and education 6) focus on the customer

Three step process -looking for an opportunity to improve

1) familiarize oneself with the existing method 2) conceptualize an alternative method 3) make total cost,.unit cost and duration calculations to compare the alternative method

Defects to be addressed by TPQM

1) redo work 2) punch list 3) accidents 4) assignment waiting 5) substance abuse 6) workers/machine waiting 7) theft or wastage 8) double material handling 9) late/inaccurate report 10) change, dispute, claim

Tools required of a supervisor implementing the "more" approach is...

1) stopwatch 2) calculator 3) clipboard change the role of a supervisor from a police type to the function of being analyst and challenger

Critics believes that problems exist in the industry due to...

1) the construction industry has not focus on the needs of the customer 2) the construction industry has not capitalized on the knowledge of all project entities - get workers involved 3) the construction industry has not implemented many industrial engineering and measurement techniques to include statistical sampling- focus of the measurement of causes of problems

Difficulty to implement TQM due to unique characteristics of the construction process

1) the construction process is short in duration 2) not able to empower labor force due to short time period 3) each construction project is unique as a result, the ability to implement continous improvement is reduced 4)

Scatter Diagram

A graph of the value of one variable vs. another variable

Pareto Chart

A graph to identify and plot problems or defects in descending order of frequency. Usually the quality improvement team starts improvement by focusing on the greatest cause.

Control Chart

A graphical presentation of process data over time

collecting data

By focusing on defects and by collecting data and potraying the results graphically, the focus is on reduction and elimination of defects.

CATS

Corrective Action Teams

ESOP

Employee stock owned companies

MORE

M- measure O- opportunity R- risk E- evaluate cost a new approach to construction productivity- an proactive approach

QITs (another name for CATs)

Quality Imrprovement Teams

TQM vs. TPQM

TPQM emphasis 1) job site productivity improvement 2) more emphasis on the obtaining short-term benefits as well as long-term benefits 3) increased emphasis on measurement as a basis of on going improvement

TPQM

Total Productivity and Quality Management

Total Quality Management (TQM)

as management philosophy, involving everyone in am organization, firm, or process in controlling and continuously improving how work or a service is done with the objective of meeting customer expectations of quality.

Quality

can be thought in several ways: 1) quality is the freedom from errors or deficiencies 2) quality means conformance or lack of variation 3) quality means adding values to a process through the commitment to improvements

Measurement is fundamental to improvement

focus on measurement-the measurement component will draw one's attention to inefficiencies and improvement and potential

TQM

focuses on obtaining continuos improvement by addressing the cause of a problem more than focusing only on monitoring the results of a process or production process. TQM places less emphasis on inspection and more emphasis on time expended on problem solving and brainstorming aimed at removing the cause of the need for inspection.

Flow charts are used to record and show trends in:

provides a means of giving an overview picture of an entire process

Cause and effect (also known as fishbone diagram)

provides an orderly way to arrange ones thoughts about the cause and defects and the results. the diagram organizes the causes of problems by components of the process

histograms / bar graph

show frequencies of an event- shows the distribution of the variance of occurrence of a defect or event.

Continuous Improvement Cycle of TQM

step 1: identify defect or improvement required step: assign process or defect to CAT (QITs) step 3: measurement and analysis of process step 4: brainstorm for recommended solution step 5: systemize and implement solution step: 6 systemize and implement solution