Improvement tools in the UK construction industry

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The use of improvement tools in manufacturing industry has proven to be an important aspect of continuous improvement activities. To determine whether the same is true in the UK construction industry, a survey was conducted to assess the current level of use and perceived importance of such tools. In addition, the impact of the ISO 9001 quality system on the level of use and perceived importance of these tools was also investigated. Following a comprehensive literature review, more than thirty improvement tools were identified and categorized using affinity diagrams. Factor analysis was used to demonstrate that the proposed classification was valid. The results of the survey showed that, in terms of use, quality control, performance measures and technology tools are common practice in the industry. A similar set of tools/techniques was perceived as highly important except that technology and performance measures were interchanged. When comparing the mean use and mean perceived importance for each group of techniques, significant differences were found in tools that help to gather customer needs, those aimed at programming and those used for measuring performance. In terms of the ISO 9001 standard, it was found that certified companies make more use of and place higher levels of importance on most of the groups of tools studied than those not certified. The conclusions from the survey will help to develop a framework for suggesting which tools to use at each stage of a construction project.