Industrial Construction Sector Research Articles

Framework for Evaluating the Success of Integrated Project Delivery in the Industrial Construction Sector: A Mixed Methods Approach & Machine Learning Application

Framework for Evaluating the Success of Integrated Project Delivery in the Industrial Construction Sector: A Mixed Methods Approach & Machine Learning Application

Evolution of Multiskilled Craft Professionals and Their Level of Certification in the US Industrial Construction Sector

Evolution of Multiskilled Craft Professionals and Their Level of Certification in the US Industrial Construction Sector

Investigation of the mechanical properties of lightweight concrete using expanded polystyrene reinforced with glass fibers

The use of lightweight concrete has gained popularity in the industrial construction sector owing to its ability to reduce dead weight and enable smaller cross-sections of beams. Adding expanded polystyrene to replace a portion of fine aggregate is a widely accepted solution to decrease the weight of concrete. However, lightweight expanded polystyrene concrete (EPSC) has poor mechanical properties and brittleness, limiting its application to non-bearing structures and thermal isolation. Glass fiber reinforcement is a promising solution to improve the mechanical properties of lightweight expanded polystyrene concrete. This study investigates the effect of glass fiber content on the mechanical properties of lightweight expanded polystyrene concrete. To investigate the impact of glass fiber on the mechanical properties of concrete, various volume percentages of glass fiber were incorporated into the mixture. The compressive and tensile strengths of the concrete were measured and compared for each percentage of glass fiber added. The results showed that the addition of glass fiber significantly reduced workability without causing a significant impact on volume density and compressive strength The study concludes that glass fiber reinforcement is a promising solution to improve the flexural strength of lightweight expanded polystyrene concrete and make it suitable for load-bearing applications in construction.

International Management System Standards Related to Occupational Safety and Health: An Updated Literature Survey

The implementation of an international management system (IMS) in any organization (or part thereof) creates an efficient framework regarding the sustainable development and the review of processes required to manage occupational safety and health (OSH) efficaciously. Moreover, Occupational Safety and Health Management System (OSHMS) standards identify requirements regarding OSH management systems, with the aim of enabling an organization to adopt dynamic policy and objectives that take into consideration lawful requirements relating to OSH risks (e.g., safe and healthy workplaces, prevention of work-related injuries, etc.). This article extends the research and the results of a previous study of ours and comparatively presents (a) the main IMS standards concerning OSHMS and (b) the statistical results and new findings of an updated literature survey for additional time intervals (i.e., the years 1995–2005 and 2018–2020), ultimately covering the entire period of the years 1995–2020. Thus, the main targets of the study were (i) the implementation and comparative presentation of OSHMS standards, (ii) the reinforcement of their application at the worksites of any organization, and (iii) the development of a new ameliorated OSH management system model based on the knowledge from the literature review. On the other hand, some dominant results and findings are the following: (a) The industrial sector and construction sector demonstrate the highest percentage of OSHMS utilization. (b) The OHSAS 18001 standard remains the most frequent OSHMS standard even though, despite the fact that the ISO 45001:2018 is a recently developed OSHMS, it presents a considerable percentage distribution with reference to the total OSHMS articles despite its brief lifespan. (c) An effectual IMS OSHMS must merge various management systems, such as OSH (safety and health), QMS (quality), and EMS (environmental). (d) Organizations and businesses of any kind and any size can certainly develop and implement OSHMS standards. (e) Some substantial barriers to the implementation of an OSHMS standard are the high cost vis à vis implementation and management, the difficulty for the employees to realize its significance in OSH, and the complicatedness of combining different standards. (f) Occupational epidemiology must be one of the main features of an OSHMS standard. (g) Governments, employers, and employees admit day after day that the effectiveness of applying OSHMS standards at the organization level is considerable for decreasing the occupational hazards and risks and also for raising productivity.

NKVD Industrial Engineering in the Kola North in the Late 1930s – Early 1940s

Introduction. On the territory of the Kola North, the prisoners carried out hydraulic construction, and mining enterprises were built. An analysis of the NKVD industrial construction sector’s functioning in the designated time and regional dimension allows a deeper understanding of the role of the GULAG in the industrialization of a particular region, the country as a whole, contributes to the further development of scientific ideas about the NKVD’s mobilization potential in the prewar period. The purpose of this study is to analyze the construction activities of the GULAG camps in the Kola North in the context of the mobilization practice of the NKVD in the prewar years. Materials and Methods. The source foundation of the study was a set of materials from both central and regional archives. Analyzing the processes took place in the regional sector of the industrial construction of the NKVD at the turn of the 1930s – 1940s, the author used dialectical, systemic approaches, comparative and statistical research methods. Results. At the turn of the 1930s – 1940s, in the territory of the Kola North, the construction activities of the NKVD were of a large-scale nature and were of military-strategic importance for the country. There was a goal given to the department to speed up the completion of important construction objects. At the same time, a whole range of problems characterizing the GULAG economy characterized the construction sector of the NKVD: a poor supply of machines and mechanisms, materials, and a lack of project documentation. These circumstances systematically led to the disruption of planned targets. In addition, construction labor camps, despite the growth in the number of special contingents, experienced a permanent shortage of labor, the cause of which was a large proportion of disabled prisoners and chronically ill, unfit for work, as well as disabled, sick prisoners. Significant losses of labor force in forced labor camps were the result of serious problems associated with the organization of labor processes. Construction management delayed the conclusion of contracts with ITL forced labor camps on the provision of labor. A significant part of the prisoners was not taken to work due to the failure to provide an escort, the lack of clothes and shoes, downtime at work due to the lack of building materials. Discussion and Conclusion. An analysis of the construction activities of the NKVD in the Kola North, the economy of the GULAG, as a whole, helps to identify and specify the problem of the safety of resources at the disposal of labor camps, the inability of the latter to ensure the economic use of thousands of prisoners. This circumstance significantly limited the mobilization capabilities of the NKVD, including in the process of implementing large industrial projects of military strategic importance for the country. The economic consequences of resource losses (an increase of production cost, work in general, a decrease in the balance of working time, etc.) largely determine the place of the GULAG in the economic history of the country.

Unionisation and injury risk in construction: a replication study

ObjectiveTo replicate, in a more recent time period, a previous cross-sectional study to estimate the association between unionisation and the risk of workers’ compensation injury claims.MethodsThe sampling frame was workers’...

Future export markets of industrial wood construction – A qualitative backcasting study

The forest sector can play a major role in the transformation to a sustainable bioeconomy, driven by climate change, population growth, and accelerated urbanization. However, in most contexts, the industrial wood construction markets, as a promising field for sustainable bioeconomy, are still at a niche level. The analysis in this study concerns the preferred future export markets for industrial wood construction for the Finnish wood construction industry, as viewed by a panel of industrial, policy and academic experts. The aim is to identify promising export markets for Finland, and to identify required pathways by 2030. A qualitative participatory backcasting method was applied to explore the future visions of the industrial wood construction (IWC) sector and its export markets, as well as the pathways from the current towards the envisioned future. Thirty-five experts formed a panel which produced five visions of the development of industrial wood construction sector exports from Finland, covering the period 2020–2030. All the visions foresaw that the domestic market needs to develop first, to build up the competencies needed to fuel the growth in the exports. Asia, particularly China with its rapidly growing markets, and Europe, with its growing sustainability awareness, commonly appeared as the most promising areas for export growth. The resulting visions differed in terms of export portfolios, varying from more traditional wood materials and products to product-service-solutions. The policy measures identified to accelerate the envisioned growth included harmonization of product and building standards and regulations in the Nordic region and beyond, developing the educational base, and using of digital solutions in building new networks and communication in the IWC sector.

The Impact of State Policies on Investment Project Management in Polish Industrial Construction Sector

The Impact of State Policies on Investment Project Management in Polish Industrial Construction Sector

Factors influencing multifactor productivity of equipment-intensive activities

Purpose Due to its key role in the successful delivery of construction projects, construction productivity is one of the most researched topics in construction domain. While the majority of previous research is focused on the productivity of labor-intensive activities, there is a lack of research on the productivity of equipment-intensive activities. The purpose of this paper is to address this research gap by developing a comprehensive list of factors influencing the productivity of equipment-intensive activities and determining the most influential factors through interview surveys. Design/methodology/approach A list of 201 factors influencing the productivity of equipment-intensive activities was developed through the review of 287 articles, selected from the ten top-ranked construction journals, by searching for construction productivity in the articles’ titles, abstracts or keywords. Next, the most influential factors were determined by conducting interview surveys with 35 construction experts. To ensure that the interviewees were aware of the research objectives and the distinction between labor- and equipment-intensive activities, an information session was held prior to conducting the surveys, and the surveys were conducted in interview format to allow for clarification and discussion throughout the process. Findings Project management respondents identified foreman-, safety- and crew-related factors as the categories with the most influence on productivity; tradespeople respondents identified foreman-, equipment- and crew-related factors as the most influential categories. In total, 14 factors were identified, for which there was a significant difference between the perspectives of project management and tradespeople regarding the factors’ influence on productivity. Originality/value This paper provides a comprehensive list of factors influencing the productivity of equipment-intensive activities. It identifies the most influential factors through an interview survey of 35 construction experts, who are familiar with the challenges of equipment-intensive activities based on their experience with such activities in the industrial construction sector of Alberta, Canada. Additionally, the differences between the factors that influence the productivity of labor- and equipment-intensive activities are discussed by comparing the findings of this paper with previous research focused on labor intensive activities.

Resource budget for workface planning in industrial-construction

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a novel analytical approach for workface planning practice in industrial-construction sector such that the construction work package (CWP) resource budget can be sufficiently planned for delivering possible field installation work package (FIWP) schedules with work uncertainty. Design/methodology/approach The relationship between CWP resource budget and FIWP schedules is first elucidated based on workface planning practice. The literature of work packaging, workface planning and project scheduling is reviewed. A novel analytical approach is then developed to quantify CWP resource budget based on a probability theory, in consideration of the probability of occurrence of feasible FIWP schedules formulated based on a resource scheduling approach. The results of case studies given by the new approach are cross validated by using simulation and optimization techniques. Findings The new analytical approach can assist workface planning by quantifying the expected CWP resource budget to deliver the FIWP work scope with certain activities that are planned at project level and with uncertain activities that are found at workface level. Practical implications The new analytical approach helps project and workface planners to reliably deploy CWP resource budget for delivering FIWP schedules instead of guessing the budget based on experience. An industrial-construction project for upgrading oil-sands refinery facility is used to show the practical implications. Originality/value This research develops a new analytical approach for workface planning practice to determine sufficient CWP resource budget for delivering feasible FIWP schedules with work uncertainty.

A framework to assess the costs and benefits of advanced work packaging in industrial construction

The term advanced work packaging (AWP), coined by the Construction Industry Institute (CII), refers to a disciplined process for project planning and execution; it was developed to address challenges such as cost and schedule overruns in the industrial construction sector. Case studies conducted on AWP report a number of benefits in the areas of productivity, cost, safety, and schedule. However, since there is no clear method to assess the costs and benefits of AWP implementation, a significant challenge in AWP adoption is the lack of quantitative evidence to support these reported benefits. This paper presents a structured framework to assess multiple aspects of AWP implementation, which will enable the quantification of both its costs and benefits. The framework will enable the future comparison of AWP and non-AWP projects. This paper contributes to the industrial construction sector by providing a framework to assess AWP implementation in practice.

Automobility and masculinities between home and work: trucks as the ‘new normal’ in Newfoundland and Labrador

Automobiles are ubiquitous objects of private consumption and their meaning and use are shaped by different aspects of identity, including gender. The gender dimensions of automobility associated with particular types of vehicles have not been extensively researched. This article studies pickup trucks and masculinities in relation to home and work in the industrial construction sector in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. There, like in much of North America, trucks have become the most commonly purchased new vehicles over the last decade. Their widespread popular appeal contrasts with their historical development for manual labour gendered as masculine, such as farming and fishing, in rural places and environments conducive to such labour. Drawing on interviews with construction industry actors and workers, the article shows how new, expensive trucks have come to reflect the hegemonic masculinity at male-dominated industrial construction projects, while also showing how the meanings and uses of trucks are complex and contested. Trucks are understood to be functional for work and driving, but they are also status symbols, often used only sparingly for commuting, masculinized domestic work and leisure activities. The article unpacks the new and expanding popularity of the truck and its positioning in practice in relation to masculinities, work, and to the landscape in a place-based gender regime. In doing so, it contributes to efforts to contextualize masculinities in place, while also revealing how they are related to gender constructs in other places and at other scales.

Building Information Modeling for Nonresidential Construction—An Industry Perspective

More than traditional computer-aided design (CAD), Building Information Modeling (BIM) can include a lot of additional information about the various products and systems in the design. It was noticed that BIM had unbalanced applications among different types of construction. BIM has been shown to provide a significant cost savings to the design firms and clients by its use in residential construction. Yet, it has limited use on a very small number of industrial construction projects. Rather than performing a theoretical cost analysis on BIM usage to prove that it could save project cost, this paper explores the specific benefits that BIM provides from an industry perspective, and see how they would translate to the industrial construction sector. To do this, BIM users in industrial and commercial construction are surveyed. The first-hand survey results revealed that the two biggest benefits to BIM are clash detection and the large amount of information it can provide to the entire stakeholder in the project. Comparing these benefits to the current practices used in the industrial engineering and construction field leads to the conclusion that, BIM usage is probably not worth the cost investment for these firms. There are some additional considerations as to why including BIM capabilities in a company’s profile would be a good option, but cost savings is not the most important.

Defining and Understanding “Small Projects” in the Industrial Construction Sector

To date, little research has been performed regarding the planning and management of “small” projects – those projects typically differentiated from “large” projects due to having lower costs. In 2013, The Construction Industry Institute (CII) set out to develop a front end planning tool that will provide practitioners with a standardized process for planning small projects in the industrial sector. The research team determined that data should be sought from industry regarding small industrial projects to ensure applicability, effectiveness and validity of the new tool. The team developed and administered a survey to determine (1) the prevalence of small projects, (2) the planning processes currently in use for small projects, and (3) current metrics used by industry to differentiate between small and large projects. The survey data showed that small projects make up a majority of projects completed in the industrial sector, planning of these projects varies greatly across the industry, and the metrics posed in the survey were mostly not appropriate for use in differentiating between small and large projects. This study contributes to knowledge through adding to the limited research surrounding small projects, and suggesting future research regarding using measures of project complexity to differentiate between small and large projects.

Parallel Systems and Structural Frames Realignment Planning and Actuation Strategy

AbstractParallel structural systems and assemblies are challenging to erect, align and plumb on construction sites due to their complex geometries and current heuristic realignment strategies. Examples of parallel systems include complicated pipe modules and pipe racks in the industrial construction sector. This paper presents a generalized approach analogous to robotics and inverse kinematics for building parallel systems’ realignment planning, introduced using a series approach. In addition to the calculation of a realignment strategy, feasible applications of such a strategy are also investigated in this paper. The framework for realigning parallel systems has two primary steps: (1) as-built status identification by capturing the geometric state of construction assemblies using three-dimensional (3D) imaging theories, and (2) realignment calculation and actuation based on degrees of freedom (DOFs) defined during the development of the kinematics chains of assemblies. A Quasi-Newton-Raphson (QNR) method...

Strategic Procurement Practices for the Industrial Supply Chain

Early sourcing decisions have a critical impact on the performance of industrial construction projects. However, the industrial construction sector has been relatively understudied, especially the sourcing and supply chain practices typically implemented in early phases of capital projects. This study reports on how engineering-procure-construction (EPC) firms select suppliers in the early stages of the project. Particular focus involves the decisions firms make in sourcing process and the types and roles of supporting information. The paper reports on five case studies with large EPC firms. Data were collected from multiple individuals in each firm with extensive supporting documentation. A cross-case analysis describes similarities and differences between EPCs and helps to compare empirical findings with the broader literature. Findings contradict some areas of the literature, in particular the push for strategic supplier alliances. Other findings confirm the strategic importance of early procurement decisions to project performance and similarity across the types of decision drivers for supplier selection. Practitioners will find the case studies useful examples of current practice to compare with their corporate efforts. Researchers will similarly find details that extend extant literature, proposing new avenues for future research.

Analysis of Observed Skill Affinity Patterns and Motivation for Multiskilling among Craft Workers in the U.S. Industrial Construction Sector

Previous research has shown that multiskilling strategies can increase productivity, quality, and continuity of work and can also help mitigate craft shortages through better utilization of the existing workforce. Using extensive craft certification and skills data, the writers apply correlation and cluster analyses to identify actual patterns of multiskilling among craft workers using two separate data sources. The results of the cluster analysis indicate that current craft skills aggregate into four groups: civil, mechanical, electrical, and general support. It is also observed that acquiring mutually supporting skill set pairs significantly drives multiskilling strategies in practice, thus diminishing the relative impact that duration on project has on driving multiskilling practice, despite its importance in previous literature. Still, comparing the observed multiskilling patterns obtained from the skill affinity analyses with multiskilling strategies proposed by previous studies generally reinforces the potential efficacy of those strategies.

Claims management in the Egyptian industrial construction sector: a contractor's perspective

Purpose – This research aims at providing a better insight of the status of claims management in general, and change order claims in particular, from the contractor's perspective with respect to the Egyptian industrial construction sector, as they proved to be the main cause of claims in this sector.Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire survey discussing the most persistent issues of claims management in general, and change order claims in particular, was conducted on a selected sample of construction industrial companies.Findings – The results demonstrated that claims management in the Egyptian industrial sector has been suffering from a variety of obstacles, including lack of proper notification procedures in public contracts and poor documentation management. Change orders had been actually lost due to poor documentation. Oral change orders were present in approximately 76 per cent of the projects; half of which resulted in loss of rights due to improper documentation, which was largely attribu...

Claims management in the Egyptian industrial construction sector

PurposeThis research aims to provide a better insight into the status of claims management in general, and change order claims in particular, from the contractor's perspective with respect to the Egyptian industrial construction sector, as they proved to be the main cause of claims in this sector.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire survey discussing the most persistent issues of claims management in general, and change order claims in particular, was conducted on a selected sample of construction industrial companies.FindingsThe results demonstrated that claims management in the Egyptian industrial sector has been suffering from a variety of obstacles, including lack of proper notification procedures in public contracts and poor documentation management. Change orders had been actually lost due to poor documentation. Oral change orders were present in approximately 76 percent of the projects; half of which resulted in loss of rights due to improper documentation, which was largely attributed to the lack of contract awareness of the site team, and to the “fear of consultant phenomenon”.Practical implicationsThe paper presents several recommendations for improving claims management including: the formation of a standard form of contract general conditions for the Egyptian industrial sector, and applying a methodological approach for change orders quantification.Originality/valueThe increasing number of international companies contemplating construction projects in Egypt, and the significant problems with regards to claims propagation and management, addressed the need to conduct such a study, which targets one of the most challenging areas in the Egyptian construction industry.

Management of change order claims in the Egyptian industrial construction sector

The term claim has become of paramount significance in construction projects worldwide. This research is targeted at providing a deeper insight of the status of claims management in general and change order claims in particular with respect to the Egyptian industrial construction sector, as change orders have proven to be the main cause of claims in this sector. A questionnaire focusing on persistent issues noted in construction management literature within the past fifteen years was addressed to a selected sample of Egyptian construction industrial projects. The results furnished by the sampled projects demonstrated clearly that claims management in the Egyptian industrial construction sector has been suffering from a variety of impediments, including lack of proper notification procedures in public contracts and poor documentation management. The results indicated that oral change orders were present in nearly 76% of the sample projects and that half of these oral changes resulted in loss of rights due to improper documentation, which could be attributed to the lack of the contract awareness of the site team and to the “fear of consultant” phenomenon. The main cause of change orders was categorised by approximately 67% of the respondents as the additional scope of work, which was largely attributed to the fast track nature of the industrial sector. The research also identified several factors associated with time and cost increases of the sampled projects, among which were: private ownership and unit rate contracts. Finally, several recommendations for improving claims management are put forward. They included: the formation of a unified form of general contract condition for all the Egyptian industrial sector; the use of information technology systems in lieu of traditional filing procedures and the inclusion of a float‐sharing provision in contracts.