Construction Innovation and Process Improvement

Construction Innovation and Process Improvement PDF Author: Akintola Akintoye
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1405156481
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 457

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Book Description
Innovation in construction is essential for growth. The industry strives to remain competitive using a variety of approaches and needs to engage structured initiatives linked to proven innovation concepts, techniques and applications. Even in mature markets like the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector, where business behaviour is generally considered as being risk averse, it is increasingly important to embed innovation into mainstream business practices. In Construction Innovation and Process Improvement a number of wide ranging issues from construction practice in different countries with different contexts are presented to provide a rich collection of literature embracing theory and practice. Chapters are divided into three broad themes of construction innovation relating to: Theory and Practice; Process Drivers; and Future Technologies. Several questions are posed, including for example: What is particularly unique about construction innovation in theory and practice? What are the major drivers of construction innovation? What factors are needed to support and deliver future construction technologies? In attempting to respond to such questions, the book sheds new light on these challenges, and provides readers with a number of ways forward, especially cognisant of the increased role of globalisation, the enhanced impact of knowledge, and importance of innovation. All these can have a significant impact on strategic decision-making, competitive advantage, and sustainable policies and practices. Part One deals with change management, technology, sustainable construction, and supply chain management; Part Two addresses innovation and process improvement drivers, including strategic management, concurrent engineering, risk management, innovative procurement, knowledge management; Part Three explores future technologies in construction – and particularly, how these can be harnessed and leveraged to help procure innovation and process improvement.

Construction Innovation and Process Improvement

Construction Innovation and Process Improvement PDF Author: Akintola Akintoye
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1405156481
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 457

Get Book

Book Description
Innovation in construction is essential for growth. The industry strives to remain competitive using a variety of approaches and needs to engage structured initiatives linked to proven innovation concepts, techniques and applications. Even in mature markets like the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector, where business behaviour is generally considered as being risk averse, it is increasingly important to embed innovation into mainstream business practices. In Construction Innovation and Process Improvement a number of wide ranging issues from construction practice in different countries with different contexts are presented to provide a rich collection of literature embracing theory and practice. Chapters are divided into three broad themes of construction innovation relating to: Theory and Practice; Process Drivers; and Future Technologies. Several questions are posed, including for example: What is particularly unique about construction innovation in theory and practice? What are the major drivers of construction innovation? What factors are needed to support and deliver future construction technologies? In attempting to respond to such questions, the book sheds new light on these challenges, and provides readers with a number of ways forward, especially cognisant of the increased role of globalisation, the enhanced impact of knowledge, and importance of innovation. All these can have a significant impact on strategic decision-making, competitive advantage, and sustainable policies and practices. Part One deals with change management, technology, sustainable construction, and supply chain management; Part Two addresses innovation and process improvement drivers, including strategic management, concurrent engineering, risk management, innovative procurement, knowledge management; Part Three explores future technologies in construction – and particularly, how these can be harnessed and leveraged to help procure innovation and process improvement.

Construction Innovation and Process Improvement

Construction Innovation and Process Improvement PDF Author: Akintola Akintoye
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118280318
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 457

Get Book

Book Description
Innovation in construction is essential for growth. The industry strives to remain competitive using a variety of approaches and needs to engage structured initiatives linked to proven innovation concepts, techniques and applications. Even in mature markets like the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector, where business behaviour is generally considered as being risk averse, it is increasingly important to embed innovation into mainstream business practices. In Construction Innovation and Process Improvement a number of wide ranging issues from construction practice in different countries with different contexts are presented to provide a rich collection of literature embracing theory and practice. Chapters are divided into three broad themes of construction innovation relating to: Theory and Practice; Process Drivers; and Future Technologies. Several questions are posed, including for example: What is particularly unique about construction innovation in theory and practice? What are the major drivers of construction innovation? What factors are needed to support and deliver future construction technologies? In attempting to respond to such questions, the book sheds new light on these challenges, and provides readers with a number of ways forward, especially cognisant of the increased role of globalisation, the enhanced impact of knowledge, and importance of innovation. All these can have a significant impact on strategic decision-making, competitive advantage, and sustainable policies and practices. Part One deals with change management, technology, sustainable construction, and supply chain management; Part Two addresses innovation and process improvement drivers, including strategic management, concurrent engineering, risk management, innovative procurement, knowledge management; Part Three explores future technologies in construction – and particularly, how these can be harnessed and leveraged to help procure innovation and process improvement.

Construction Process Improvement

Construction Process Improvement PDF Author: Brian Atkin
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470680423
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
The construction process has come under intense scrutiny in recent times and this is set to continue as building owners and users demand better value for money from a more sustainable built environment. The construction sector’s actors are responding to the challenges implicit in this drive for greater competitiveness and social responsibility. New forms of procurement, innovation programmes, knowledge management, CAD-supported processes, predictive and diagnostic tools, and many more initiatives are helping to transform the sector. Construction Process Improvement showcases 21 examples of how directed efforts are being taken to raise productivity and quality, reduce waste and costs, and provide more certain and durable products for the sector’s customers. Each example is the subject of a closely coupled collaborative project in which answers are being sought on matters of strategic importance to companies. The chapters that describe and discuss these projects balance state-of-the-art reviews with details of the work being undertaken and, in many cases, the results that are being implemented within the companies. Construction Process Improvement deals with issues that matter to best practice companies and researchers in industry and universities. It covers, amongst other topics, modularisation for manufactured housing, life cycle methods in housing, commercial buildings and services installations, tools and techniques for performance prediction and diagnostics, coordination of design and production processes, novel use of traditional materials, new forms of procurement and the role of innovation, public private partnerships, partnering structures, learning organisations, management of major refurbishment, management information systems, TQM and continuous improvement, CAAD methodology, tools and 4-D CAD, and facilities management. This book analyses the way forward for improving the construction process, in particular the links between research and development and industrial competitiveness. The implementation of new methods and thinking in companies is examined and important advice for senior managers and researchers is offered.

Construction Innovation

Construction Innovation PDF Author: Finn Orstavik
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118655532
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Construction innovation is an important but contested concept, both in industry practice and academic reflection and research. A fundamental reason for this is the nature of the construction industry itself: the industry and the value creation activities taking place there are multi-disciplinary, heterogeneous, distributed and often fragmented. This book takes a new approach to construction innovation, revealing different perspectives, set in a broader context. It coalesces multiple theoretical and practice-based views in order to stimulate reflection and to prepare the ground for further synthesis. By being clear, cogent and unambiguous on the most basic definitions, it can mobilise a plurality of perspectives on innovation to promote fresh thinking on how it can be studied, enabled, measured, and propagated across the industry. This book does not gloss over the real-life complexity of construction innovation. Instead, its authors look explicitly at the challenges that conceptual issues entail and by making their own position clear, they open up fresh intellectual space for reflection. Construction Innovation examines innovation from different positions and through different conceptual lenses to reveal the richness that the theoretical perspectives offer to our understanding of the way that the construction sector actors innovate at both project and organizational levels. The editors have brought together here leading scholars to deconstruct the concept of innovation and to discuss the merits of different perspectives, their commonalities and their diversity. The result is an invaluable sourcebook for those studying and leading innovation in the design, the building and the maintenance of our built environment.

10th Symposium Construction Innovation and Global Competitiveness

10th Symposium Construction Innovation and Global Competitiveness PDF Author: Ben Obinero Uwakwhe
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1420040103
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 1512

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Book Description
This two-volume set comprises the proceedings of the 2002 symposium concerned with innovation in the construction industry and global competition. Approximately 115 papers address topics ranging from business improvement to the impact of innovation on the built environment; globalization and competitiveness, including core issues influencing global

Innovation in Construction

Innovation in Construction PDF Author: Andre Manseau
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134576420
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 422

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Book Description
How can innovation in the construction industry be strengthened? What instruments and approaches are being used by governments to promote it? What works and under what circumstances? These key questions have profound implications. This book presents a framework for the analysis of innovation models and systems in construction and an international comparison of these systems, with a focus on their application in practical policy development.

Building Tomorrow: Innovation in Construction and Engineering

Building Tomorrow: Innovation in Construction and Engineering PDF Author: André Manseau
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 135195413X
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
In the past decade construction and engineering have changed dramatically, with an explosion of innovative new approaches to construction and new methodologies. By bringing together economic, social and construction/engineering management perspectives, this book offers a unique and comprehensive survey of these approaches and techniques. It presents a history of studies in innovation in construction and engineering, and then presents the most recent models of innovation brokering and risk-management, based on complex project-based industries. Innovation is defined and competing theories are discussed in the light of operational issues. The book covers all aspects, including the importance of construction and engineering 'cultures' in the trades for successful project innovation. It also discusses the role of government and policy makers, the implications of rapid change for the building trades and skilled labour, and the difficulty of measuring innovation quantitatively.

Innovation in Small Construction Firms

Innovation in Small Construction Firms PDF Author: Peter Barrett
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134161735
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 10

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Book Description
Innovation in Small Construction Firms promotes the benefits of innovation, and stimulate innovation capability within and between small and medium sized (SMEs) construction firms in an effort to bring in a new 'can innovate, should innovate, want to innovate' culture to the construction industry. Presenting new theoretical and practical insights and models grounded in descriptive case studies, the issues addressed include: what is the motivation to innovate? what is appropriate innovation? how can small construction firms create, manage and exploit innovation? what practice-based models, tools and techniques support the capability of small construction firms to innovate well? how does this fit in the context of leading international work in construction innovation? Findings are contextualised in the broader literature to make them of relevance to policy makers, practitioners and researchers interested in small, project-based firms in general.

Process Management in Design and Construction

Process Management in Design and Construction PDF Author: Rachel Cooper
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470680482
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
To deliver a construction project on time, at cost and of appropriate quality, it is critical to manage the design and construction process effectively... This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the field of process management in design and construction in order to meet the business needs of the construction industry as they change in today’s highly competitive global environment. It identifies the current state of the industry in the process management field, describing trends and developments (including information technology), and demonstrates these through case study evidence. Practical guidance is offered by identifying potential pitfalls, illustrating best practise drawn from construction and appropriate manufacturing applications. The overall approach is a holistic one, based on practical experience gained throughout the past decade both in the academic and industrial environments, including leading a number of research projects on process and IT related topics in construction and manufacturing industries. Process Management in Design and Construction will provide students on construction and project management related courses with a description of the state of process management in design and construction - including current process models – as well as a future vision based on up-to-date research findings and good practice in the construction industry. The book also offers practical guidance to industrial and consultancy organisations on undertaking and implementing process management projects - including re-engineering their customer delivery processes through effective project

Performance Improvement in Construction Management

Performance Improvement in Construction Management PDF Author: Brian Atkin
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135998353
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 409

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Book Description
Novel research in construction management is often distant from existing practice. This collection of reviews serves to bridge this gap under three major themes: innovation, organisation and human behaviour, and methods and tools. It outlines a series of successful collaborative projects between industry and the academic and research communities. Many of the authors have worked in technology transfer, as change agents, resolving industrially-relevant problems by using scientifically-based research. The book reveals the source of ideas, data and results to provide a useful resource for researchers, academics and graduate students, and a challenging guide for senior industry managers.