Title: TIME I$ MONEY: Key Productivity findings in Alberta Construction Projects
1TIME I MONEY Key Productivity findings in
Alberta Construction Projects!
- Dr. Janaka Y. Ruwanpura, PQS
- Director and Assistant Professor of Project
Management Specialization - Associate Chair in Design Engineering
- University of Calgary
2A Unique Research Project
- The Construction Productivity Improvement
research project at the University of Calgary is
the first in the Canadian construction industry
to involve four competitive construction
contractors with the support of three
construction organizations to investigate common
problems and to find solutions for improvement.
3- Successful projects do
- not
- happen by chance !
4Construction Research?
- Researchers and practitioners have added TONS
of contributions to improve the construction
project management - Many of these problems are still bothering and
yet to address. - One such area is construction productivity
5This is what we thought Two Years ago!
- Identifying and analysing the most critical
factors influencing construction productivity
will lead to the development of more efficient
and cost effective methods and strategies to
improve the productivity of future construction
operations in Alberta.
6What is missing?
- Research studies - false appearance of
originality. - Published data is out of date and of no relevance
to a particular location or to a particular type
of construction - No monitoring to justify the findings
- Many factors have changed over time.
- No follow-up work to find GOOD solutions.
7Objectives
- To identify the most critical factors in terms of
Human, Management and External Factors that
affect productivity and to analyze the results. - Investigate the Top Factors (Based on survey and
Stakeholders requests) to determine their
individual and cumulative (combined) impact on
construction productivity. - Develop methods and tools to measure and improve
construction productivity - Develop Models to Predict construction
productivity. - Develop a set of practical guidelines for
productivity improvement. - Conduct an industry seminar on the construction
productivity improvement. - Design training material to improve construction
productivity.
8Team
NSERC Bert van den Berg
Construction Productivity Research Project
Construction Industry Steering Committee
University of Calgary Research Team
Charles Lendzion/Ken Gibson, CRIC
Dr. Janaka Ruwanpura Principal Investigator
Bill Flaig, Graham
Brian Hubert, Ledcor
Kasun Hewage Eldon Choy Yangbo Zhou Sushil Da
Silva Graduate Research Assistants
Dr. George Jergeas Co Investigator
Scott Thompson, Ellis Don
Bruce White, PCL
Adam Huang Research Assistant
Dave Smith/John Ink CCA/CCRB
9First Phase
- A Survey A larger sample from all four
companies and analyze the results
10Results of the Survey
11Survey Participants
12Most Important factors affecting Productivity
Survey Results
Order of Importance
13Project Managers Opinions
Inadequate Communication is most significant
factor for construction productivity
14Superintendents Opinions
Worker Experience and Skills is most significant
factor for construction productivity
15Cluster Analysis
16Measurement/Monitoring Issues some opinions
- Cannot determine a way to measure
- PMs can track dollars schedule extensions but
not the frustrations and discouragement of stop
and go work flow - A web based project management program could
increase productivity and profitability - It would be beneficial to have a means of readily
assessing productivity impact cost as a part of
the cost assessment of changes
17Phase 2 so far
- Identified Two key areas
- Human Issues Motivation, Performance and
communication - Situations that Impact Performance and to find
ways to avoid the non-productive situations - Developed Methods and Concepts to Monitor and
Measure Productivity - Developed a Model to Predict Productivity
considering the real situations
18Progress Monitoring and Interviews
- Contractor A completed
- Contractor B completed
- Contractor C 95 completed
- Contractor D 40 completed.
19Issues Investigated
- Worker Motivation and related issues (Kasun
Hewage, Ph.D. student) - Motivation
- Output
- Worker skills, team sprit
- Communication
- Measured the working time, non-working time, and
output of the workers interviewed
20Issues Investigated
- Interviewed Construction Management Professionals
(Yangbo Zhou, M.Sc.) to identify issues related
to - Motivation
- Performance
- Job Satisfaction
21Issues Investigated
- Situations that impact Productivity and Working
Time (Eldon Choy, M.Sc. and Sushil Peres Da
Silva, M.Sc. student) - Identified the situations
- Measured the working time, non-working time, and
output - Identified the links between situations
- Developed a model to predict the
individual/cumulative impact of situations on
productivity (Eldon) - Working on recommendations (Sushil)
22Worker Motivation and Communication
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24Sample Questions - Interview
25Sample Results (1 to 7 scale)
26Top 5 motives for one company
- The respect you receive from the people you work
with - The chances you have to learn new things
- The tools and equipments you have to do your work
- The supervisors understanding of the quality and
technical details of work you do - The opportunities to develop your skills and
abilities
27Top 5 motives for another company
- The chances you have to learn new things
- The opportunities to develop your skills and
abilities - The job security
- The respect you receive from the people you work
with - The amount of freedom you have in your work
28Graphical View
29Working Time of the Interviewed Workers A
Sample from a Company
30Working Time (Direct Tool Time) A sample
31Sample Comments
- About 80 percent of the interviewed workers in
all construction sites mentioned lack of
communication as a factor that affected their
motivation to work. - Lack of communication refers to inter-group
communication and external communication with
other groups and the managers.
32Sample Comments
- Workers were not aware of company goals and
targets they were told only about daily work
targets when, in fact, they would have liked to
know the overall scope of the site activities and
project. - The interviewer spent a great deal of time
listening to the workers concerns about
communication. When the question What could be
improved in your team? was asked, most of the
time, the workers said lack of communication.
Workers blamed management, believing they
themselves were not responsible for the lack of
productivity that was caused mainly by poor
communication.
33Various Situations that Impact Tool Time
- Identify the triggering situations for
productivity loss - Understand the behavior of situations and their
relationships with productivity - Examine the effectiveness of applying situation
models in modeling construction operations - Provide recommendations for productivity
improvement
34Data Collection
- Direct site observations
- Background (Date, Weather, Area)
- Type of Work (False work, Forming, Columns)
- States of a Worker (Working, Non-working)
- Output
- 21 categories for non-working time for Carpentry
Work 10 categories for Columns
35Observation Categories of Non-Working Time for
Carpenter Crew
36Observation Categories of Non-Working Time for
Carpenter Crew
37Situations
38Breakdown of Work Hours
39Quantification of Situation
Maximum is 88 of the total work hours
40Quantification of Situation
In 80 likelihood, it is 24
41Previous Models
- All the previous models predicted or made a
relationship between a factor (or situation) and
the productivity by ignoring the existence of the
other situations - Temperature vs. Productivity
- Overtime vs. Productivity
- Change Orders vs Productivity
- Is it possible? NO
42New Situation Based Model
- Considers the existence of situations
- You can remove a situation or situations by
allowing the existence of others and check the
impact of the removal of the factor on
productivity - Remove crowded area
- Remove Interruptions and Lack of Materials
43Situations Influence Diagram
1. Change Area
2. Cold Weather
3. Crowded Area
4. Instructions
5. Interruptions
6. Lack of Materials
7. Drawing Changes
8. Precedent of Slab
9. Precedent of Column
10. Saturated Area
11. Snowing
44Conceptual Framework
Output Work Hours
Productivity
Productivity
Productivity
45Conceptual Framework
- Relationship between Situations and Working Time
- Non-Working Time (NWT) ST
- 2. Relationship between Situations and Output
- Working Time (WT)SM Output
- Relationship between Working Time and Output
- Efficiency or Production Rate
- Relationship among Situations
- Strength of Links
46Application of Situation-based Simulation Model
- Scenarios
- All Situations (Benchmark)
- Without Change Area
- Without Crowded Area
- Without Instructions
- Without Interruptions
- Without Saturated Area
47Control Variables of the Scenarios
48Application of Situation-based Simulation Model
49Application of Situation-based Simulation Model
50Findings from Scenarios application
- Mitigation of Change Area and Instructions do
not improve productivity, because of the
counter-effects (Crowded Area and Interruptions) - Mitigation of Crowded Area, Interruptions,
and Saturated Area can improve the
productivity by about 20-25.
51Development and Application of Situation-based
Simulation Model
- Must Eliminate
- Crowded Area
- Interuptions
- Saturated Area
- Must be Allowed
- Change Area
- Instructions
r
52Development and Application of Situation-based
Simulation Model
- Cant Eliminate
- Coldness
- Snowing
- Not Significant
- Drawing Changes
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59Breakdown of output per QuarterForming
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61What Else?
- Similar Data collected for
- Rebar Work on Slabs
- Column Work
62Recommendations We are working on them now
- Common sense solutions
- Minor modifications to on going site operations
- Out of the box
63Sample Comments and Recommendations
- It was noted that 3.8 of the time, carpenters
were required to move to the lower level and
manually move material up to their work area. - This also resulted in an increase in the category
of Idle time and Watching. - This could be rectified by ensuring that the
formwork and false work were moved up to the new
level in advance. - Another option is to have sufficient quantity of
formwork and false work material on site so that
quantities of these materials do not result in
the workers time being underutilized.
64Sample Comments and Recommendations
- When formwork and false work were available
around their work area, it was not collected and
stacked as per size as a result 2.6 of the
carpenters time were used in measuring and
searching for the right size of formwork/false
work to use. - In the future, if the team removing the formwork
and false work could stack the materials as per
size, better productivity will be obtained from
the carpenters.
65Sample Comments and Recommendations
- It was also observed that the survey team which
provided the levels for the formwork and false
work did not keep ahead of the carpenters. - This happened 30 of the time. On one occasion,
the formwork which was built had to be removed
and the false work readjusted and on the second
instance, the slope given by the surveyor was
erroneous. These resulted in rework. - One recommendation would be for the survey team
to start a few hours earlier in the day so that
their work does not delay the progress on site
and vice versa the workers do not hamper their
work.
66Sample Comments and Recommendations
- The location of power tool storage boxes was not
properly selected. - 0.8 of the time, workers had to move away for
their work area and locate the right storage box
in order to find the relevant equipment. - In the future, it would be advisable to seek
advice from the workers about the best place to
locate the power tool storage boxes.
67Developing a Model
- Develop an analytical model for redistributing
time saved based on the recommendations. - This model will offer two scenarios for the
increase in the output as a result. - An optimistic and a pessimistic
68On site Testing of a few recommendations
- Subject to acceptance by the general contractor a
few of the recommendation will be tested to
verify the increase in tool time
69Motivation, Performance and Job Satisfaction of
Construction Management Professionals
70Top 10 Motivation Factors Importance (7 point
scale)
how important each motivation factor is in
motivating them doing their jobs
71Top 10 Motivation Factors Satisfaction (7 point
scale)
how satisfied they are of receiving each
motivation factor while doing their jobs
72What Else?
- Separate analysis based on
- Age
- Experience
- Educational Background
73Analysis
- Analyzing the relationship between the importance
degree and satisfaction degree of each motivation
factor, the researcher identified the motivation
factor, which considerable CMPs perceive that it
is important in motivating them doing their jobs,
but they do not satisfy, and then the researcher
conducted in-depth interviews to investigate the
problems that lie behind the motivation factor.
74Two motivation factors were identified as having
potential problems.
- Senior manager's positive feedback after
successfully accomplishing the task - Bonus the CMPs received
75Senior manager's positive feedback after
successfully accomplishing your task
- Field engineers
- There were several times that my former
supervisors made the work very dissatisfying so
that I quitted my jobs. All I received was
criticism, and when praise was due, I didnt
receive anything. - I am working very hard without any good words
from my boss, but when something goes wrong, even
it is not my fault, he always yells at me.
Yelling and blaming has no effect other than
de-motivating us. - I dont really care about money. If my boss
would just say thank you, if he or she would just
acknowledge that I exist. The only time I hear
anything is when I screw up. I never hear when I
do a good job.
76Five strategies of Recommendations
- Invite employees involvement in setting up
performance or productivity evaluation criteria - Adopt clear and fair performance or productivity
evaluation criteria, which are widely understood
and accepted by employees - Set up a committee to evaluate employees
performance or productivity according to the
criteria - Allocate bonuses, which have a clear and strong
correlation with employees performance or
productivity. - Monitor the outcome at regular intervals to see
if allocating bonuses have achieved the desired
effect.
77Future
- There are several other recommendations to share
with individual companies
78Conclusions
- The Project provided many benefits
- Identified key issues
- Quantified impacts
- Will develop recommendations
- Excellent support from the collaborating
companies - Will issue specific reports to the
collaborating companies - Will issue a generalized report after analyzing
the results of the 4 companies (by Dec. 2005)
79Future
- Win-Win situation for the companies and the
University - Planning to extend the productivity research to
study and analyze more issues in the next 2-5
years - Will create a Productivity task force so that
specific needs could be identified for future
research. - Will maintain QUALITY of research that will be
beneficial to industry. - Will develop an integrated PM framework for the
benefit of the construction contractors.
80Publications 2005
- Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering Special
Issue in Construction (Aug. 05) - Situation Based Model and Case Study
- Motivation, Performance, Satisfaction of CMP.
- American Society of Civil Engineers
Construction Research Congress (San Diego, Apr.
05) - Situation Based Model
- Canadian Society for Civil Engineering Annual
Conference (Toronto, June 05) - Motivation, and Communication of Workers