We will cover the following specific topics in class. Use this list to choose your individual special topic presentation. You may pair with another student for topics extending for more than one session.

Traditional Productivity Analysis Techniques

We will examine some of the most popular traditional techniques to analyze and hopefully improve a project’s productivity. Since we are beginning the semester with this topic, it won’t be a special topic presentation, and I don’t need to expand this description too much.

Reading: Sprinkle, H. (1979). "Analysis of time-lapse construction films." In Readings in Cost Engineering, Vol 1. New York, NY: American Society of Civil Engineers. 371-87. (don’t be fooled by its title – this article is almost entirely devoted to a discussion of conventional techniques).

An excellent source for this topic is Oglesby, Parker and Howell (1989). Productivity Improvement in Construction. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Related topics/keywords: safety, quality.

Video Timelapsing for Productivity Analysis

For decades, the construction industry has relied on timelapsing to gather productivity data. However, the 8-mm film cameras and projectors traditionally used to record the timelapse movie are mostly museum artifacts. Timelapsing has declined during the past decade, and so have the formal analysis of construction operation. I have been involved with cutting-edge techniques that overcome the constrains for timelapsing implementation, and will discuss my experiences in this area.

Reading: Senior, B. A. and Swanberg-Mee, A. (1997) "Activity analysis using computer-processed time lapse video." Proceedings, ASCE Construction Congress V, Minneapolis, MN. 462-9.

An excellent reference for timelapse in construction is Burkhart, A. (1984) "Improving formwork efficiency using timelapse photography." World of Concrete ’84, Concrete Construction Publications, Inc. 1-27.

Related topics/keywords: productivity improvement, video processing.

Short Interval Production Schedule (SIPS)

SIPS breaks down an operation into its most basic parts. The productivity of each of these basic components is analyzed and agreed upon, and then the overall plan is evaluated with these production rates. It emphasizes bottom-up consensus. This technique was developed by Alvin Burkhart at Hensel-Phelps, and has been used for more than two decades. Mr. Burkhart is recognized as a worldwide expert in productivity, and has agreed to be our guest speaker. He also has extensive experience with timelapse photography, and can provide the best possible insight into this area.

Reading: Burkhart, A. (1986). "The use of SIPS as a productivity improvement tool." World of Concrete ’86, Concrete Construction Publications, Inc. 21-35.

Related topics/keywords: productivity improvement, budgeting, scheduling.

Just-In-Time (JIT) and Lean Production Principles and Techniques

During the past decade, industrial productivity has increased significantly in the U.S., partly due to the introduction of new management techniques that can be called generically "just-in-time" or "lean production." To give you an idea, one process that took three days to perform now takes 17 minutes at one manufacturing plant. The construction industry has chosen to stay out of this revolution, but until when? We will spend two sessions discussing the history and principles of these techniques, and their applicability to construction.

Reading: Dear, A. (1988). Chapters 1 and 2 of Working Towards Just-In-Time. New York, NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

Related topics/keywords: productivity improvement, lean construction.

The Lean Construction Movement

A growing number of scholars and (more recently) progressive construction firms are taking a hard look at what why the construction industry’s productivity remains stagnated, specially compared to other industries during the past decade, and what to do about it. They have chosen the name of "lean construction" to describe their movement, which parallels the "lean production" principles. I have been involved with this movement, and can attest that already some of their applications have resulted in saving millions of dollars and months of work in large projects. We will discuss their findings, recommendations and techniques so far.

Reading: Ballard, G. and Howell, G. (1995). "Towards construction JIT." Proceeding of the 3^rd Annual Conference, International Group for Lean Construction, Albuquerque, NM. 13-24.

A must-read for anyone further interested in this topic is Koskela, L. (1992). "Application of the new production theory to construction." Technical report #72, CIFE, Stanford University. I am not assigning it because it is a little long and Lauri Koskela has a dense writing style.

Related topics/keywords: productivity improvement, JIT, lean production.

Transaction Cost Economics

I got this excellent lead into TCE by Edwin B. Dean at http://akao.larc.nasa.gov/dfc/tce.html. "When we transact with others, we often assume that the other parties are out to win something from the transaction at our expense. We then begin to build defense mechanisms to protect our interests, and maybe even build offense mechanisms which will allow us to win at their expense. This creates a positive feedback which leads to further activities for both defense and offense by both parties. The net result is a complex of activities which do nothing but protect self-interest. And these activities consume resources and hence generate cost." TCE explains these defense and offense mechanisms, which affect very directly a firm’s contractual strategy and financial policy.

Reading: Williamson, O. E. (1986). "Transaction-cost economics: the governance of contractual relations." In Economic Organization, O. Williamson, ed. NY: New York University Press.

Related topics/keywords: partnering, design-build, bid pricing.

Theory of Constrains (TOC)

Imagine managing an infrastructure project where you plan to move 2,000 cy of dirt per shift. Would it make sense to rent equipment to compact 10,000 cy of dirt per shift? However illogical, this mentality is very common in construction. In this case, the production rate for the dirt moving operation would limit the output of the system, or throughput. It would be its constrain. TOC has evolved from a planning method in manufacturing to a comprehensive methodology for problem solving. We will devote two sessions (plus an special activity) to TOC, one of them with Prof. Russ Johnson as guest speaker. Prof. Johnson is a successful practitioner of TOC, and will bring a wealth of experience into the discussion.

Reading: I will let Prof. Johnson assign the readings for this topic. However, we will discuss at least two books on this topic, both by E. Goldratt: The Goal (1986) and Critical Chain (1997). Both are published by The North River Press, Great Barrington, MA 21-35.

Related topics/keywords: self-improvement, bottlenecks, JIT.

Conventional Cost Control

We will review the topics of MC 464 concerning cost control, and add a few more considerations. This involves revisiting labor, material and equipment reporting and control. Notice that I am leaving this topic for the last part of the semester. This is because our discussion of new management techniques in the previous weeks should provide a new and interesting perspective of these traditional techniques.

Reading: Chapter 3 of Ahuja, H. (1980) Successful Construction Cost Control. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons.

Another good reading for this subject is chapter 12 of Clough, R. and Sears, G. (1994). Construction Contracting, 6^th ed. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons.

Related topics/keywords: report design, extrapolation, warehouse control.

Cost Control for Infrastructure Projects

Building construction brings together many subcontractors, and consists of thousands of different physical parts put together. Infrastructure projects are the opposite. The general contractor performs the majority of the work with in-house resources. There are relatively few categories of materials, each in formidable amounts. A 20% productivity improvement for any particular task is good, but not crucial, for a building GC. A 20% improvement in a dirt moving operation would affect the GC’s bottom line in a big way. We will have a guest speaker from an infrastructure GC to tell us about his or her cost control strategies.

Reading: I will allow the guest speaker to recommend the reading. In general, infrastructure cost control emphasizes equipment control, so I would recommend any book on the topic, such as Chapters 13 and following in D. Halpin's Financial & Cost Concepts for Construction Management (New York, NY: J. Wiley and Sons, 1985)