Methodology for Benchmarking of Automation in Construction Industry

Transcription

1 Methodology for Benchmarking of Automation in Construction Industry Shinde N. G. Government College of Engineering, Karad Dr. Hedaoo M. N. Government College of Engineering, Karad ABSTRACT: This paper gives a detailed information about benchmarking, types, automation, methodology, survey, analysis for benchmarking of automation. For benchmarking of automation in construction companies, 5 or more companies will be preferred for the analysis. The higher preference will be given to the reputed company as the benchmark baseline and the other companies will be benchmarked from that one company. This study is for further research work in automation. This will help in increasing the productivity of automation in the construction sector. This study comprises the analysis part in arranging the sequence of the project and will help in benchmarking automation in construction companies. Keywords: Benchmarking, Automation, Cumulative Productivity, Baseline Productivity, Performance Ratio, Coefficient of Variation, etc INTRODUCTION There is a critical need for manages to increase company's productivity and performance. This can be helped by automation of construction industry. Construction industry is rapidly and continuously grasping new technologies and is dependent on computer technology and equipments as well. Slowly it is mechanised and computerised. Robotics in construction industry is now increasing in the field of execution. Due to robotics it is easier to gain need based feasibility, technological feasibility, and economical feasibility to evaluate benefits there by inviting future robotization for Indian construction sector [1] (V. S. S. Kumar, 2008). Automation enhances worker safety, productivity, efficiency and quality. It can be used in production, performance in dangerous environment, maintenance and operation. There is need for further innovations to address the upcoming demands in the construction industry. Benchmarking automation in the construction industry will help in increasing the productivity of the companies. It is relatively new concept that captured the interest of many business and gain popularity among the executives and the managers [2] (N. M. Lema, 1995). More and more companies are adapting automation, but for specific types of constructions as automation needs high investment value. Many contractors in India use labour force as India has a higher amount of manpower. Automation is emerging field in India, as most of contractors often use labour force to decrease their investment value. Benchmarking automation in construction sector will help the companies to grow and compare their skills and automation process and the areas where they lack with respect to the other competitive companies. It will enhance them to get high productivity output, high labour safety, accuracy and quality. Benchmarking automation in construction industry will make an efficient move in making high level of labour safety and performance of the companies. BENCHMARKING A benchmark is the term used in land surveying which, in the Concise Oxford Dictionary, is defined as a "mark cut in rock etc. by surveyor to mark point in line of levels making a criterion or point of reference." Allan et al. (1968) defines benchmark as a "point of known height to which surveys are referred." Benchmarking has also been used in the computer industry to mean a standard process for measuring the performance capabilities of software and hardware systems from various vendors (Watson 1993). Benchmarking, as used in land surveying, aims at establishing a rigid standard, unlike in business, where it is to be under continuous change to reflect responsiveness to competition.(n. M. Lema, 1995) 1225 Shinde N. G., Dr. Hedaoo M. N.

2 The definitions of benchmarking have mainly came from the process of manufacturing. Depending upon the scope and applications, the definition of benchmarking is changed. Camp (1989) ga ve a definition: "Benchmarking is the search for industry best practices that lead to superior performance." In this definition, the author explainsa much nicely portrayed view of benchmarking. The focus is on adopting the best practices or methods to achieve superior performance. There is no emphasis on searching for best practices from direct product competitors, nor is there an inherent implication of where the search for best practice should concentrate. The definition implies that the best practices are to be pursued regardless of where they exist. A more refined definition (Planning, 1992) is Benchmarking is a systematic and continuous measurement process; a process of continuously measuring and comparing an organisation's business process against business leaders anywhere in the world to gain information which will help the organisation to take action to improve its performance. This definition, developed by the International Benchmarking Clearing House (IBe) Design Committee (in the United States) TYPES OF BENCHMARKING Types of Benchmarking Literature does not suggest consensus on the types of benchmarking. A number of authors seem to agree on four different types. Classifications have been based mainly on approaches to benchmarking as follows (Camp 1989, Zairi 1992; Watson 1993): Internal benchmarking is performed within one organization by comparing the performance of similar business units or business processes. Competitive benchmarking is a measure of an organization's performance compared with competing organizations; studies that target specific product designs, process capabilities, or administrative methods used by a company's direct competitors; and practices or services compared with direct competitors. Functional benchmarking is an application of process benchmarking that compares a particular business function in two or more organizations. Generic benchmarking is an application of functional benchmarking that compares a particular business function in two or more organizations. AUTOMATION Automation is the technique, method, or system of operating or controlling a process by highly automatic means, as by electronic devices, use of control systems and information technologies, reducing human intervention to a minimum. Automation can be defined as appropriate use of machines, electronic devices and computer software for the construction work to increase the productivity of construction project, reduces the duration and laborious work, and increases the construction safety. Construction automation has been described as the use of mechanical and electronic means in construction to achieve automatic operation or control to reduce potential exposure, time or effort while maintaining or improving quality. ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES The advantages of automation: Because of automation, there is higher safety for both worker and public through developing and deploying machines for dangerous jobs, uniform quality with higher accuracy than that provided by skilled worker. Improving work environment as conventional manual work is reduced to minimum, so the workers are relieved from uncomfortable work positions. Eliminating complains about noise and dust concerning works such as removal, cleaning or preparation of surfaces. Automation helps in increasing productivity and work efficiency with reduced costs Shinde N. G., Dr. Hedaoo M. N.

3 Disadvantages of automation: The main disadvantage is unemployment at the cost of modernization, leads to drain from the country. It requires a high capital cost for setting up and maintenance and skilled and expert handlers or workers are required due to the need of high technical knowledge to operate the machines. Untrained workers cannot be employed which increase the initial cost of project. Trained labours are not available easily and trained labors charges higher than untrained labors IV. STATE OF THE ART IN CONSTRUCTION AUTOMATION (D. Joshi, R. Shah, 2015) The main research activities of the RAC in the past decade were divided accordingly to applications into two large groups: civil infrastructure and house building. Typical civil infrastructure robot applications are the automation of road, tunnel and bridge construction, earthwork, etc. In the group of house construction, main applications include building skeleton erection and assembly, concrete compaction, interior finishing, etc. Classification according to applications is consistent with other possible classifications, which divide RAC R&D activities according to the development of new equipment and processes or the adaptation of existing machinery to transform them into robotic system. Automation is classified into various categories but it classify into two categories they are: A. Automation at site level The challenges of developing robots for construction jobsite are much greater than those of most factories. First the products of construction are much more complex and ill structured. Second, in contrast to the repetitive products that flow down production lines, the designs of the construction product and the process to build it are individually adapted in each case. While the manufacturing process is highly repetitive once production starts, that in construction is always changing. The physical environment of construction is often much more hostile to machines as well as people, so machine design must be stirdy and robust accounting for extremes of weather, dust and unexpected forces Given the difficult and complex environment of construction, it is remarkable that robots and automated machines are already performing routine tasks on some jobsites. The first construction robots have either been derived by adding sensors and computer- based controls to existing construction equipment (e.g., to control the cutting edges or screeds on various types of earthmoving and paving equipment, robotic tower crane etc.), by adapting the comparatively rigid factorytype robots to construction (e. g., for spraying fireproofing material or painting), or by developing hybrids of the two ( e. g., robot arms mounted on tunnel machines) W hile the sophistication of their mechanisms and sensors has often been quite high, these robots have had only the most basic forms of on board "intelligence." B. Automation at industrial level The development in the field of construction is being predominantly characterized by increasing shortage of skilled labour. This shortage will have to be compensated for by an increase in the level of prefabrication to be achieved in the manufacture of pre-cast concrete, wooden, steel frame and brick wall building elements. As an example I describe here the increasing market demand for pre-cast concrete roof, ceiling elements and pre-cast concrete wall elements to pre-cast concrete columns and beams as well as advanced precut systems for wooden elements, steel element factories and automated brick wall facilities and on site systems of robotics and automation. Another substantial advantage in favor of the pre-cast concrete elements consists in the job efficiency of the workforce. As the building site personnel is to a far lesser extent concerned with somewhat more complicated tasks, such as, for example, moulding, insertion of reinforcement steel, etc. than is normally the case with regular construction workers, job efficiency at the plant level reaches an optimum that cannot possibly be arrived at on a building site. Costs of transportation are approximately the same both for the prefabricated elements and for corresponding quantities of site mixed concrete QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY: A questionnaire survey will be set up in order to get all the information from the company. In this survey will be conducted for 5 or more construction industries in pune and more areas. Higher Preference will be given to reputed company in order to set a base line for benchmarking automation for other companies Shinde N. G., Dr. Hedaoo M. N.

4 Questionnaire survey will consist of the variable factors considering time and cost. This will include following questions and more. 1. Do the company use automation in execution and administration process 2. What are the types of automation used in the company? 3. What are the advantages regarding time due to automation used? 4. Does the company use business office automation? 5. What are the software used in planning the project. 6. Do you use multiple software for planning and management of the project. 7. What are the software used in designing of the project elements? 8. Do all software operated by the experts? 9. What average time is required for planning of 10 storey building? 10. What time is required for designing of the building? 11. What automation is used in execution of the project? 12. What automation is used in following activities a) Site clearing (of brush and minor debris), b) Removal of trees, c) General excavation, d) Grading general area, e) Excavation for utility trenches, f) Placing formwork and reinforcement for concrete, g) Installing sewer lines, h) Installing other utilities, i) Pouring concrete. j) Footing k) Plinth beam l) Wall construction m) Sheet centering for beams n) Bar bending work for beams o) Slab construction 13. Do it really affect time and cost. 14. Does the productivity increase due to automation? 15. What is the quality of the construction in your company? 16. Does it increase due to automation? 17. How many labors are used for operating those equipments and software. 18. Are all labor trained in your company. 19. How automation affected your company profit. Above questionnaire and many more will be preferred during questionnaire survey with time sheet study as well for accurate results as well. CUMULATIVE PRODUCTIVITY According to M. Shehata, Cumulative productivity is a compilation of all of the work hours charged to an activity divided by the total quantities installed to date. It is calculated using the following equation: Cumulative productivity = Total work hours charged to a task Total quantity installed The primary use of cumulative productivity calculations is to assess how the work is progressing as a whole and to predict the final productivity rate upon completion of the activity 1228 Shinde N. G., Dr. Hedaoo M. N.

5 PERFORMANCE RATIO (PR) It is the actual cumulative productivity divided by the expected baseline productivity (average values of baselines of all projects) PR = Cumulative productivity Expected baseline productivity BASELINE PRODUCTIVITY (M. Shehata, 1995) The best productivity occurs when there are few or no disruptions. This best productivity is called the baseline productivity. The baseline productivity is calculated by applying the following steps to the daily productivity values: (a) Determine the number of workdays that comprise 10% of the total workdays. (b) Round this number to the next highest odd number; this number should not be less than 5. This number, n, defines the size of (number of days in) the baseline subset. (c) The contents of the baseline subset are the n workdays that have the highest daily production or output. (d) For these days, note the daily productivity. (e) The baseline productivity is the median of the daily productivity values in the baseline subset. COEFFECIENT OF VARIATION The variability in daily productivity for each project can be calculated by using the following equation: (URij baseline productivity)2 Variation Vj = n Where URij = the daily productivity (unit rate) for workday I on project j, and n =the number of workdays on project j. The variation Vj for different projects cannot be compared directly unless the baseline productivity values are the same. Therefore, the coefficient of variation is calculate Vj 100 Coefficient of variation CVj = (Baseline productivity)j Where CVj =coefficient of variation for project j. CONCLUSION This paper explains the methodology for benchmarking of automation in the construction industry. The methodology which project concludes is for competitive benchmarking of automation with the help of questionnaire and analysis of the data. The results which come from the methodology will be in a report format for the industry, which will help them to increase their productivity, lessened production time and high quality. REFERENCES [1] V. S. S. Kumar, I. Prasanthi,, et. al., Robotics and Automation in Construction Industry, AEI 2008: Building Integration Solutions, [2] N. M. Lema and A. D. F. Price, Benchmarking: performance improvement toward competitive advantage, Journal of Management in Engineering, 11(1), January/February, 1995, pp [3] D. Joshi, R. Shah, Automation in construction industry, Indian Journal of Advance Research in Engineering, Science and Management, 2(3), December 2015, pp Shinde N. G., Dr. Hedaoo M. N.

6 1230 Shinde N. G., Dr. Hedaoo M. N. International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research [4] D. Fisher, Susan Miertschin and D. R. Pollock Jr, ''Benchmarking in construction industry'', Journal of Management in Engineering, 11(1), January/February,1995,pp [5] S. Mohamed, Scorecard Approach to Benchmarking Organizational Safety Culture in Construction" Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 129(1), February 1, 2003, pp [6] D. P. Fang, X. Y. Huang and Jimmie Hinze,''Benchmarking Studies on Construction Safety Management in China.'' Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 130(3), June 1, 2004, pp [7] E. D. Love Peter, Industry-centric Brnchmarking of Information Technology benefits, costs and risks for small-tomedium sized enterprises in construction,13, 2004, pp [8] H. Park, S. R. Thomas and R. L. Tucker, "Benchmarking of Construction Productivity'', Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 131(7), July 1, pp [9] M. E. Shehata, K. M. El-Gohary, "Towards improving construction labour productivity and projects performance", Alexandria Engineering Journal, vol.50, 2005, pp [10] D. Jing, Rui Liu, and R. R. A. Issa F., "BIM Cloud Score: Benchmarking BIM Performance", Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 140(11), 2014, pp (1-13). [11] S. E. Mohammad, E. R. Minchin Jr and W. J. O Brien, "Management of Construction Firm Performance Using Benchmarking", Journal of Management in Engineering, 23(1), January 1, 2007, pp [12] T. Ercan and A. Koksal, "Competitive Strategic Performance Benchmarking (CSPB) Model for International Construction Companies" KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, 20(5), 2014, pp [13] S. Lee, S. R. Thomas and R. L. Tucker, "Web-Based Benchmarking System for the Construction Industry" Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 131(7), July 1, 2005, pp [14] F. Y. Yeung John, P. C. Chan Albert, W. M. Chan Daniel, Y. H. Chiang and H. Yang, "Developing a Benchmarking Model for Construction Projects in Hong Kong", Journal of Construction Engineering and Management,139(6), June 1, 2013.pp [15] R. R. Ramirez, C. L. Fernando Alarcon and P. Knights, Benchmarking Management Practices in the Construction Industry, [16] R. A. Belle, Benchmarking and Enhancing Best Practices in the Engineering and Construction Sector, Journal Of Management In Engineering, 16(1), 2000, pp [17] D. B. Costa, T. F. Carlos, et. al., Benchmarking Initiatives in the Construction Industry: Lessons Learned and Improvement Opportunities, Journal of Management in Engineering, 22(4), 2006, pp [18] T. Akanbi, J. Zhang, Automated Wood Construction Cost Estimation, ASCE International Workshop on Computing in Civil Engineering 2017, pp [19] B. Josie, V. Didier, et. al., Automating the Administration Process in Highway Construction Projects, Construction Research Congress 2016, pp [20] D. Lee and J. Jonathan, Construction Business Automation System, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 132(1), 2006, pp [21] S. Dadhich, U. Bodin, et. al., Key challenges in automation of earth-moving machines, Automation in Construction, 68, 2016, pp [22] A. E. Mohammed, Automation Of Quantity Surveying In Construction Projects, Journal of Architectural Engineering, ASCE, ISSN , Vol. 5 (4), December, 1999 PP [23] H. Nasir, T. H. Carl, " An Implementation Model For Automated Construction Materials Tracking And Locating", NRC Research Press Can. J. Civ. Eng., 37, 2010, pp [24] H. R. Thomas, ''Benchmarking Construction Labour Productivity'', Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction, 20(4), 2015, pp (1-10) [25] H. Park, ''Conceptual Framework of Construction Productivity Estimation'', KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, 10(5), September 2006, pp [26] H. A. E. M. Ali, I. A. Al-Sulaihi, K. S. Al-Gahtani, "Indicators for measuring performance of building construction companies in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia", Journal of King Saud University Engineering Sciences, Vol. 25, 2013,pp [27] P. Pauwels, T. Mendes de Farias, C. Zhang et al.," A performance benchmark over semantic rule checking approaches in construction industry", Advanced Engineering Informatics, Vol. 33, 2017, pp [28] C. B. Paulson, Automation and Robotics for Construction Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, Ill (3), 1985, pp [29] E. Mohammad, J. O. William, et. al., Firm Performance and Information Technology Utilization in the Construction Industry, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 132(5), 2006, pp [30] Y. Kang, J. O. William, et. al., Impact of Information Technologies on Performance: Cross Study Comparison, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 134(11), 2008, pp

7 [31] Z. Dong, M. G. Paul, et. al., Relationship between Automation and Integration of Construction Information Systems and Labor Productivity, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 135(8), 2009, pp [32] J. G. Everett, A. H. Slocumy, Automation And Robotics Opportunities: Construction Versus Manufacturing, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 120(2), 1994, pp [33] C. B. Tatum, A. T. Funke," Partially Automated Grading: Construction Process Innovation ", Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 114(1), 1988, pp [34] J. S. Mirosław, Information Technology Applications in Construction Safety Assurance ", Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, 20(6), 2014, pp [35] T. C. James and Y. Li-Ren, Impact of Integration and Automation Technology on Project Success Measures", Towards a Vision for Information Technology in Civil Engineering Shinde N. G., Dr. Hedaoo M. N.