TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of the supply chain in the elimination and reduction of construction rework and defects
T2 - an action research approach
AU - Taggart, Martin
AU - Koskela, Lauri
AU - Rooke, John
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Since 2007, Ireland has suffered a circa 80% reduction in construction output. This has resulted in bankruptcy, unemployment and bad debt. Contractors have attached greater emphasis to production efficiency and cost reduction as a means of survival. An action research (AR) strategy was used to improve processes adopted by a small/medium enterprise (SME) contractor for the control of defects in its supply chain. It is conservatively estimated that rework, typically, accounts for circa 5% of total project costs. Rework is wasteful and presents an obvious target for improvement. The research reported here concerns the (first) diagnosing stage of the AR cycle only, involving: observation of fieldwork, analysis of contract documents, and semi-structured interviews with supply chain members. The results indicate potential for supply chain participants to identify root causes of defects and propose solutions, having regard to best practice to avoid reoccurrence. A lack of collaborative forums to contribute to production improvement was identified. Additionally the processes used to collect, manage and disseminate data were unstructured and uncoordinated, indicating scope for developing more efficient methods. The findings indicate a good understanding of the potential benefits for supply chain collaboration but suggest that the tools and knowledge to collaborate are currently lacking in the SME sector.
AB - Since 2007, Ireland has suffered a circa 80% reduction in construction output. This has resulted in bankruptcy, unemployment and bad debt. Contractors have attached greater emphasis to production efficiency and cost reduction as a means of survival. An action research (AR) strategy was used to improve processes adopted by a small/medium enterprise (SME) contractor for the control of defects in its supply chain. It is conservatively estimated that rework, typically, accounts for circa 5% of total project costs. Rework is wasteful and presents an obvious target for improvement. The research reported here concerns the (first) diagnosing stage of the AR cycle only, involving: observation of fieldwork, analysis of contract documents, and semi-structured interviews with supply chain members. The results indicate potential for supply chain participants to identify root causes of defects and propose solutions, having regard to best practice to avoid reoccurrence. A lack of collaborative forums to contribute to production improvement was identified. Additionally the processes used to collect, manage and disseminate data were unstructured and uncoordinated, indicating scope for developing more efficient methods. The findings indicate a good understanding of the potential benefits for supply chain collaboration but suggest that the tools and knowledge to collaborate are currently lacking in the SME sector.
KW - Action research
KW - defects
KW - rework
KW - snagging
KW - supply chain collaboration
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84905103248&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/01446193.2014.904965
DO - 10.1080/01446193.2014.904965
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84905103248
SN - 0144-6193
VL - 32
SP - 829
EP - 842
JO - Construction Management and Economics
JF - Construction Management and Economics
IS - 7-8
ER -