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Relevance of computer to construction industry
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This report aims to shed light on the use of Information Systems in the Construction Industry in regards to what it adds to a given company’s “value chain” and its relationships to organisational strategy and competitive advantage.
The construction industry is one the biggest sectors in the UK economy, and the world, contributing about 10% to the UK’s GDP and continuous to grow despite the recent economic downturn. The global construction market is facing changes as various businesses are still reacting to 2008 economic crisis. The Sector itself is moving towards a period that is becoming more dominated by the digital age and centring itself more so on sustainability and greener technologies. The construction sector’s response to these changes is mirrored in strategies that various construction companies choose to employ in order to take advantage the opportunities available and will be a key factor in them remaining competitive and overall survival. (1)
The use of information systems is therefore becoming a crucial part of construction industry’s growth whereby “To improve the competitiveness of the industry through increased efficiency, communication and productivity, a strategic use of IT is suggested in delivering projects (Zhen et al., 2005). (2) The industry is very complex whereby its nature is project based with a prolonged sequence that involves planning and design, procurement, contractor selection, project management, operation and maintenance. Due the sector’s complexity it has been somewhat challenging to implement this. It is clear that construction companies today are embracing the concept of integrating IT and project-management tools in their programs. (1) These programs can be beneficial for these companies, a...
... middle of paper ...
... if they continue to invest their resources into new Information Systems like they are currently.
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I got a wonderful opportunity to work for one of the best construction companies, which is Hathaway Dinwiddie. Hathaway Dinwiddie has been in construction industry for over 100 years. Back then they started as Dinwiddie construction and been a part of a lot of historic buildings in California. Hathaway Dinwiddie has an expertise in Building information modeling (BIM), Partnered delivery and lean construction, Design-Build, Quality Control, Best Value exploration, Sustainability and safety. Hathaway Dinwiddie has a history of using BIM back in 1998 and now they are using it at every stage of their projects. They use BIM to summarize quantity surveys, develop preliminary construction strategies and maintain coordination between their team and their partners. Hathaway Dinwiddie provides services like General Construction, Preconstruction, Design Build, Construction Management and Interior and special projects. Hathaway also believes in being one step ahead of its competitor and has been investing in the research and development field also.
Construction industry is one of the significant industries in Canada. The low interest rates in Canada fuelled the demand of housing, which brings the Canadian construction industry with a CAGR of 2% between 2008 and 2012 (Companies and Markets, 2013). The fact is that building construction has a considerable effect on the environment. It is a major consumer of raw materials, land and energy, as well as generates a mass of Greenhouse gas and other pollution (USA EPA, 2008). According to the data from Statistics Canada (2012), the construction sector produced 2.1% of total Canadian industrial sector’s GHG emissions in 2008. The purpose of this project is to convince the construction companies in Waterloo region to adapt feasible best practices for GHG emission reduction during construction process. Therefore, guidance for GHG emissions calculation and best practices should be determined firstly.
The paper presents a detailed discussion on implementation of BIM in a construction project by defining a BIM team in the various phases of construction i.e. from conception to commissioning. Also, the paper presents a brief discussion on processing the information utilizing the i-rooms.
In today’s uncertain economical business environment there is an understandable pressure to improve the quality of decision making at all stages of the project. A number of techniques have been developed to address this concern, two of the leading approaches used in the construction industry are Earned Value Management and Risk Management (Hillson, 2004), those two approaches share a common aim of providing decision makers with the best information available when setting objectives and considering management strategies. However, they take differing approaches, Earned Value Management establishes project performance status and extrapolates that information to gain an understanding of future trends and the allocation of resources needed to successfully
A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product or service. They are goal oriented, have a definite start and finish time, must be done within cost, schedule and quality parameters. Projects involve the coordinated undertaking of interrelated activities (Project Management: Achieving Competitive Advantage). According to Tom Peters, “Projects, rather than repetitive tasks, are now the basis for most value-added in business”. Based on this, it is clear that projects are of utmost importance to businesses in both the service and the manufacturing industries.
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Risk management is a process used in all industries to reduce the risk. The Risk management tool usage changes from sector to sector and hence each sector has developed their own risk management tools and methodologies to mitigate the risk. But the concept remains the same behind all the tools (Ropel, 2011). The main steps for risk management irrespective of the sector are:
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This paper explores what it takes to be a construction manager and the responsibilities of being a construction manager and the skills that a construction manager should have. It also explores what good construction managers do to have success on their construction projects and the steps that a construction manager must follow to end a project and meet their deadlines at the same
Laudon, K., & Laudon, J. (2013) Essentials of management information systems. (10th ed., p. 138). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
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