AS 2021 Volume 28 Issue 1
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Browsing AS 2021 Volume 28 Issue 1 by Subject "Construction industry"
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Item Open Access The effect of poor materials management in the construction industry: a case study of Abuja, Nigera(University of the Free State, 2021) Albert, Idowu; Shakantu, Winston; Ibrahim, SaiduEffective materials management on construction sites is handled carelessly by construction practitioners. This may result in several challenges such as materials waste generation, poor quality of work, project delays, and poor materials flow. Construction practitioners in Abuja, Nigeria, do not understand the consequences of these challenges to construction projects. This article investigates the effect of poor materials management on materials waste, quality of work, and project profitability in construction projects in Nigeria. A qualitative research approach was adopted in the study which included collective case study investigations. The population for the study was ongoing building project sites (ten case studies purposefully selected) in Abuja. The research instrument was direct-covert observation by the researchers to observe and record the construction processes, people’s behaviour, actions and interactions relating to materials management. The construction processes observed included materials usage onsite, loading/offloading of materials from procurement, storages, as well as materials handling and movement on site. Recording sheets with checklists were pre-set with statements (Likert items) and responses to observe and document the effect of poor materials management. The statements were rated on an ordinal three-point Likert scale. The observed/collected data were analysed using descriptive methods to determine the modal values. The findings from the study revealed that poor materials management has a considerable effect on material waste generation on any construction project site; moderate effects on quality of building projects, and both considerable and moderate effects on profitability in the construction projects. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that effective management of materials in construction projects would reduce the amount of waste generation, increase the quality of construction work, and offer optimum profitability to construction contractors. It is, therefore, recommended that the construction industry in Nigeria should collaborate with government agencies to develop guidelines for preparing a waste management plan for the construction industry.Item Open Access Implementation of the value re-engineering concept in the Nigerian construction industry: exploratory study(University of the Free State, 2021) Jibrin, Ibrahim; Shakantu, WinstonValue Re-Engineering (VRE) is considered a critical analysis and radical redesign of existing construction processes to achieve breakthrough improvements in performance measures. The dissatisfaction of customers’ value offered by the Nigerian Construction Industry (NCI) necessitated a rethink of a new approach to the customers’ need. Hence, this article aims to explore the implementation of VRE in the NCI as a possible solution for the industry to resolve the challenges of customers’ dissatisfaction. A qualitative research approach was used to identify incremental adoption for the implementation of VRE in the NCI. Qualitative data was collected, using a structured tick-box questionnaire interview schedule with 34 key stakeholders in the NCI, including seven directors, nine project managers, nine quantity surveyors, and nine engineers. The tick-box interview schedule explored the level of importance of the activities of the implementation process in the eight phases (steps) for VRE take-off in the NCI. Using QSR Nvivo 12 (a qualitative content analysis tool), the tick-box data was given a numerical score, on a 5-point Likert scale, so that the data could be rated and reported quantitatively. This included frequencies and percentages. The exploratory research findings indicate that there is a significant need for the process to be re-engineered and for establishing a VRE organisational structure critical to achieving the successful implementation and adoption of VRE. Other most important activities for the successful implementation of VRE include evaluating the impact of new technologies; monitoring employee attitudes, customer perceptions, and supplier responsiveness, as well as identifying disconnects (anything that prevents the process from achieving the desired results and, in particular, information transfer between organisations or people). Identifying the customers’ needs by the NCI helps create the market value of the product being produced by the industry players. On the other hand, this improves the global competitive market for the industry by adopting the radical redesign process for the industry.Item Open Access Utilisation of order processing technology for logistics process improvement in the Nigerian construction industry(University of the Free State, 2021) Isah, Yahaya; Shakantu, Winston; Ibrahim, SaiduThe logistic technologies for effective and efficient ‘order processing operations’ in the areas of tracking, shipping, replenishment, dispatching and holding of inventory are deficient in the Nigerian construction industry, when compared to manufacturing and retailing sectors. This is confirmed to have a significant effect on the performance of the construction sector. This article assessed how order processing technology utilised by manufacturing and retail industries could improve the order processing logistics operations of the construction industry. Lagos State and the F.C.T. Abuja, Nigeria, were the selected geographical study areas, from which five manufacturing companies, five retailing companies and five construction projects were purposively selected. Mixed methods research strategy was used. The research instruments included an observation guide (quantitative) and semi-structured interviews (qualitative). The collected quantitative data was analysed, using descriptive analytical tools: frequencies and percentiles. The qualitative data was analysed, using the thematic method. The result revealed that 80% and 100% of the manufacturing and retailing industries, respectively, observed, adopted barcoding technology for order processing purposes. Only 40% of the observed construction project adopted barcoding technology for order processing in the following: 2.4% for receiving process; 0.9% for put-away process; 0.9% for shipping process (stock control); 1.2% for dispatching process; 0.6% for replenishment process, and 1.2% for tracking inventory (stock tracking). In addition, 100% and 80% of the manufacturing and retailing industries, respectively, observed, adopted Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for order processing purposes. Only 40% of the observed construction projects adopted RFID technology for order processing. It was also revealed that utilisation of the order processing technology could have the following benefits: managerial control in the construction industry; shorter processing time; easy way of tracking materials on site, and increased speed of work in the construction industries. The research concludes that effective utilisation of order processing technology in the logistics system could lead to full efficiency gains in the order processing aspect of the construction industry. It is recommended that the Federal Government of Nigeria should mandate all major construction project stakeholders to attend workshops on the use of recent technologies in the management of construction operations.