scholarly journals Development of an Offsite Construction Typology: A Delphi Study

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Buddhini Ginigaddara ◽  
Srinath Perera ◽  
Yingbin Feng ◽  
Payam Rahnamayiezekavat

Offsite construction (OSC) delivers multiple products that vary in design and building complexity. Considering the growing prevalence of OSC, a systematic categorization of OSC types can offer operational and macroeconomic benefits to the construction industry. The purpose of this study is to develop an OSC typology through a systematic process, as existing studies do not present a rigorously evaluated typology that suits the modern OSC context. The research addresses the following research question: what are the distinct characteristics of unique OSC types that have emerged through the adoption of Industry 4.0-based technological advancements? Due to the rapid advancement of production and construction technologies, the existing OSC classifications are becoming outdated. As such, a detailed review of OSC technologies was conducted which enabled the identification of OSC categories: components, panels, pods, modules, complete buildings, and flat-pack (foldable structure). A series of case studies was then reviewed to explore and analyze the relevance of these OSC types in practice. It was then subjected to a Delphi-based multi-level expert forum to develop a modern and future-proof OSC typology. The rigorous process validated, defined, and delineated the boundaries between the OSC types. The research confirmed that OSC types can be broadly categorized as volumetric (pods, modules, complete buildings) and non-volumetric (components, panels, foldable structure). The results indicated that OSC skills vary with the complexity of OSC types, and that lightweight steel and timber are the most common materials.

Author(s):  
Marco Valeri ◽  
Leslie Fadlon

Obiettivo del paper è verificare se il rapporto tra la destinazione turistica e le imprese turistiche, che di essa fanno parte, può essere definito di natura co-evolutiva.Il paper è il frutto della prosecuzione di precedenti nostre ricerche sul tema del destination management e destination governance. La research question su cui si fonda l'impianto teorico del paper è: nello scenario turistico nazionale esistono modelli di ospitalità turistica concepiti come esempi di co-evoluzione tra la destinazione turistica ed il territorio? In un contesto turistico, divenuto da tempo complesso, le imprese si trovano a relazionarsi sempre più con turisti, sia italiani sia stranieri, attenti alla qualità del proprio tempo libero da dedicare all'esperienza turistica ed a riscoprire le autenticità del territorio che visitano. La necessità disoddisfare le esigenze più disparate ha favorito l'affermazione e lo sviluppo di particolariformule imprenditoriali turistiche sostenibili e coerenti con le evoluzioni delle esigenze dei turisti. A tal proposito, per intercettare e governare le dinamiche emergenti nel settore turistico, è necessario partire da una analisi delle problematiche di governance e di management della destinazione e dell'impresa turistica. Nel paper la prospettiva di analisi che risulta essere più appropriata per qualificare meglio la natura del rapporto tra la destinazione turistica e le imprese turistiche è la prospettiva co-evolutiva. Secondo tale prospettiva le imprese turistiche co-evolvono con le destinazioni turistiche nella ricerca di vantaggi competitivi duraturi nel tempo: le imprese turistiche sono considerate risorse critiche per lo sviluppo del territorio e viceversa. Il processo di co-evoluzione presuppone l'individuazione di un organo di governo capace di valorizzare le componenti di dotazione e sistemiche di cui dispone il territorio e di stimolare i comportamenti organizzativi delle diverse imprese turistiche. L'assenza di case studies costituisce un limite del paper. Pertanto in una prospettiva di ricerca futura si intenderà proseguire l'analisi proposta arricchendola di evidenze empiriche, ritenute utili per alimentare il dibattito sulla tematica affrontata e per le conseguenti implicazioni imprenditoriali e manageriali.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 4109
Author(s):  
Bożena Gajdzik ◽  
Radosław Wolniak

The publication presents a picture of modern steelworks that is evolving from steelworks 3.0 to steelworks 4.0. The paper was created on the basis of secondary sources of information (desk research). The entire publication concerns the emerging opportunities for the development of the steel producers to Industry 4.0 and the changes already implemented in the steel plants. The collected information shows the support environment for changes in the steel sector (EU programs), the levels of evolution of steel mills, along with the areas of change in the steel industry and implemented investment projects. The work consists of a theoretical part based on a literature review and a practical part based on case studies. The work ends with a discussion in which the staged and segmented nature of the changes introduced in the analyzed sector is emphasized. Based on the three case studies described in the paper, a comparative analysis was conducted between them. When we tried to compare methods used in the three analyzed steel producers (capital groups): ArcelorMittal, Thyssenkrupp, and Tata Steel Group, it can be seen that in all organizations, the main problem connected with steelworks 4.0 transition is the digitalization of all processes within an organization and in the entire supply chain. This is realized using various tools and methods but they are concentrated on using technologies and methods such as artificial intelligence, drones, virtual reality, full automatization, and industrial robots. The effects are connected to better relations with customers, which leads to an increase in customer satisfaction and the organizations’ profit. The steel industry will undergo further strong changes, bringing it closer to Industry 4.0 because it occupies an important place in the economies of many countries due to the strong dependence of steel producers on the markets of the recipients (steel consumers). Steel is the basic material needed to make many products, and its properties have been valued for centuries. In addition, steel mills with positive economic, social, and environmental aspects are part of the concept of sustainability for industries and economies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 141-150
Author(s):  
Honorine Harlé ◽  
Pascal Le Masson ◽  
Benoit Weil

AbstractIn industry, there is at once a strong need for innovation and a need to preserve the existing system of production. Thus, although the literature insists on the necessity of the current change toward Industry 4.0, how to implement it remains problematic because the preservation of the factory is at stake. Moreover, the question of the evolution of the system depends on its innovative capability, but it is difficult to understand how a new rule can be designed and implemented in a factory. This tension between preservation and innovation is often explained in the literature as a process of creative destruction. Looking at the problem from another perspective, this article models the factory as a site of creative heritage, enabling creation within tradition, i.e., creating new rules while preserving the system of rules. Two case studies are presented to illustrate the model. The paper shows that design in the factory relies on the ability to validate solutions. To do so, the design process can explore and give new meaning to the existing rules. The role of innovation management is to choose the degree of revision of the rules and to make it possible.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angkush Kumar Ghosh ◽  
AMM Sharif Ullah ◽  
Akihiko Kubo ◽  
Takeshi Akamatsu ◽  
Doriana Marilena D’Addona

Industry 4.0 requires phenomenon twins to functionalize the relevant systems (e.g., cyber-physical systems). A phenomenon twin means a computable virtual abstraction of a real phenomenon. In order to systematize the construction process of a phenomenon twin, this study proposes a system defined as the phenomenon twin construction system. It consists of three components, namely the input, processing, and output components. Among these components, the processing component is the most critical one that digitally models, simulates, and validates a given phenomenon extracting information from the input component. What kind of modeling, simulation, and validation approaches should be used while constructing the processing component for a given phenomenon is a research question. This study answers this question using the case of surface roughness—a complex phenomenon associated with all material removal processes. Accordingly, this study shows that for modeling the surface roughness of a machined surface, the approach called semantic modeling is more effective than the conventional approach called the Markov chain. It is also found that to validate whether or not a simulated surface roughness resembles the expected roughness, the outcomes of the possibility distribution-based computing and DNA-based computing are more effective than the outcomes of a conventional computing wherein the arithmetic mean height of surface roughness is calculated. Thus, apart from the conventional computing approaches, the leading edge computational intelligence-based approaches can digitize manufacturing processes more effectively.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Deuring

Data shifts the balance of power in the economy dramatically. However, digitisation also offers a multitude of opportunities: the development of new business areas, cost reductions and personalised offers. The increasing speed of technological development forces the legal system to tread on thin ice. Is the key in a regulated or free market? The book shows risks and opportunities of both options, as well as the strengths and weaknesses in European and national law. By using the latest case studies and entering new areas of the law, the book explores the question of how the Industry 4.0 should be designed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prerna Srivastava ◽  
Gaurav Verma ◽  
Varun Kumar Kakar
Keyword(s):  

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Xie ◽  
Soo Jeoung Han ◽  
Michael Beyerlein ◽  
Jiacheng Lu ◽  
Lillian Vukin ◽  
...  

Purpose This paper aims to conduct two studies to investigate shared leadership and team creativity (TC) in leaderless short-term project teams (STPTs). Design/methodology/approach To answer the research question, this paper used a multi-level mixed-methods design. This paper analyzed video recordings, transcripts of STPTs’ collaboration and self-report surveys from an international engineering competition. In Study 1, this paper attempted to connect relation-oriented shared leadership (ROSL) and task-oriented shared leadership (TOSL) with TC by coding video recordings. In Study 2, this paper further investigated the proposed positive relationship between shared leadership and TC by surveying a sample of 166 students in 51 teams. Findings In Study 1, this paper found that shared leadership covaries with TC following a similar behavioral pattern. In Study 2, multi-level structural equation modeling results suggested that both TOSL and ROSL are positively correlated with TC. Originality/value In this mixed-methods multi-level research, this paper found that when the team’s shared leadership increases, their TC activity becomes frequent. This paper confirmed the qualitative finding by quantitatively investigated the relationship between shared leadership and creativity at the team level.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles H. Pence

Recent arguments concerning the nature of causation in evolutionary theory, now often known as the debate between the 'causalist' and 'statisticalist' positions, have involved answers to a variety of independent questions – definitions of key evolutionary concepts like natural selection, fitness, and genetic drift; causation in multi-level systems; or the nature of evolutionary explanations, among others. This Element offers a way to disentangle one set of these questions surrounding the causal structure of natural selection. Doing so allows us to clearly reconstruct the approach that some of these major competing interpretations of evolutionary theory have to this causal structure, highlighting particular features of philosophical interest within each. Further, those features concern problems not exclusive to the philosophy of biology. Connections between them and, in two case studies, contemporary metaphysics and philosophy of physics demonstrate the potential value of broader collaboration in the understanding of evolution.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 250-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lekan Damilola Ojo ◽  
Deji Rufus Ogunsemi

Purpose This paper aims to assess the drivers of value management (VM) in the Nigerian construction industry with a view to identify the critical ones through Delphi study. Design/methodology/approach A team of 15 carefully selected experts in VM were engaged in two rounds of Delphi survey, and the responses of the survey were analyzed with descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation and mode). Kendall’s coefficient of concordance test and Chi-square (χ2) test were also used to test the level of consensus amongst the respondents at the two rounds of the survey to draw inference. Interrater agreement analysis and significant level analysis were further used to determine the criticality of critical drivers. Findings The critical drivers to VM adoption are adequate understanding of the benefits of VM, higher/postgraduate programme that teaches VM technique, professional’s previous experience with VM, collaboration of all construction professional bodies in Nigeria and VM training. Originality/value This paper used opinions of VM experts only to achieve the aim of this study as against the common survey method in which respondents who are not knowledgeable in the area of research might fill the questionnaire.


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