scholarly journals An Approach to the Analysis of Causes of Delays in Industrial Construction Projects through Planning and Statistical Computing

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3975
Author(s):  
Carlos Araújo-Rey ◽  
Miguel A. Sebastián

The analysis of the planning activities of industrial construction projects can help to evaluate some of the causes that have an impact on the variation of execution times and can also contribute to identifying those activities and components that are most likely to experience or cause delays. Data analysis is facilitated by the use of techniques based on statistical programs, allowing delays to be unequivocally linked to the different elements that make up these projects. In a theoretical study, a simulation is carried out with data that are hypothetical but consistent with real projects, which are transformed and standardized before being uploaded to the statistical software. Using the statistical software’s graphical interface, the data set is analyzed from a descriptive point of view, unraveling the relationships between variables and factors by means of contingency tables and scatter plots. Using other techniques such as the comparison of variables and correlation studies, as well as linear regression and variance analysis, the characteristics are evaluated and the differences in project delays are investigated in order to determine, after the fact, which components have the highest rates of delay in execution times.

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Lavocat Galvão de Almeida ◽  
Vitor Amadeu da Silva Feitoza ◽  
Michele Tereza Marques Carvalho ◽  
Ana Beatriz Souza Piña ◽  
Lissa Gomes Araújo ◽  
...  

Abstract Delay is one of the most recurrent problems in the construction industry. It is the cause of major negative consequences on construction projects and it can be the main reason for project failures. Still, there is a need for studies focusing on causes of these delays. The objective of this article is to determine the factors with greatest influence on the backlog of real estate developments, improving the collective list of causes of delays in construction projects. A list of 24 probable causes was assembled and submitted as a survey for 47 professionals in administrative rolls from the building construction sector, more precisely, from private companies. The results were processed utilizing the Relative Importance Index (RII) ranking approach. The outcome shows that the most important delay causes are: rework, poor labor productivity, lack of qualified labor, unqualified labor, and project changes. The results also indicate that there are significant differences of opinion between the professionals of distinct hierarchy positions. The results obtained indicate that there is a transition between the opinions of professionals in different roles regarding the importance of influential factors in the delay of works, according to the managerial level of each group.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-61
Author(s):  
Zaynab Nadzhi Shakir

the planned cost and duration of the project are two criteria for a successful project and successful project management. In Iraq, construction projects regularly faced delays and cost increases. The purpose of this study is to identify and rank the causes of delays and cost increases, in terms of their degree of occurrence, severity and importance. Objectives of the study: the study of the reasons leading to excess cost and duration Research technique: a questionnaire was used to identify the causes of this situation. The questionnaire was compiled through a survey of 57 Iraqi construction experts. Twenty reasons for delays and cost increases corresponding to the construction and industrial construction projects were identified and ranked in terms of importance. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS packages. Conclusions: The results showed that the main factors affecting the cost and duration of the project are: financial difficulties of the owner (77.61%), poor site management (77.1%), financial difficulties of the contractor (70.0%), poor assistance in project management (76.9%), design changes (76.7%). Spearman's correlation tests showed that there were no differences in views between the three main participants in the project. These results may encourage practitioners to focus on the problem of delay and the increase in value that may exist in their current or future projects.


2020 ◽  

BACKGROUND: This paper deals with territorial distribution of the alcohol and drug addictions mortality at a level of the districts of the Slovak Republic. AIM: The aim of the paper is to explore the relations within the administrative territorial division of the Slovak Republic, that is, between the individual districts and hence, to reveal possibly hidden relation in alcohol and drug mortality. METHODS: The analysis is divided and executed into the two fragments – one belongs to the female sex, the other one belongs to the male sex. The standardised mortality rate is computed according to a sequence of the mathematical relations. The Euclidean distance is employed to compute the similarity within each pair of a whole data set. The cluster analysis examines is performed. The clusters are created by means of the mutual distances of the districts. The data is collected from the database of the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic for all the districts of the Slovak Republic. The covered time span begins in the year 1996 and ends in the year 2015. RESULTS: The most substantial point is that the Slovak Republic possesses the regional disparities in a field of mortality expressed by the standardised mortality rate computed particularly for the diagnoses assigned to the alcohol and drug addictions at a considerably high level. However, the female sex and the male sex have the different outcome. The Bratislava III District keeps absolutely the most extreme position. It forms an own cluster for the both sexes too. The Topoľčany District bears a similar extreme position from a point of view of the male sex. All the Bratislava districts keep their mutual notable dissimilarity. Contrariwise, evaluation of a development of the regional disparities among the districts looks like notably heterogeneously. CONCLUSIONS: There are considerable regional discrepancies throughout the districts of the Slovak Republic. Hence, it is necessary to create a common platform how to proceed with the solution of this issue.


2021 ◽  
pp. 108602662110316
Author(s):  
Tiziana Russo-Spena ◽  
Nadia Di Paola ◽  
Aidan O’Driscoll

An effective climate change action involves the critical role that companies must play in assuring the long-term human and social well-being of future generations. In our study, we offer a more holistic, inclusive, both–and approach to the challenge of environmental innovation (EI) that uses a novel methodology to identify relevant configurations for firms engaging in a superior EI strategy. A conceptual framework is proposed that identifies six sets of driving characteristics of EI and two sets of beneficial outcomes, all inherently tensional. Our analysis utilizes a complementary rather than an oppositional point of view. A data set of 65 companies in the ICT value chain is analyzed via fuzzy-set comparative analysis (fsQCA) and a post-QCA procedure. The results reveal that achieving a superior EI strategy is possible in several scenarios. Specifically, after close examination, two main configuration groups emerge, referred to as technological environmental innovators and organizational environmental innovators.


Author(s):  
Milind T. Phadtare

Delay in construction projects is a universal phenomenon. However, the topic is not adequately studied in the Indian context. This paper attempts to identify the causes of delays in construction of budget hotels in India and suggest remedies to avoid some delays. A business group constructing budget hotels across the country is approached for this study. Forty causes of delay have been identified and Relative Importance Index was calculated. The contribution of each category of causes of delay to overall delay in the projects was computed. Remedies such as, joint effort of the participants of the industry, training, coordination between project participants and project timing and scheduling are suggested and validated.


2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabián Vera ◽  
Casee Lemons ◽  
Ming Zhong ◽  
William D. Holcomb ◽  
Randy F. LaFollette

Abstract This study compares reservoir characteristics, completion methods and production for 431 wells in 6 counties producing from the Wichita-Albany reservoir to assess major factors in production optimization and derive ultimate recovery estimates. The purpose of the study is to analyze completion design patterns across the study area by combining public and proprietary data for mining. Integrating several analyses of different nature and their respective methods like statistics, geology and engineering create a modern approach as well as a more holistic point of view when certain measurements are missing from the data set. Furthermore, multivariate statistical analysis allows modeling the impact of particular completion and stimulation parameters on the production outcome by averaging out the impact of all other variables in the system. In addition to completion type, more than 18 predictor variables were examined, including treatment parameters such as fracture fluid volume, year of completion, cumulative perforated length, proppant type, proppant amount, and county location, among others. In this sense, this contribution seems unique in unifying statistical, engineering, and geological perspectives into a singular point of view. This work also provides complementary views for well production consideration.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Appolloni ◽  
Idiano D'Adamo ◽  
Massimo Gastaldi ◽  
Morteza Yazdani ◽  
Davide Settembre-Blundo

PurposeThe best strategy to apply for the future cannot disregard a careful analysis of the past and is the one capable of seizing opportunities from outside. Manufacturing sectors are characterized by sudden changes, and in this work, we analyze the ceramic tiles sector characterized by a mature technology in which innovation has played a key role.Design/methodology/approachThis study aims to provide a sectorial analysis based on a historical data set (2004–2019) to highlight how an industry is performing both operationally and in terms of eco-efficiency. For this purpose, from a methodological point of view, the data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used.FindingsThe results of the analysis show that the Spanish ceramics industry shows a growing economic trend by taking advantage of lower industrial costs, while the Italian industry is characterized by a modest decline partially mitigated by exports. The industrial districts are an aggregation of companies that in the ceramic sector has allowed to combine innovation, sustainability and digitalization and is a model toward the maximization of sustainable efficiency because it is a place of aggregation of resources and ideas.Originality/valueThis study experiments with an innovative way of addressing traditional industry analysis, namely, integrating the reflective management approach with DEA-based backward analysis. This provides decision makers with the basis for new interpretations of variable trends.


1998 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 731-747 ◽  
Author(s):  
Volker Tresp ◽  
Reimar Hofmann

We derive solutions for the problem of missing and noisy data in nonlinear time-series prediction from a probabilistic point of view. We discuss different approximations to the solutions—in particular, approximations that require either stochastic simulation or the substitution of a single estimate for the missing data. We show experimentally that commonly used heuristics can lead to suboptimal solutions. We show how error bars for the predictions can be derived and how our results can be applied to K-step prediction. We verify our solutions using two chaotic time series and the sunspot data set. In particular, we show that for K-step prediction, stochastic simulation is superior to simply iterating the predictor.


2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaohua Jiang ◽  
Won-Suk Jang ◽  
Mirosław J. Skibniewski

As the size and scale of construction projects increase, inefficiencies related to the manual operations about field data in current tracking systems are becoming an important issue. While emerging wireless technologies are providing a feasible vision of ubiquitous computing and sensor networks applicable to the large-scale construction industry, it has become even harder to select a suitable technology for tracking construction materials because of the differing functionalities, capabilities, and scope of application of the specific technology. This research proposes a multi-criteria decision-making model that leverages the decision process in choosing various wireless technologies available on the market. To justify the selection of a specific technology, a fuzzy method was adopted to provide an appropriate way to decide among five alternatives (e.g., RFID, GPS, Wi-Fi, Zigbee, and UWB). Fuzzy ranking was obtained from the aggregated fuzzy appropriate index (FAI) based on a person's point of view (optimist, pessimist, or neutral). The results showed that Wi-Fi might be a suitable solution for optimists and neutral persons, but UWB might be the better alternative for pessimists. The results of this research may assist construction engineers in applying reasonable decision-making procedures in a fuzzy environment such as construction sites, and rank the relative importance of the various criteria and alternatives specified in this research. Santrauka Augant statybos projektų mastui, rankinis dabartinių stebejimo sistemų duomenų apdorojimo neefektyvumas tampa svarbia problema. Nors naujos belaidžio ryšio technologijos gali sudaryti galimybę įvesti visur prieinamus kompiuterinius ir jutiklių tinklus, naudojamus plataus masto statybos pramonėje, tampa vis sudėtingiau pasirinkti tinkamas technologijas statybinėms medžiagoms stebėti, nes kiekviena technologija atlieka skirtingas funkcijas, skiriasi jų galimybės ir taikymo apimtis. Šiame tyrime siūlomas daugiakriterinis sprendimų priėmimo modelis, kuris, sprendimų priėmimo procesą pasirenkant rinkoje, siūlomas belaidžio ryšio technologijas išskaido į atskirus lygius. Siekiant pagrįsti tam tikros technologijos pasirinkimą, buvo pritaikytas neapibrežtųjų aibių metodas, pasirenkant geriausią technologiją iš penkių alternatyvų (t. y. RFID, GPS, Wi-Fi, Zigbee ir UWB technologijų). Neapibrežtumo rangas buvo gautas taikant agreguotą neapibrežtumo tinkamumo indeksą (FAI), atsižvelgiant į asmens požiūrį (optimistinis, pesimistinis ar neutralus). Gauti rezultatai parodė, kad Wi-Fi technologija yra tinkama optimistams ir neutraliems asmenims, o UWB technologija būtų geresnė alternatyva pesimistams. Šio tyrimo rezultatai gali padėti statybos inžinieriams priimti pagrįstus sprendimus neapibrėžtoje aplinkoje, tokioje kaip statybos aikštelės, ir suranguoti pagal svarbą įvairius kriterijus bei aptartas šiame tyrime alternatyvas.


2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Palaneeswaran Ekambaram ◽  
Peter E.D. Love ◽  
Mohan M. Kumaraswamy ◽  
Thomas S.T. Ng

Purpose – Rework is an endemic problem in construction projects and has been identified as being a significant factor contributing cost and schedule overruns. Causal ascription is necessary to obtain knowledge about the underlying nature of rework so that appropriate prevention mechanisms can be put in place. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Using a supervised questionnaire survey and case-study interviews, data from 112 building and engineering projects about the sources and causes of rework in projects were obtained. A multivariate exploration was conducted to examine the underlying relationships between rework variables. Findings – The analysis revealed that there was a significant difference between rework causes for building and civil engineering projects. The set of associations explored in the analyses will be useful to develop a generic causal model to examine the quantitative impact of rework on project performance so that appropriate prevention strategies can be identified and developed. Research limitations/implications – The limitations include: small data set (112 projects), which include 75 from building and 37 from civil engineering projects. Practical implications – Meaningful insights into the rework occurrences in construction projects will pave pathways for rational mitigation and effective management measures. Originality/value – To date there has been limited empirical research that has sought to determine the causal ascription of rework, particularly in Hong Kong.


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