Matching Items (20)
Description
Semiconductor manufacturing facilities are very complex and capital intensive in nature. During the lifecycle of these facilities various disciplines come together, generate and use a tremendous amount of building and process information to support various decisions that enable them to successfully design, build and sustain these advanced facilities. However, a majority of the information generated and processes taking place are neither integrated nor interoperable and result in a high degree of redundancy. The objective of this thesis is to build an interoperable Building Information Model (BIM) for the Base-Build and Tool Installation in a semiconductor manufacturing facility. It examines existing processes and data exchange standards available to facilitate the implementation of BIM and provides a framework for the development of processes and standards that can help in building an intelligent information model for a semiconductor manufacturing facility. To understand the nature of the flow of information between the various stakeholders the flow of information between the facility designer, process tool manufacturer and tool layout designer is examined. An information model for the base build and process tool is built and the industry standards SEMI E6 and SEMI E51 are used as a basis to model the information. It is found that applications used to create information models support interoperable industry standard formats such as the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) and ISO 15926 in a limited manner. A gap analysis has revealed that interoperability standards applicable to the semiconductor manufacturing industry such as the IFC and ISO15926 need to be expanded to support information transfers unique to the industry. Information modeling for a semiconductor manufacturing facility is unique in that it is a process model (Process Tool Information Model) within a building model (Building Information Model), each of them supported more robustly by different interoperability standards. Applications support interoperability data standards specific to the domain or industry they serve but information transfers need to occur between the various domains. To facilitate flow of information between the different domains it is recommended that a mapping of the industry standards be undertaken and translators between them be developed for business use.
ContributorsPindukuri, Shruthi (Author) / Chasey, Allan D (Thesis advisor) / Wiezel, Avi (Committee member) / Mamlouk, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The wood-framing trade has not sufficiently been investigated to understand the work task sequencing and coordination among crew members. A new mental framework for a performing crew was developed and tested through four case studies. This framework ensured similar team performance as the one provided by task micro-scheduling in planning software. It also allowed evaluation of the effect of individual coordination within the crew on the crew's productivity. Using design information, a list of micro-activities/tasks and their predecessors was automatically generated for each piece of lumber in the four wood frames. The task precedence was generated by applying elementary geometrical and technological reasoning to each frame. Then, the duration of each task was determined based on observations from videotaped activities. Primavera's (P6) resource leveling rules were used to calculate the sequencing of tasks and the minimum duration of the whole activity for various crew sizes. The results showed quick convergence towards the minimum production time and allowed to use information from Building Information Models (BIM) to automatically establish the optimal crew sizes for frames. Late Start (LS) leveling priority rule gave the shortest duration in every case. However, the logic of LS tasks rule is too complex to be conveyed to the framing crew. Therefore, the new mental framework of a well performing framer was developed and tested to ensure high coordination. This mental framework, based on five simple rules, can be easily taught to the crew and ensures a crew productivity congruent with the one provided by the LS logic. The case studies indicate that once the worst framer in the crew surpasses the limit of 11% deviation from applying the said five rules, every additional percent of deviation reduces the productivity of the whole crew by about 4%.
ContributorsMaghiar, Marcel M (Author) / Wiezel, Avi (Thesis advisor) / Mitropoulos, Panagiotis (Committee member) / Cooke, Nancy J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The goal of this research study was to identify the competencies the Project Manager (PM) will need to respond to the challenges the construction industry faces in 2022 and beyond. The study revealed twenty-one emerging challenges for construction PMs grouped into four primary disruptive forces: workforce demographics, globalization, rapidly evolving technology, and changing organizational structures. The future PM will respond to these emerging challenges using a combination of fourteen competencies. The competencies are grouped into four categories: technical (multi-disciplined, practical understanding of technology), management (keen business insight, understanding of project management, knowledge network building, continuous risk monitoring), cognitive (complex decisions making, emotional maturity, effective communication), and leadership (leveraging diverse thinking, building relationships, engaging others, mentoring, building trust). Popular data collection methods used in project management research, such as surveys and interviews, have received criticism about the differences between stated responses to questions, what respondents say they will do, and revealed preferences, what they actually practice in the workplace. Rather than relying on surveys, this research study utilized information generated from games and exercises bundled into one-day training seminars conducted by Construction Industry Institute (CII) companies for current and upcoming generations of PMs. Educational games and exercises provide participants with the opportunity to apply classroom learning and workplace experience to resolve issues presented in real-world scenarios, providing responses that are more closely aligned with the actual decisions and activities occurring on projects. The future competencies were identified by combining results of the literature review with information from the games and exercises through an iterative cycle of data mining, analysis, and consolidation review sessions with CII members. This competency forecast will be used as a basis for company recruiting and to create tools for professional development programs and project management education at the university level. In addition to the competency forecast, the research identified simulation games and exercises as components of a project management development program in a classroom setting. An instrument that links the emerging challenges with the fourteen competencies and learning tools that facilitate the mastering of these competencies has also been developed.
ContributorsKing, Cynthia Joyce (Author) / Wiezel, Avi (Thesis advisor) / Badger, William (Committee member) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Using experience, observations, data, current research, and writings in the field of volunteer management, it was determined there was a need to study the effects of leadership/management practices on the productivity outcomes of a volunteer construction workforce. A simple wood bench that would be tiled and painted was designed to test the areas of Time, Waste, Quality, Safety, and Satisfaction of different volunteer groups. The challenge was bolstered by giving the teams no power tools and limited available resources. A simple design of experiment model was used to test highs and lows in the three management techniques of Instruction, Help, and Encouragement. Each scenario was tested multiple times. Data was collected, normalized and analyzed using statistical analysis software. A few significant findings were discovered. The first; the research showed that there was no significant correlation between the management practices of the leader and the satisfaction of the volunteers. The second; the research also showed when further analyzed into specific realistic scenarios that the organizations would be better to focus on high amounts of Help and Encouragement in order to maximize the productivity of their volunteer construction workforce. This is significant as it allows NPO's and governments to focus their attention where best suited to produce results. The results were shared and the study was further validated as "significant" by conducting interviews with experts in the construction nonprofit sector.
ContributorsPrigge, Diedrich (Author) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Thesis advisor) / Wiezel, Avi (Committee member) / Badger, William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Front end planning (FEP) is an essential and valuable process that helps identify risks early in the capital project planning phases. With effective FEP, risks can potentially be mitigated through development of detailed scope definition and subsequent efficient project resource use. The thesis describes the FEP process that has been developed over the past twenty years by the Construction Industry Institute (CII). Specifically, it details the FEP tools developed for early project planning and the data gathered to analyze the tools used within the CII community. Data from a March 2011 survey are given showing the tools commonly used, how those tools are used and the common barriers faced that prohibit successful FEP implementation. The findings from in-depth interviews are also shared in the thesis. The interviews were used to gather detail responses from organizations on the implementation of their FEP processes. In total, out of the 116 CII organizations, 59 completed the survey and over 75 percent of the respondents used at least one CII tool in their front end planning processes. Of the 59 survey respondents, 12 organizations participated in the in-depth interviews. The thesis concludes that CII organizations continue to find value in CII FEP tools due to the increase tool usage. Also the thesis concludes that organizations must have strong management commitment, smart succession planning and a standardized planning process to increase the likelihood of successful FEP strategies.
ContributorsBosfield, Roberta Patrice (Author) / Gibson, G.Edward (Thesis advisor) / Wiezel, Avi (Committee member) / Ernzen, James (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The construction industry faces important performance problems such as low productivity, poor quality of work, and work-related accidents and injuries. Creating a high reliability work system that is simultaneously highly productive and exceptionally safe has become a challenge for construction practitioners and scholars. The main goal of this dissertation was to create an understanding of high reliability construction work systems based on lessons from the production practices of high performance work crews. High performance work crews are defined as the work crews that constantly reach and maintain a high level of productivity and exceptional safety record while delivering high quality of work. This study was conceptualized on findings from High Reliability Organizations and with a primary focus on lean construction, human factors, safety, and error management. Toward the research objective, this dissertation answered two major questions. First, it explored the task factors and project attributes that shape and increase workers' task demands and consequently affect workers' safety, production, and quality performance. Second, it explored and investigated the production practices of construction field supervisors (foremen) to understand how successful supervisors regulate task and project demands to create a highly reliable work process. Employing case study methodology, this study explored and analyzed the work practices of six work crews and crew supervisors in different trades including concrete, masonry, and hot asphalt roofing construction. The case studies included one exceptional and one average performing crew from each trade. Four major factors were considered in the selection of exceptional crew supervisors: (1) safety performance, (2) production performance, (3) quality performance, and (4) the level of project difficulty they supervised. The data collection was carried out in three phases including: (1) interview with field supervisors to understand their production practices, (2) survey and interview with workers to understand their perception and to identify the major sources of task demands, and (3) several close field observations. Each trade's specific findings including task demands, project attributes, and production practices used by crew supervisors are presented in a separate chapter. At the end the production practices that converged to create high reliability work systems are summarized and presented in nine major categories.
ContributorsMemarian, Babak (Author) / Bashford, Howard (Thesis advisor) / Boren, Rebecca (Committee member) / Wiezel, Avi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
This thesis explores the task of creating industry-based marketing materials to assist academic programs in their recruitment of high school and community college students. With consistent reductions to public university budgets there is an increasing pressure on academic programs to raise their student enrollment figures, as student count is often cited as one of the most important statistics when making budget decisions. Many academic programs are ill-equipped to perform this task, however, as their personnel are not trained as recruiters, but rather as professors and industry professionals; furthermore, the university-level recruitment staff faces the impossible task of advertising every department's recruitment message. The Del E. Webb School of Construction has embarked upon a journey to create industry-based marketing materials to aid them in their recruitment efforts. Construction management (CM) has traditionally been viewed as a technology major relegated to vocational students and those not fit for baccalaureate programs. In recent years that perception has changed, however, as the industry has become increasingly complex and CM programs actively work to recruit students. In an attempt to increase that recruitment, the Del E. Webb School has created marketing materials that are signature to the program featuring the world's most widely-used building material, concrete, to create a keepsake for prospective students. This keepsake comes in the form of concrete replicas of the new ASU Pitchfork logo. These pitchforks are small and designed to be mass produced so that they can be handed out at recruitment events either on campus or in local schools. The Del E. Webb School had previously experimented with flexible rubber molds and flowable mixtures, such that the models could be easily cast and rapidly demolded and reset for casting. There were issues, however, as those pitchforks did not meet desired level of quality and were difficult to reproduce. This thesis thus describes an experimental program examining different casting and demolding regimens in an attempt to find the optimal way to create the pitchforks on a consistent basis. Following this, an operations manual for how to create the pitchforks was created in order to ensure that successive cohorts of construction students can reproduce the pitchforks in preparation for the School's annual recruitment events.
ContributorsErnzen, John Alexander (Author) / Wiezel, Avi (Thesis director) / Rogers, James (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Division of Educational Leadership and Innovation (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Construction work is ergonomically hazardous, as it requires numerous awkward postures, heavy lifting and other forceful exertions. Prolonged repetition and overexertion have a cumulative effect on workers often resulting in work related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). The United States spends approximately $850 billion a year on WMSDs. Mechanical installation workers experience serious overexertion injuries at rates exceeding the national average for all industries and all construction workers, and second only to laborers. The main contributing factors of WMSDs are ergonomic loads and extreme stresses due to incorrect postures. The motivation for this study is to reduce the WMSDs among mechanical system (HVAC system) installation workers. To achieve this goal, it is critical to reduce the ergonomic loads and extreme postures of these installers. This study has the following specific aims: (1) To measure the ergonomic loads on specific body regions (shoulders, back, neck, and legs) for different HVAC installation activities; and (2) To investigate how different activity parameters (material characteristics, equipment, workers, etc.) affect the severity and duration of ergonomic demands. The study focuses on the following activities: (1) layout, (2) ground assembly of ductwork, and (3) installation of duct and equipment at ceiling height using different methods. The researcher observed and analyzed 15 HVAC installation activities among three Arizona mechanical contractors. Ergonomic analysis of the activities using a postural guide developed from RULA and REBA methods was performed. The simultaneous analysis of the production tasks and the ergonomic loads identified the tasks with the highest postural loads for different body regions and the influence of the different work variables on extreme body postures. Based on this analysis the results support recommendations to mitigate long duration activities and exposure to extreme postures. These recommendations can potentially reduce risk, improve productivity and lower injury costs in the long term.
ContributorsHussain, Sanaa Fatima (Author) / Mitropoulos, Panagiotis (Thesis advisor) / Wiezel, Avi (Committee member) / Guarascio-Howard, Linda (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The goal of this was to identify the most important characteristic for racquetball players to consider when purchasing a new racquet to maximize satisfaction. Currently companies showcase their special patented technology without addressing the specifics individual players are looking for. Looking past the patents this thesis wanted to find a single racquet property by which players can base their purchase decisions on according to their preferences. This quality was determined by which differed the most between different racquets. Racquets tested were taken from the Arizona State University Club Racquetball team as well as a lower quality racquet from the fitness center storage. In the end swing weight was determined to be the most varied property in the racquet which is developed from using balance and total mass.
ContributorsNorton, Zachary E (Author) / Wiezel, Avi (Thesis director) / Kosaraju, Srinivas (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Design is widely accepted as a factor that affects construction work. Although knowledge about this effect will contribute to the improvement of construction practice, this is very limited. No study has been focused on establishing how the effect of design on construction work can be evaluated. The primary objective of this research was to formulate an approach enabling the assessment of the effect of building design on construction work. To achieve this, a quantitative index based on field data, termed the 'index of difficulty,' was established. Given a construction activity, this index relates the effective work effort per unit of output expended in completing a construction part under two distinct designs: one under evaluation and the other designated as the base design for common comparison. The greater the index of difficulty associated with a design, the higher the required work effort, consequently resulting in a greater affect of the design on construction work.
Multiple ways of utilizing the index of difficulty to assess the effect of building design on construction activities are suggested. Additionally, application cases are exhibited to illustrate the implementation of the proposed approach and the required computations.
ContributorsChang, Luis Gerardo (Author) / Wiezel, Avi (Thesis advisor) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Ayer, Steven (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023