Matching Items (71)
Description
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have become readily available for both the average consumer and professional due to decreases in price and increases in technological capabilities. This work ventured to explore the feasible use of UAV-technology in the area of roof analysis for facilities management purposes and contrast it to traditional techniques of inspection. An underlying goal of this work was two-fold. First, it was to calculate the upfront cost of investing in appropriate UAV equipment and training for a typical staff member to become proficient at doing such maintenance work in the practice of actual roof inspections on a sample set of roofs. Secondly, it was to compare the value of using this UAV method of investigation to traditional practices of inspecting roofs manually by personally viewing and walking roofs. The two methods for inspecting roofs were compared using various metrics, including time, cost, value, safety, and other relevant measurables. In addition to the study goals, this research was able to identify specific benefits and hazards for both methods of inspection through empirical trials. These points illustrate the study as Lessons Learned from the experience, which may be of interest to those Facilities Managers who are considering investing resources in UAV training and equipment for industrial purposes. Overall, this study helps to identify the utility of UAV technology in a well-established professional field in a way that has not been previously conducted in academia.
ContributorsBodily, Jordan (Author) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Thesis advisor) / Smithwick, Jake (Committee member) / Stone, Brian (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
The objective of this thesis is to explore the applicability and impact of specific tools within the public school facilities management sector. Tools assessed include a work order system, block scheduling, and a priority matrix. These tools assist with the management of staff assignments and workload, focused scheduling methods, and decision enhancement for task-level employees. The author found that application of these systems increase productivity within public sector schools. The use of these tools also increases customer satisfaction and reduces costs. The author also explores the challenges associated with these tools.
ContributorsBennett, Freeda (Author) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Thesis advisor) / Stone, Brian (Committee member) / Standage, Richard (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
The workforce demographics are changing as a large portion of the population is approaching retirement and thus leaving vacancies in the construction industry. Succession planning is an aspect of talent management which aims to mitigate instability faced by a company when a new successor fills a vacancy. Research shows that in addition to a diminishing pool of available talent, the industry does not have widespread, empirically tested and implemented models that lead to effective successions. The objective of this research was to create a baseline profile for succession planning in the construction industry by identifying currently implemented best practices. The author interviewed six companies of varying sizes and demographics within the construction industry and compared their succession planning methodologies to identify any common challenges and practices. Little consensus between the companies was found. The results of the interviews were then compared to current research literature, but even here, little consensus was found. In addition, companies lacked quantitative performance metrics demonstrating the effectiveness, or ineffectiveness, of their current succession planning methodologies. The authors recommended that additional research is carried out to focus on empirical evidence and measurement of industry practices surrounding talent identification, development, and transition leading to succession.
ContributorsGunnoe, Jake A (Author) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Thesis advisor) / Wiezel, Avi (Committee member) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Construction Management research has not been successful in changing the practices of the construction industry. The method of receiving grants and the peer review paper system that academics rely on to achieve promotion, does not align to academic researchers becoming experts who can bring change to industry practices. Poor construction industry performance has been documented for the past 25 years in the international construction management field. However, after 25 years of billions of dollars of research investment, the solution remains elusive. Research has shown that very few researchers have a hypothesis, run cycles of research tests in the industry, and result in changing industry practices.
The most impactful research identified in this thesis, has led to conclusions that pre-planning is critical, hiring contractors who have expertise will result in better performance, and risk is mitigated when the supply chain partners work together and expertise is utilized at the beginning of projects.
The problems with construction non-performance have persisted. Legal contract issues have become more important. Traditional research approaches have not identified the severity and the source of construction non-performance. The problem seems to be as complex as ever. The construction industry practices and the academic research community remain in silos. This research proposes that the problem may be in the traditional construction management research structure and methodology. The research
has identified a unique non-traditional research program that has documented over 1700 industry tests, which has resulted in a decrease in client management by up to 79%, contractors adding value by up to 38%, increased customer satisfaction by up to 140%, reduced change order rates as low as -0.6%, and decreased cost of services by up to 31%.
The purpose of this thesis is to document the performance of the non-traditional research program around the above identified results. The documentation of such an effort will shed more light on what is required for a sustainable, industry impacting, and academic expert based research program.
The most impactful research identified in this thesis, has led to conclusions that pre-planning is critical, hiring contractors who have expertise will result in better performance, and risk is mitigated when the supply chain partners work together and expertise is utilized at the beginning of projects.
The problems with construction non-performance have persisted. Legal contract issues have become more important. Traditional research approaches have not identified the severity and the source of construction non-performance. The problem seems to be as complex as ever. The construction industry practices and the academic research community remain in silos. This research proposes that the problem may be in the traditional construction management research structure and methodology. The research
has identified a unique non-traditional research program that has documented over 1700 industry tests, which has resulted in a decrease in client management by up to 79%, contractors adding value by up to 38%, increased customer satisfaction by up to 140%, reduced change order rates as low as -0.6%, and decreased cost of services by up to 31%.
The purpose of this thesis is to document the performance of the non-traditional research program around the above identified results. The documentation of such an effort will shed more light on what is required for a sustainable, industry impacting, and academic expert based research program.
ContributorsRivera, Alfredo O (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean T. (Thesis advisor) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Kashiwagi, Jacob S (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
By the evolution of technologies and computing power, it is possible to capture and save large amounts of data and then find patterns in large and complex datasets using data science and machine learning. This dissertation introduces machine-learning models and econometric models to use in infrastructure transportation projects. Among transportation infrastructure projects, the airline industry and highways are selected to implement the models.The first topic of this dissertation focuses on using machine-learning models in highway projects. The International Roughness Index (IRI) for asphalt concrete pavement is predicted based on the 12,637 observations in the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) dataset for 1,390 roads and highways in the 50 states of the United States and the District of Columbia from 1989 to 2018. The results show that XGBoost provides a better model fit in terms of mean absolute error and coefficient of determination than other studied models. Also, the most important factors in predicting the IRI are identified.
The second topic of this dissertation aims to develop machine-learning models to predict customer dissatisfaction in the airline industry. The relationship between measures of service failure (flight delay and mishandled baggage) and customer dissatisfaction is predicted by using longitudinal data from 2003 to 2019 from the U.S. airline industry. Data was obtained from the Air Travel Consumer Report (ATCR) published by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Flight delay is more important in low-cost airlines, while mishandled baggage is more important in legacy airlines. Also, the effect of the train-test split ratio on each machine-learning model is examined by running each model using four train-test splits. Results indicate that the train-test split ratio could influence the selection of the best model.
The third topic in this dissertation uses econometric analysis to investigate the relationship between customer dissatisfaction and two measures of service failure in the U.S. airline industry. Results are: 1) Mishandled baggage has more impact than flight delay on customer complaints. 2) The effect of an airline’s service failures on customer complaints is contingent on the category of the airline. 3) The effect of flight delay on customer complaints is lower for low-cost airlines compared to legacy airlines.
ContributorsDamirchilo, Farshid (Author) / Fini, Elham H (Thesis advisor) / Lamanna, Anthony J (Committee member) / Parast, Mahour M (Committee member) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
The Request for Proposal (RFP) is a fundamental document frequently employed by construction owners for procuring services, with a focus on criteria beyond cost alone. Particularly prevalent in alternative project delivery methods like design-build, construction manager at risk, and integrated project delivery, the RFP solicitation plays a pivotal role. This study delves into the landscape of RFP standardization efforts within the construction industry, conducting a comprehensive review, analysis, and evaluation of 215 sample RFPs drawn from across all states in the United States. The culmination of this research effort is the development of a standardized RFP template, equipped with a comprehensive framework adaptable to various construction project delivery methods. This study marks the inaugural exploration of this subject, making a substantive contribution to the existing body of literature on this vital topic.
ContributorsSavicky, John (Author) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Thesis advisor) / Hurtado, Kristen (Committee member) / Standage, Rich (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
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
Description
The world faces significant environmental and social challenges due to high economic development, population growth, industrialization, rapid urbanization, and unsustainable consumption. Global communities are taking the necessary measures to confront these international challenges and applying sustainable development principles across all sectors. Construction is a critical driving instrument of economic activity, and to achieve sustainable development, it is vital to transform conventional construction into a more sustainable model. The research investigated sustainable construction perceptions in Kuwait, a rapidly growing country with a high volume of construction activities. Kuwait has ambitious plans to transition into a more sustainable economic development model, and the construction industry needs to align with these plans. This research aims to identify the characteristics of sustainable construction applications in the Kuwaiti construction market, such as awareness, current perceptions, drivers and barriers, and the construction regulations' impact. The research utilized a qualitative approach to answer research questions and deliver research objectives by conducting eleven Semi-structured interviews with experienced professionals in the Kuwaiti construction market to collect rich data that reflects insights and understandings of the Kuwaiti construction industry. The Thematic analysis of the data resulted in six themes and one sub-theme that presented reflections, insights, and perspectives on sustainable construction perceptions in the Kuwaiti construction market. The research findings reflected poor sustainable construction awareness and poor environmental and social application in the construction industry, the determinant role of construction regulations in promoting sustainable construction. and barriers and drivers to sustainable construction applications. The research concluded with answers to research questions, delivery of research objectives, and an explanation of sustainable construction perceptions in the Kuwaiti construction market.
Contributorsalsalem, mohammad salem (Author) / Duran, Melanie (Thesis advisor) / Chong, Oswald (Committee member) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Grau, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Over the past couple of decades, quality has been an area of increased focus. Multiple models and approaches have been proposed to measure the quality in the construction industry. This paper focuses on determining the quality of one of the types of roofing systems used in the construction industry, i.e., sprayed polyurethane foam roofs (SPF roofs). Thirty-seven urethane-coated SPF roofs that were installed in 2005/2006 were visually inspected to measure the percentage of blisters and repairs three times over a period of four years, six years, and seven years. A repairing criteria was established after a six-year mark based on the data that were reported to contractors as vulnerable roofs. Furthermore, the relation between four possible contributing time-of-installation factors—contractor, demographics, season, and difficulty (number of penetrations and size of the roof in square feet) that could affect the quality of the roof was determined. Demographics and difficulty did not affect the quality of the roofs, whereas the contractor and the season when the roof was installed did affect the quality of the roofs.
ContributorsGajjar, Dhaval (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Author) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Author) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Author) / Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering (Contributor)
Created2015-04-01
Description
For the past three decades, the Saudi construction industry (SCI) has exhibited poor performance. Many research efforts have tried to identify the problem and the potential causes but there have been few publications identifying ways to mitigate the problem and describing testing to validate the proposed solution. This paper examines the research and development (R&D) approach in the SCI. A literature research was performed identifying the impact that R&D has had on the SCI. A questionnaire was also created for surveying industry professionals and researchers. The results show evidence that the SCI practice and the academic research work exist in separate silos. This study recommends a change of mindset in both the public and private sector on their views on R&D since cooperation is required to create collaboration between the two sectors and improve the competitiveness of the country's economy.
ContributorsAlhammadi, Yasir (Author) / Algahtany, Mohammed (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Author) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Author) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Author) / Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering (Contributor)
Created2016-05-20