6.2 Industrial engineering applications
6.2.5 Quality management
Total quality is an approach of doing business that attempts to maximize the competitive- ness of an organization through the continual improvement of the quality of its products, services, people, processes, and environments (Goetsch and Davis, 2000).
Historically, the Japanese were among the first to apply quality improvement approaches in construction on a large scale, although they did not embrace this concept until the oil crisis of 1973. Prior to this, they thought that the construction industry was inappropriate for the application of total quality control (TQC), because of the inherent variability in proj- ects and the difficulty in defining “acceptable quality.” Takenaka Komuten Company, the sixth largest in Japan, had their formerly impeccable safety and quality image tarnished by the failure of a sheet piling system in Okinawa, in 1975, and embarked on a quality control (QC) program. They were followed by Shimizu Construction Company, the second largest in Japan, that established a QC program in 1976, and by Kajima Corporation, the third larg- est, in 1978. Subsequently, several U.S. companies have adopted TQC programs and the more familiar total quality management (TQM) programs used by U.S. manufacturers.
In 1992, the Construction Industry Institute (CII) published Guidelines for Implementing Total Quality Management in the Engineering and Construction Industry. Their research studies confirm that TQM has resulted in improved customer satisfaction, reduced cycle times, documented cost savings, and more satisfied and productive workforces (Burati and Oswald, 1993).
6.2.5.1 Benefits of TQM
The application of TQM principles can benefit design and construction organizations in many ways. These include
• Survival in an increasingly competitive world
• Improved levels of customer service
• Reduced project durations and costs
• Improvement of the overall quality and safety of facilities
• Better utilization of employees’ skills/talents and increased quality orientation
• Increased profitability
6.2.5.2 Foundations of TQM
Total quality management is based on the total quality concept, which involves every- one in an organization in an integrated effort toward improved performance at each level (Goetsch and Davis, 2003).
It integrates fundamental management techniques, improvement efforts, in a dis- ciplined approach toward continual process improvement. Total quality has the fol- lowing characteristics: it is driven by an organizational strategy and unity of purpose, an internal and external customer focus, obsession with quality, scientifically based decision making and problem solving, continuous process improvement, long-term commitment, teamwork, employee involvement and empowerment, and education and training.
While total quality approaches have been highly beneficial to the manufacturing and service industries, they have had limited application in the construction envi- ronment. The construction industry has been heavily steeped in the traditional ways of executing projects and its constituents—designers and constructors, have been reluctant to make a necessary cultural and behavioral change to adopt total quality approaches.
Top management and senior management are generally preoccupied with short term, project by project profitability, and not with long-term quality-based strategies.
Although organizations have adopted a wide variety of quality improvement programs, these programs are based on the concepts advocated by the total quality pioneers. The most highly acknowledged pioneers are W. Edwards Deming, Joseph M. Juran, and Philip B. Crosby. Armand V. Feigenbaum and Japanese experts Kaoru Ishikawa and Shigeo Shingo were also major contributors to the quality improvement philosophy.
Deming has emerged as the influential and durable proponent of QM in the United States and is best known for the Deming cycle, his 14 points, and the seven deadly diseases.
The 14 points are summarized as:
1. Develop a program of constancy in purpose 2. Adopt this new program and philosophy
3. Stop depending on inspection to achieve quality—build in quality from the start 4. Stop awarding contracts on the basis of low bids
5. Improve continuously and forever the system of production and service 6. Institute training on the job
7. Institute leadership
113 Chapter six: Industrial engineering applications in the construction industry
8. Drive out fear so everyone may work efficiently
9. Eliminate barriers between departments so that people can work as a team
10. Eliminate slogans, targets, and targets for the workforce—they create adversarial relationships
11. Eliminate quotas and management by objectives
12. Remove barriers that rob people of pride of workmanship 13. Establish rigorous programs of education and self-improvement 14. Make the transformation everyone’s job.
Juran is known for several quality contributions:
• Three basic steps to progress
• Ten steps to quality improvement
• The quality trilogy
Ishikawa is credited with the development/adaptation of seven quality tools:
• Pareto charts
• Cause and effect diagrams
• Scatter diagrams
• Check sheets
• The histogram
• Stratification
• Control charts
6.2.5.3 Obstacles to TQM
There are many obstacles to the application of TQM in the construction environment, and industrial engineers can help the industry to overcome these concerns:
1. Measuring results is difficult (Shriener et al., 1995), whereas Deming (1991) advocate that measurement is a critical element in quality improvement efforts. The concept of construction performance does not emphasize productivity and quality initiatives.
The work of many researchers has revealed an industry tendency to measure perfor- mance in terms of the following: completion on time, completion within budget, and meeting construction codes. Very little attention has been directed to owner satisfac- tion as a performance measure.
2.The industry has a crisis orientation. Significant changes have been sparked primarily by catastrophes of one kind or another. Major revisions were made in U.S. engi- neering codes after the failure of a structure in the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel. Hurricane Andrew devastated Dade County, Florida, in August 1992, result- ing in a major scrutiny of building codes and their enforcement. It is probable that with sufficient attention to quality at the front end, more building failures might be avoidable.
3.Poor communication. Communication tends to be via the contract. Essentially, the designer is paid to produce a design expressed in the form of specifications and drawings. The contractor is expected to use these as a means of communication, and produce the completed facility. This communication often does not work as well as it
should. Cross-functional communication must include subcontractors and suppliers to solve quality problems.
4. There are large gaps between expectations and results as perceived by construction owners. Symbolically,
Value (V) = Results (R) − Expectations (E)
Consequently, since expectations often outweigh the results, construction owners feel that they receive less value than they should. Forbes (1999) quantified the “gaps”
or dissonance zones between the three parties to construction, i.e., owners, design- ers, and contractors in health care facilities projects. In the area of owner satisfaction factors for example, public owners and designers differed on 7 of 9 criteria, owners and contractors differed on 5 of 9 criteria, while designers and contractors disagreed on the relative importance of 2 criteria.
5.A focus on inspection, not workmanship. Code enforcement representatives of gov- ernment agencies carry out construction inspections. Their role is to inspect criti- cal aspects of the construction process by limited inspections on a number of items including reinforcing elements and concrete samples, but not workmanship.
6.The growing emergence of subcontracting. The subcontractors are often priced in a man- ner that does not reflect the contract with the owner—even if the owner pays a high price, the subcontractor may still have to work with inadequate budgets, often com- promising quality as a result. Deming’s fourth point cautions against awarding con- tracts based on price tags alone.
7. A culture of slow adoption of innovation—small contractors often lack the expertise or financial resources to adopt technological advances—adoption is inhibited fur- ther by fear and uncertainty. Roofing contractors, for example, tend to use the same time-honored methods to ensure that supplies and equipment are on site each day.
Items that are frequently forgotten are delivered by expediters, contributing to waste in the industry.
8. The training needed often does not get to the decision-makers in the construction industry. Construction management programs around the country have been pro- viding higher levels of training for managers; however, this training has not reached the ultimate decision-makers in the industry. Efforts to enhance quality and produc- tivity are likely to be frustrated under this scenario.
9. Owners have not specifically demanded productivity and quality. There is a general lack of productivity/quality awareness in the industry among all parties, including owners. Owners have come to accept industry pricing—they have not been able to influence the productivity of the industry—prices have simply become higher on a per unit basis. By contrast, manufacturing activities have become cheaper over time on a per unit basis.
10. Architect/engineer (AE) contracts are said to be unclear with respect to professional standards of performance, often leading to unmet expectations. Construction owners feel that typical A/E contracts protect designers at the owner’s expense. For example, prevailing contract language relieves designers of any role in the case of a lawsuit or arbitration between an owner and contractor. An outgrowth of this is the practice of
“substantial completion,” where a job is usable but has 5% of the remaining work in the form of a “punch list.” An owner often has a very difficult time in persuading a contractor to finish that work.
115 Chapter six: Industrial engineering applications in the construction industry
11. Few large companies, and virtually no small companies have implemented the con- cept of a quality or productivity manager—cost-cutting trends have resulted in such a position being viewed as an unjustifiable luxury.
12. There is little, if any, benchmarking—many manufacturers and service organizations have become preeminent by adopting the best practices of benchmarked organiza- tions. Construction has done very little of this due to distrust, fear of losing competi- tive advantage, but more likely, simply by being anachronistic.
6.2.5.3.1 Quality management systems. The Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award cri- teria provide an excellent framework for a construction organization’s QM system; these criteria embody many of the concepts advocated by the quality pioneers—Deming, Juran, Crosby. Past winners of the Baldrige Award have proven to be been world-class organiza- tions. Industrial engineers can assist construction organizations to improve quality and productivity by applying the Malcolm Baldrige criteria to their business model.
The Baldrige Award Criteria are based on a framework of core values for quality improvement comprised of seven critical areas:
1. Leadership
2. Customer and market focus 3. Strategic quality planning 4. Information and analysis 5. Human resource development 6. Process management
7. Operational results
Other industry-recognized QM systems include the ISO9000: 2000 standards.
6.2.5.3.2 Industry awards. The National Association of Home Builders created a National Housing Quality Program in 1993 to promote quality improvement in that industry.
The National Housing Quality Award was developed based on the Malcolm Baldrige Award.