Lean strategies in healthcare aim at improving patient throughput, reducing medication errors, redesigning work flow, improving patient safety, and reducing cycle time. Documented studies to improve healthcares warehouse operation are not common in the literature. Managing types of medical supplies has always been a priority due to demand uncertainties and the risk of shortages that would profoundly affect patient safety. This study showcases two implementation approaches for the Lean tool 5S (Hybrid and Traditional) conducted in three different hospitals central warehouses at Ochsner Health System. These warehouses store similar medical products with over 1000 types of supplies (e.g. syringes, gloves, primary IV) that supply different departments within hospitals and clinics. The participating warehouses faced similar problems due to over/under stocked inventories, space constraints, and poor layouts. The objective of this study was to compare the impact of implementing a Hybrid 5S (integrated with inventory management techniques and process improvement tools) along with two Traditional 5Ss to improve healthcare warehouse operations. Although the two approaches improved the baseline warehouse process, the warehouse that used the Hybrid 5S showed the greatest improvement with an increase of 59.5% in inventory turnover, 15.7% space saved, and least number of non-conformities in the 5S audit tool.

Nitrogen oxides (NOx) emitted from vehicle exhaust are associated with negative health impacts and are a precursor to ozone. Self-cleaning, air-purifying concrete pavement is a rapidly emerging technology that can degrade pollutants such as NOx through heterogeneous photocatalysis. Although this technology has the potential to support environmentally friendly road infrastructure, a number of design and operational parameters may affect its effectiveness and thus need to be evaluated. The goal of this study was to measure the NOx reduction efficiencies from photocatalytic pavements under various environmental conditions common to highways. To achieve this goal, the objectives were to: (a) evaluate the influence of photocatalytic layer design and operating parameters on the efficiency of photocatalytic concrete pavement; (b) measure the impact of mixed pollutants on NOx reduction efficiency; and (c) measure the impact of roadway contaminants on NOx reduction. To achieve the first objective, the effects of relative humidity level, pollutants flow rate, and photocatalytic layer design parameters, including titanium dioxide (TiO2) percent content and aggregate sizes, were investigated. The environmental efficiency of the samples to remove NOx from the atmosphere was measured using a newly developed laboratory setup. The photocatalytic layer designs without fines achieved the highest photodegradation rates. In addition, the increase from 3% to 5% TiO2 resulted in minimal improvement to the NOx removal efficiency. To achieve the second objective, NOx reduction efficiencies were measured for various NO2/NOx ratios at various flow rates and humidity levels. Increasing the flow rate and NO2/NOx ratio negatively affects the effectiveness of the photocatalytic process. The highest photodegradation rate was observed at 25% relative humidity, which balances the availability of hydroxyl radicals at the surface with NOx contact with the photocatalytic surface. To achieve the third objective, three common roadway contaminants were tested - dirt, de-icing salt, and motor oil - at two contrasting coverage levels. The contaminants had a strong, negative impact on the photocatalytic NOx removal efficiency. The impact of contaminants coverage was largely dependent on the soilure type, with oil having the largest negative impact. An increase in the flow rate and air relative humidity also resulted in lower NOx efficiencies.

Traditional two-dimensional (2D) delivery systems in the construction industry can hinder the way information is communicated between owners, architects, and contractors. This hindrance exists in all phases of a project, from design and construction to the operation and maintenance of the completed facility. Building Information Management (BIM) is an emerging information technology that promotes a collaborative process for the Architectural, Engineering, Construction and Facilities Management (AECFM) industry; it can aid the exchange of information and provide improved project data accessibility to all stakeholders of a construction project. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), in conjunction with the facility management (FM) chiefs of the other Department of Defense (DoD) agencies, is committed to adopting the standards and technologies used in the private sector that promote efficient and effective business and construction management practices. The AECFM industry shift to BIM is resonating to the public sector and implementation plans to accommodate the shift are being developed by many public agencies at all levels of government. NAVFAC recognizes the need to develop and adopt BIM technologies in order to keep pace with private sector advances and has drafted a BIM Road Map document (NAVFAC, 2009) to provide BIM implementation guidance to the NAVFAC organizations responsible for providing and maintaining facilities and infrastructure to Supported Commanders. The objective of this thesis is to evaluate the NAVFAC BIM Road Map, analyze BIM tools and processes currently used in the construction industry, and provide recommendations for best practices and improvements to the NAVFAC BIM Road Map. The methodologies used in this research includes three phases: Phase 1- evaluate the current NAVFAC BIM Road Map, Phase 2: Case Study and Phase 3: Develop recommendations to improve BIM Road Map. The outcome of this research effort will be a set of recommendations that ensure that all parties are clearly aware of the opportunities and responsibilities associated with incorporation of BIM into the organizational workflow for naval construction projects.

The construction industry records the highest number of work-related injuries and fatalities in the United States according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Workers exposure to risk may be affected by implementing Lean concepts. This study describes the effects on workers safety environment after a Kaizen event, a Lean tool, conducted in three workstations within a modular home manufacturer: base-framing, sheet-rock hanging, and painting. The effects of Lean on safety hazards at each of the three workstations were determined by conducting a Job Safety Analysis (JSA) before and after each Kaizen. Based on the JSAs a risk assessment tool (questionnaire) was developed to determine the workers exposure to risk before and after each Kaizen. This study also focused on determining the reliability of the risk assessment tool. Twelve students with prior knowledge of safety and four certified safety experts completed the questionnaire by rating probability and severity of a list of hazards potentially present in each workstation. According to students there was a significant reduction in risk values for base-framing station and sheet-rock hanging station. Whereas, according to safety experts significant reduction in risk values was confined to base-framing station. Based on the reliability analysis the risk assessment tool was reliable in measuring risk at each of the three work station as per safety experts, and as per students the reliability was confined to only sheet-rock hanging station. As per the reliability analysis the finding of safety experts should be supported. The safety experts supported the finding that Lean showed significant reduction in risk values in base-framing station. Thus, it could be concluded from the study that Kaizen could occasionally reduce or eliminate specific safety hazards.

Thesis (M.S.)--Texas A & M University, 2003. / "Major Subject: Construction Management." Title from author supplied metadata. Includes bibliographical references.

Ineffective project communication may lead to project failure in respect of expected outcomes. Communication in the construction industry is important even though a qualified project team and manager plan, organise and manage a project. The construction project manager needs communication skills to communicate effectively and manage projects successfully to expected completion. The aim of this thesis is to propose a communication skills and leadership model for construction project management. Management of a project can apply the model. It can also be used to determine which communication skills the construction project manager should possess or should develop to communicate effectively. The results of the research indicate that construction project managers need the basic skill of being able to communicate effectively, with decision making and problem solving as the most important communication skills. A model is proposed to assist construction project management. This model can be developed further as an instrument to measure the maturity of a project manager or team.

Pipelines transport millions of barrels of petroleum products every day. Oil and gas pipelines have become important assets of the economic development of almost any country. Government regulations or internal policies regulate the safety of the assets for the population and environment where these pipelines run. Various strategies and technologies have been introduced for monitoring pipelines, but the most common technology to protect pipelines from occasional hazardous incidents is Computational Pipeline Monitoring (CPM). This technique collects and gathers information from the field related to pressures, flows, and temperatures to estimate the hydraulic behavior of the product being transported. Using the gathered information CPM systems compare its values with standard values and provides a notification if any anomaly or unexpected situation occurs. The result is an alarm to an operator in a supervisory control room. According to Hollifield, it is becoming an increasing problem that there is no standard for plant operators yet, whereas improved design can lead to better performance (Hollifield et. al., 2007). So, the objective of this experiment was to explore the effect of different alarm interfaces on controller response at different alarm rates. A simulated liquid pipeline system was developed and a between subject experimental design was performed to evaluate three different types of alarm window interfaces (Categorical, Chronological, and Revised Categorical), two alarm rates (10 in 10 minutes and 20 in 10 minutes), and three levels of alarms (high, medium, and low). Thirty one participants participated in this research, and the performance of participants was measured in terms of acknowledgement time, response time and the accuracy of response. Results showed that the participants performance in terms of response time, acknowledgement time, and accuracy of response was significantly different between chronological, categorical, and revised categorical displays. Data analysis showed that the means were shorter in revised categorical display in terms of response time, acknowledgement time, and accuracy of response. This study will be useful in developing new standards for alarm display.

All people basically want the same things: a home, work, healthy economy, good public services, infrastructure and an attractive and safe environment. Some areas have many of these that should be preserved and enhanced. In other areas there are major shortcomings and problems, poor and dangerous environments, a failing local economy, inadequate services and that may lead to serious social problems. The urban environment can be arduous and intimidating or it can encourage people to feel relaxed and at ease. It can make contact between people difficult or create an atmosphere of community. Raising the profile of good design that gives form to public spaces, housing and other building is crucial in sustainable and urban renaissance. Welldesigned places put people first and make efficient use of the available space and environmental resources. It is the art of making places for people. It is concerned with the connection between people and places, urban form, flow of people, natural environment, the material of buildings and the processes for ensuring successful villages, towns and cities. Towns and cities are diverse in character, reflecting history, scale, recent economic fortunes and locations. Each contains many contrasting areas. The way forward needs to be founded in an understanding of the past, the present and the pressures for future change. Furthermore, urban renaissance requires more than the restoration or construction of buildings. The urban renaissance should be a culturally driven redevelopment, creating safe, vibrant, interesting spaces for communities to live in with good quality services and cultural and leisure activities. A better quality of life should be delivered by changing the welfare culture to one build on work and security for those who can, and security to those who cannot.

Many strategies for emerging construction contractor development that are based on instruments such as targeted procurement have generally failed to empower emerging contractors because they are implemented without well-defined skills transfer frameworks. Emerging contractors continue to be regarded by construction clients and suppliers as a high commercial risk area and this presents further barriers to meaningful property development. Related to this is the lack of clear policy targets against which to measure the effectiveness of contractor support programmes. Furthermore, the majority of current support initiatives lack an integrated programme strategy. Interventions tend to be characterised by inadequate preparations, poor needs assessments and an inadequate understanding of the development needs of emerging contractors. This is evident by discontinuances, unstructured training approaches, ad-hoc mentorship, inadequate monitoring and evaluation that promote unsustainable skills transfer. The Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) has put in place a training and mentoring programme that would result in the development of emerging contractors into sustainable business enterprises. The impact of the programme may be measured to determine the overall effectives of the programme in delivering developed and sustainable contractors to the construction industry. The above mentioned factors identified lead to the following problem that is addressed by the research: The problem statement addressed by the study is how to develop a holistic approach towards integrated skills development for emerging construction contractors, by developing a model that can be managed with quantitative and measurable outcomes.

The complex nature of the construction industry calls for an effective claims management system which is supported by Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR). Research indicates that ADR is not applied effectively in the industry, which raises the question as to the competence levels of practicing professionals in the role of ADR facilitator. The purpose of the study was to identify the requirements for effective ADR practice and to determine the competence levels of practicing professionals facilitating ADR in the South African construction industry. The findings of the research are intended to determine possible education and training requirements which may be employed to ultimately improve the contribution of ADR in the industry. A literature review was conducted to identify the requirements for effective ADR practice based on international standard practice. A questionnaire based on identified competencies was then developed and administered amongst the practicing professionals in order to determine current knowledge, skills, attributes and experience levels of practicing professionals in the South African construction industry. The findings of the data analysis were plotted on a competence model which reflected the key competencies as identified in the literature review. The competence models reflected the competence levels of practitioners in the industry. A situational competence model was developed illustrating the development process required for ADR facilitators in the construction industry through which professionals should progress in achieving competence however; the model is based on the current situation and will be subjected to variations as the situation changes. The situational competence model suggests that practicing professionals progress through four stages before becoming fully competent in facilitating ADR. Respondents were also grouped into age groups in order to address education and training compared to experience gained. This was intended to determine at which point competence is achieved by comparing the state of the new entrants to the industry with the more experienced professionals. Qualitative data was obtained by means of interviews and open ended questions posed in the questionnaire provided the information required to assess the current situation in the industry. The findings indicated that the problem areas tend toward the the application of the methods, skills and techniques however, respondents consider the application of the fundamentals of ADR important and they are applied effectively as required for successful dispute resolution. The high ratings on the self analysis in terms of the active listening competence raised the question as to the possibility that there may have been a degree of misinterpretation regarding the effective application of this competency. This response also suggests the possible influence of response bias. It was concluded that ADR in the industry is not applied according to the requirements of standard practice and according to the data analysis of the self evaluation; practicing professionals do not meet the requirements for competence in the practice of ADR. It was also identified that experience needs to be addressed in order to achieve competence. Practicing professionals are knowledgeable of the requirements for effective practice, however, experience is lacking. A further need which was identified in practice was for conciliation to be facilitated on site in order to minimize the risk of dispute, in the project environment. The findings support the need for more emphasis to be placed on ADR in the construction industry in the form of education, training and mentorship.