| Author: | Luo, Lizi |
| Title: | Modelling risks in the supply chains of prefabricated building projects in Hong Kong |
| Advisors: | Shen, Qiping Geoffrey (BRE) |
| Degree: | Ph.D. |
| Year: | 2019 |
| Subject: | Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations Construction industry -- China -- Hong Kong Buildings, Prefabricated -- China -- Hong Kong Business logistics |
| Department: | Department of Building and Real Estate |
| Pages: | xiii, 201 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Prefabrication is an effective strategy to improve the working conditions and eventually the quality control during construction. The various benefits of prefabrication include cost and time savings, decreased labor demand, enhanced environmental performance, and improved quality management. These attractive superiorities have led to the extensive use of prefabrication worldwide. Prefabrication has been applied in the Hong Kong construction industry since the mid-1980s for the purpose of addressing the serious housing shortage. The Housing Authority's encouragement and investment have largely stimulated the technology development, with increasing use of prefabrication being observed from the percentage of precast volume and the types of precast elements. Effective supply chain management (SCM) is the key in the successful delivery of projects using prefabricated components. However, the supply chains of prefabricated building projects (PBP) are considered to be complex because of the multiple complexities in the organization, task and information aspects. Various problems exist in the supply chain of PBP and result in a series of supply chain risks (SCR) which need to be deeply understood for the development of mitigation strategies. This study aims to examine the impacts of the dynamically interacting SCR on the performance of PBP in Hong Kong. The specific objectives include (1) To investigate the real situation of SCM for PBP, identify the embedded problems and analyze their root causes; (2) To identify stakeholder-associated SCR and analyze their interactions in the context of PBP in Hong Kong; and (3) To develop a dynamic model for assessing the impacts of the SCR on the performance of PBP. First, this research investigates the production, transportation, and assembly processes of a prefabricated building project in Hong Kong using advanced data collection technologies and document analysis. Real-time data of precast facades throughout the supply chain is obtained, which provides valuable implications about the real situation of SCM for PBP and the problems involved. Interviews with stakeholders from the case project are conducted to analyze the root causes of the problems. Then, literature review and interviews with experts are adopted to identify stakeholder-associated SCR in PBP. Social network analysis (SNA) and case study are subsequently carried out to analyze the interactions between the SCR in the context of PBP in Hong Kong. Critical SCR and links in the risk network are identified and prioritized. Finally, a dynamic model using the system dynamics (SD) is developed to assess the impacts of the SCR on the performance of PBP. Multiple performance of PBP are considered in the model, including inventory, schedule, and quality. This research contributes to the body of knowledge by providing an in-depth understanding of current SCM for PBP in a realistic way, with the real situation of multiple processes of a prefabrication supply chain being fully revealed. This research also fills a current knowledge gap by developing a dynamic social network to understand stakeholder-associated SCR in the context of PBP in Hong Kong and overcoming the limitations of traditional static risk analysis. In addition, this is the first study to comprehensively assess the impacts of SCR on the multiple performance of PBP, providing valuable implications about SCR management research in enhancing the performance PBP. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | open access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 991022244149003411.pdf | For All Users | 5.4 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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