CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
(c) Launching a na onal drive for construc on research and development (R&D), as a rallying point for the local construc on industry, along the lines of that prac sed by top Japanese contractors. It is noteworthy that significant por ons of this threepronged approach are already in place, to some extent, in Singapore, through the ini a ves of BCA, to promote the adop on of Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) technologies, lean construc on, Building Informa on Modelling (BIM) as well as Virtual Design and Construc on (VDC). These should help to reduce the number of workers on-site as well as wastage, which should then alter the industry structure in Singapore, so as to achieve higher labour produc vity in construc on. It will also help to further enhance communica ons and coordina on in project management prac ces. The study also found that Singapore does not have a consistent core of local contractors to anchor and lead the industry, unlike in Japan where the group of top Japanese contractors (eg Obayashi, Kajima, Shimizu, Taisei and Takenaka) con nues to thrive and seems to have provided long-term stability and core leadership in upgrading the Japanese construc on industry, in the areas of produc vity and technology, through their campus-like research ins tutes as well as their emphasis on reducing wastage through lean thinking. Therefore, by pu ng in place a na onal drive for construc on R&D, such as the recent establishment of the Built Environment Research & Innova on Ins tute (BERII) and the Built Environment Technology Centre (BETC), by BCA, resources can be pooled to facilitate more impac ul R&D ac vi es at the na onal level, that will help local contractors to level up and strengthen their capabili es through technology licensing, with a long-term view of expor ng their services overseas. These various ini a ves by BCA, to drive innova on, will transform the construc on industry so that it will achieve higher labour produc vity. REFERENCES An T and Tsunemi W (2011): ‘Towards the sustainable construcon labor market in China: facilita ng subcontractor’s development’, Proceedings of the 27th Annual ARCOM Conference, 5-7 September 2011, Bristol, UK, pp 663-674. Ardi D and Cho bhongs R (2005): ‘Issues in subcontrac ng prac ce’, Journal of Construc on Engineering and Management, 131(8):866-876. Beck C (2012): ‘Problems of mul -layer subcontrac ng’, Small Business Chronicles, US (www.smallbusiness.chron.com) (accessed 16th May 2016). DBIS (2013): ‘Supply chain analysis into the construc on industry. A report for the Construc on Industry Strategy’, Department for Business Innova on & Skills (DBIS), UK, BIS Research Paper No 145.
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