Análisis de la demanda y la oferta

The Research Center for Concurrent Engineering defines concurrent engineering as a methodology for developing new products efficiently by designing the product while

simultaneously considering all aspects such as manufacture, maintenance and support (CERC 2006, CII: An Investigation of Schedule Reduction Techniques 1996).

In the engineering and construction industry, concurrent engineering is a systematic approach to include all entities affecting or affected by the subject project in the planning, engineering, and design of the project (CII: An Investigation of Schedule Reduction Techniques 1996, pp. 34). Having multiple parties involved since the early design of a project enables addressing all angles of a project from project conception and the accumulation of knowledge and information so as to reduce downstream risks and anticipate constructability, operability, and maintainability expectations (de la Garza et al. 1994). Concurrent engineering therefore aims at identifying all project requirements and expectations at the earliest stage possible.

Concurrent engineering forces participants from all phases of the project total life cycle including owners, designers, construction managers, constructors, suppliers, operations and maintenance, and end-users, to play an active role from project’s conception. The input from different sources at early stages enables to consider all elements of the project life cycle including quality, cost, schedule, and user requirements (CERC 2006).

Highest 5 4 3 2 1 Relative contribution Lowest 0

Pre-planning Design Procurement Construction Start-up

Time (Project phase)

Figure 2. Impact of concurrent engineering over project life cycle (taken from CII: Schedule Reduction 1995, pp. 13)

b. Implementation

Concurrent engineering primarily aims at integrating the development of a product, which is achieved by the development of multifunctional or interdisciplinary teams in project’s early phases of conception. Project’s different phases are thus integrated through the knowledge and early input of the formed team (de la Garza 1994). The team should consist of experts from both upstream and downstream phases of the facility to be built.

Traditional project delivery methods entail that certain project activities are completed before the start of subsequent activities to assure that the information required in the downstream tasks is accurate and fully available. It is also commonly required under this delivery approach that the information is reviewed multiple times for approval before being transmitted to succeeding activities.

Concurrent engineering, on the other hand, requires end-users and other participants to play an active role in the engineering phase to reduce or eliminate the need of activity review and speed up the beginning of subsequent activities. New approaches to concurrent engineering go further with this theory by starting subsequent tasks earlier before all the required information becomes available leaning on the early involvement of the project team and in ongoing reviews and early decision-making. Fast-track is one such technique that aims at concurrent engineering principles seeking acceleration of project completion. Fast-tracking production recurs to the overlapping of design and construction, thus construction activities corresponding to early stages of a project are performed when later stages are still under design. Other approaches recur to concurrency philosophies specifically applied to the design and construction phases separately. Concurrent engineering applied to design consists of overlapping sequential design activities with the objective of speeding up design delivery, thus reducing overall project delivery time. The same approach is adopted in the construction phase. By overlapping sequential construction activities, the construction schedule can be reduced, leading to reduction in overall project duration. These and other similar techniques will be discussed in detail in later sections.

The first step to implement concurrent engineering is to establish the members that will form the design review working group. The team should have representatives from all the disciplines that compose the project scope. The objective of the team is to be present at the design stage to identify internal customers and involve downstream users during the design phase. Emphasis should also be given on obtaining input and involvement of the owner to achieve a strong buy-in to the design. The team is responsible for identifying during conceptual engineering the critical activities that make up project duration in order to center major focus and effort on achieving early completion of these. The team can develop a list of the objectives and improvements expected with the adoption of concurrent engineering practices, thus management should be oriented to meet the objectives. The team may also develop a schedule in order to proceed with the detailed design. A schedule of short-term goals and milestones enhances achieving

objectives in a timely manner, and regular meetings can be helpful for monitoring and

controlling how the objectives are being conveyed, and to develop new short-term milestones and plans. As the design develops, the team evolves as needed so to provide input with the required level of knowledge and detail.

c.

Advantages

The application of concurrent engineering in the early stages of a project has significant opportunities of improving and shortening overall project duration. If correctly implemented,

concurrent engineering allows great potential for reducing design errors due to the input of downstream knowledge. Concurrent engineering practices also minimize the need for excessive drawing revisions, which ultimately leads to shorter design delivery time. The input of different sources in the engineering phase generates an enhanced design that allows for improvement in the subsequent phases of the project including construction and start-up. Additionally, since a higher percentage of the engineering deliverables can be emitted to the field before the

completion of all design activities, the construction phase of the project can begin earlier and completed faster. Improved design development also generates fewer changes in design, reduced field rework, reduced project costs, and a better basis for efficient construction planning. Having multiple parties involved at the design of a project enables knowledge and information input which reduces potential risks on downstream phases and enhances constructability, and project operability and maintainability. Moreover, because concurrent engineering is a

philosophy product and market-oriented that encourages input of different disciplines including owners and end-users in the design phase, its implementation can also be translated into

increased customer satisfaction (CII: An Investigation of Schedule Reduction Techniques 1996). The different applications of concurrent engineering through activity overlapping also bring about potential benefits in the design and construction phases of the project in terms of project delivery time.

Finally, concurrent engineer facilitates a more appropriate allocation and share of risk between all parties involved in project’s overall life cycle.

d. Key elements to ensure a high degree of success

To assure and increase the chances of project success, concurrent engineering applications should be adopted at the very inception of project development and continue during the design phase. Concurrent engineering practices throughout construction can also lead to improved operations start-up.

Adopting concurrent engineering practices combined with aggressive schedules increases the opportunities for reducing project delivery time. Schedules should be demanding, but yet achievable to encourage the project team to behave under concurrent engineering philosophies (CII: Schedule Reduction 1995). In addition, demanding schedules enhance team’s motivation and effort to work toward the schedule goals. However if the schedule is not realistic, the lack of motivation will likely result in poor team’s performance, ultimately leading to unfavorable schedules.

Concurrent engineering success requires the team to operate as a single unit with focus on issues rather than individuals. Its success depends in common objectives and team work. Team

members need to not only have a clear understanding of the goals expected from the implementation of this technique, but also to adopt these as common goals and perform accordingly rather than acting under individual objectives of the group they represent (de la Garza et al. 1994).

Communication and collaboration are also key factors for team success. de la Garza et al. define three stages that lead a team to truly collaboration. These stages are: to define a common

1994). Adopting these concepts from the inception of the project increases the chances of team success.

The capabilities and compatibility of the individuals assigned to the team also have significant impact on the success of the concurrent engineering implementation. Experience and

interpersonal skills are important in project participants to interact with each other and achieve collaboration. Team members also need to have communication skills and to be flexible to adopt other participants’ views. Involvement of open-minded individuals that are willing to support new practices, even though it may mean changing the way they had done things in the past, also increases the likelihood of team success. Finally, team participants should be willing to accept responsibility for making decisions and should take an active role towards common goals. Locating the project team at a common site enhances face-to-face communication. Information technologies are also an important enabler of communication to link all participants. The generation of an appropriate communication infrastructure promotes faster and improved exchange of ideas, processes, and integrated design, and it also supports feedback from end- users (de la Garza et al. 1994).

Management support is very important to keep the project in progress as project team members constantly face decision-making based on partial or incomplete data. Decision making requires risk-taker managers, yet, decisions should also be taken prudently.

e.

Disadvantages

Concurrent engineering beliefs support the simultaneous execution of subsequent tasks, where the downstream activity is carried out before the preceding activity has been completed. The decision of beginning subsequent components without the required information is completed introduces potential risks of project changes and rework. Poor planning and lack of prudence can drive to poor decisions based on wrong assumptions, all of which can have negative impacts in project execution leading to rework and delays, and ultimately to increased costs.

f.

Applicability and use

Concurrent engineering principles are effective tools to achieve project delivery time reduction and to improve overall project performance. The greatest potential for project reduction however is for large, complex projects, where input from many sources is a must to develop and

implement the project (CII: Schedule Reduction 1995).

Major benefits can be obtained from applying concurrent engineering practices in the design phase, nevertheless, opportunities for its use can also be found within project’s concept development, procurement, and construction phase (CII: Schedule Reduction 1995). The potential for properly allocation and share of risk that concurrent engineering allows enhances its applicability as a tool to reduce project delivery time (CII: Schedule Reduction 1995).

g. Other special characteristics

The CII has devoted effort and time in the research of concurrent engineering as a technique for project delivery time reduction. Within its research, the CII identifies a series of common

barriers to the successful implementation of concurrent engineering which include (CII: Schedule Reduction 1995):

o Management reluctance to delegate authority and responsibility to team members in the decision-making process.

o Resistance to integrate suppliers before the design has been completed, which hinders their input into initial designs.

o Inadequate training for those who need knowledge in concurrent engineering processes. o Lack of measure to track the impact of concurrent engineering implementation.

o Aversion to the risk associated with the decision-making based on partial or incomplete data. o Failure to make proper allowances for changes after decisions have been taken.

o Lack of human resources to implement concurrent engineering at the beginning of the design phase.

In contrast, the willingness to share risk between owners, construction managers, designers, suppliers, and contractors have contributed to the adoption of concurrent engineering as a tool to reduce project delivery time (CII: Schedule Reduction 1995).

F. Overlapping sequential design activities based on concurrent engineering