INSTRUCTOR: Professor Iris D. Tommelein

OFFICE HOURS:

CLASS TIME:

TEAM ASSIGNMENTS:

1. ARCH Garth, CHIANG Pei-Yao, CORDELL Robert Joseph
2. EARLY Matthew, ELFVING Jan, KIM Changwan
3. GUGGEMOS Angela, ROBERTSON Jeff, LOU Kwan (Roy)
4. HASHIUCHI Hiroshi, LI Annie, KIM Young
5. JUNG Michael, HOLZEMER Matthew William, SU Quan Chi
6. STOCKWELL Tim, MORENO Ericka, KIM Sang
7. YI June, BENNE Beatrice, WHELTON Michael, FLORENTIN Ilia

GUEST LECTURERS

• Dr. Florian Aalami, BuildPoint Corporation, 17 November 1999
• Larry Chen, BidCom, 22 November 1999
• Pepi Edlinger, Bechtel Corp. and BlueLine OnLine, 29 november 1999

A FEW INTERESTING WEB PAGES (in alphabetical order):

• AEC Media Advertising Network

  Quote from their site: "The Worlds Largest Online Advertising Network for the Architectural, Engineering, Construction, Home Improvement, Do It Yourself and Real Estate Industries.
  Delivering over 2 million banners to over 350,000 unique users every week. Our Network of 40+ industry specific websites reaches 6 out of 10 users within the Architectural, Engineering, Construction, Home Improvement and Do It Yourself Communities."

• BidCom

  Quote from their site: "BidcomTM, Inc. is the building industry's first e-business services provider. Bidcom has created a complete e-business environment that provides a central hub on the Internet for building industry professionals to collaborate, conduct commerce, receive industry news and access valuable industry content."

• Blueline Online

  Quote from their site: "Blueline Online Inc. is the premiere portal for the $3.2 trillion global Architecture, Engineering & Construction (AEC) industry - the focal destination on the Internet that AEC professionals use to transact business and conduct e-commerce. Today, Blueline Online is the leading online project Extranet service provider for AEC firms of all sizes including AEC industry leaders, professional services management, construction information, insurance and other players in the AEC domain. Utilizing Blueline Online solutions, AEC customers can accelerate time to market, increase revenues, reduce risk and control costs."

• BuildPoint - start-up in Summer 1999

  Quote from their site: "BuildPoint is the e-commerce solution for the construction industry. By harnessing the power of the Internet, BuildPoint provides owners, general contractors, subcontractors, distributors, and manufacturers with a fast, reliable, and secure way to manage their bidding and procurement activities.
  Unlike generic e-commerce solutions, BuildPoint has been designed from the ground up with the needs of the construction industry in mind. Our management team includes several construction industry veterans, each contributing more than 20+ years of industry experience. This knowledge and experience has driven the development of an e-commerce solution that will soon transform the way construction professionals conduct business."

• buzzsaw.com (posted 11/21/99)

  Quote from their advertizing material: On November 1, Autodesk unveiled its most ambitious venture yet -- buzzsaw.com(TM). It's the new online business hub for the architecture, engineering, and construction industries.

  A faster, more flexible way to build.
  buzzsaw.com streamlines workflow with secure project hosting, web conferencing, even real-time project tracking. Which means less duplication of effort. Few visits to the site. More profit all the way around. Stay on track and under budget.
  Now every project team member has access to the right drawings and data, right when they need them. It's proof you don't need reams of paper to keep everyoe on the same page. E-building, e-commerce, e-everything.
  Manufacturers, service bureaus, and suppliers are already signing on to offer their wares at buzzsaw.com. And more key partnerships are forming every day. Get in on the ground floor.
  You can access buzzsaw.com and subscribe to the project hosting service today -- without cost of obligation. Set up a secure site for your next project. Share buzzsaw.com with your colleagues. Get down to business with your preferred contractors. Explore the e-opportunities buzzsaw.com presents. After all, you don't just visit buzzsaw.com. You build on it.

• Construction Education Connection

  This site is a great resource with numerous links to all kinds of construction and construction related web resources.

  Quote from their site: "The Construction Education Connection is dedicated to the faculty and students of construction programs worldwide as well as the construction industry. This site brings together many different construction web sites for those performing research or just searching for construction information. It is the goal of the Construction Education Connection to maintain an active international website that will change with the needs of the users. If you have any suggestions or important links, please email the webmaster."

• Contractors eSource - start-up in Summer 1999

  Quote from their site: "Contractors eSource streamlines procurement searches by converting those hundreds of calls into one simple transaction on the Web. Use Contractors eSource to identify sources and costs for:

  • Building Materials
  • Construction Equipment
  • Construction Finance
  • Construction Insurance
  Contractors eSource matches up buyers and sellers. It does this swiftly, efficiently, and confidentially. As a contractor, you decide whether to release pre-sale contact information to suppliers. As a supplier, you decide whether or not to respond to a request.
  For both contractors and suppliers, the process is simple: the contractor posts a description of desired materials using eSource's standardized, automated form. eSource matches the request with its database of registered suppliers and sends e-mail to suppliers in the contractor's region. Suppliers respond by clicking an eSource link embedded in the e-mail and submitting quotes. eSource provides a quote summary to the contractor.
  For all parties, valuable time is saved and the process of request and response is more easily managed. Items can be posted, quotes can be checked and requests can be fulfilled on any day at any time. In one transaction, contractors reach multiple suppliers. Without advertising, suppliers reach a ready market."

• BuildSite - start-up in Summer 1999

  Quote from their site: "BuildSite Delivers Electronic Literature Fulfillment for Construction Product Distributors." Their site is just a front page for now.

• Materials and Supply-chain Management
• Process Flow Modeling and Re-Engineering
• Lean Construction and Construction Waste
• Discrete-event Simulation
• AEC CAD Models, Databases, and Communication Processes
• Palm-top and Pen-based Computers
• Electronic Data Interchange
• Web-based Interfaces and e-Commerce
• Wireless Communication
• Commodity Codes and Bar Coding
• Site Safety, Layout, and Logistics
• Laser-based Positioning Systems

PREREQUISITES: Senior (with approval of instructor) or graduate standing.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

The course covers the art and science of applying engineering and construction expertise from the working task level. It focuses on supply chain management and site logistics. Actual projects will be studied in terms of specific design, materials management, and construction practices and use of equipment and computer-based technologies.

Major topics include: lean construction principles; materials management including procurement and control; process simulation and flow improvement; constructibility, subcontractor and supplier management; quality and productivity improvement; just-in-time, just-in-case, and just-right delivery practices; use of palm-top computers and wireless communication to expedite data collection, transfer, and dissemination; bar coding for material identification; and construction facilities and site development.

Students should read papers assigned in the Course Reader in advance of the designated lecture. This Reader can be purchased from Copy Central at 2483 Hearst Avenue, Berkeley, 510/849-0700. The Reader will be available as of Monday 8/26/99 at a cost of about $40. Additional study material will be handed out during class time.

Those wishing to cover the course material in even greater depth may consult the reference materials available at the reserve desk in the Engineering Library or electronically (see below).

• DETR (1998). Rethinking Construction. Report of the Construction Task Force to the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, on the scope for improving the quality and efficiency of UK construction. Dept. of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR), Eland House, Bressenden Place, London, SW1E 5DU, 16 July 1998.
• Koskela, Lauri (1992). Application of the New Production Philosophy to Construction. Tech. Report Nr. 72, Center For Integrated Facility Engineering, Stanford University, September, 75 pages.
• BRT (1983). More Construction for the Money. Summary Report of the Construction Industry Cost Effectiveness Project. The Business Roundtable, New York, NY, 96 pp.
• Martinez, J.C. (1996). STROBOSCOPE State and Resource Based Simulation of Construction Processes. Ph.D. Diss., Civil & Envir. Engrg. Dept., Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 518 pp.

You'll need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to read the documents marked by . Acrobat Reader can be obtained for free by clicking here: .

• FMI (1999) 1998-1999 U.S. Markets Construction Overview. FMI Corporation, Raleigh, NC.
• Harris, R.B. (1998). 1999 Nova Award Nomination Summaries. Construction Innovation Forum, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI. (2 copies)
• Sample (1999). Sample Construction Forms. 18 pages. (2 copies)
• Tommelein, I.D. (1997). "Discrete-event Simulation of a Pull-driven Materials-handling Process that Requires Resource Matching: Example of Pipe-spool Installation." Technical Report 97-2, Constr. Engrg. and Mgmt. Program, Civil and Envir. Engrg. Dept., U.C. Berkeley, March, 53 pages.

ASSIGNMENTS, EXAMS, AND GRADING:

Assignments are due at the start of class on the set due date. Group term projects are due on 12/1/99. There will be one in-class quiz on Thursday 11/17/99 (study all up to and including bar coding). The final exam is optional; students MUST let instructor know if they want to take it by 11/29/99.

| Prof. Iris D. Tommelein | CE&M Program | U.C. Berkeley |