Construction materials usually constitute a major portion of the total cost in a building construction project. Materials management is made problematic by materials shortages, delays in supply, price fluctuations, damage and wastage, and lack of storage space. Despite the potential benefit of ICT, convincing construction organisations to embrace its use and implementation has proved a difficult task. This study seeks to identify the implementation of ICT for materials management processes in construction projects. The findings from the case studies reveal that the implementation of ICT in the materials management processes for construction projects in Malaysia is at early stage. Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet and handheld devices are found to be the common ICT tools adopted in the materials management processes. The main barrier is found to be the cost involvement at the initial stage or overall implementation of ICT in the materials management processes. Finally, this paper concludes the finding from interviews towards the ICT implementation of materials management in the construction projects.
Robotics is one of the advanced technologies that is used in various aspects of the construction industry to improve the efficiency and the performance of construction projects. The adoption of construction robotics technologies is significant strategies to maintain and improve productivity in the construction industry. Even though the implementation of construction robotics technologies can improve productivity, many Malaysian contractors do not embrace the existence of robotic technology and still practicing the traditional method due to many challenges. Therefore, the objectives of the study were to investigate the challenges of the implementation of construction robotics technologies in the Malaysian construction industry and the improvement method. The data of the research were achieved through a quantitative method, which questionnaires were distributed to 180 G7 contractors in Kuala Lumpur. Subsequently, 50 valid responses were retrieved and the collected data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). The findings revealed that the two (2) main challenges of the implementation of construction robotics in Malaysia were the high cost to maintain and update process the technologies. The finding also showed that strategic partnership with a high technology company was the best method to improve robotics implementation. In conclusion, this study is believed to be useful information in improving the implementation of robotics technologies in construction projects particularly around Klang Valley.
Abstract. Nowadays development of construction in Malaysia has been effect to the increasing of construction waste. Additionally, the production of construction waste from construction projects has given negative impact to the environment especially in illegal dumping activities. The increasing number of illegal dumping activities from construction projects in Malaysia gives a sign that Malaysian construction waste management needs to be concerned. To date, a comprehensive criterion for construction waste management, particularly for a construction project in developing countries is still not clearly defined. Therefore, construction waste management in Malaysia needs further research. The objectives of this paper are to explore illegal dumping activities, and discuss the contributory factors of illegal dumping activities. Hence, this research conducted an interview with expertise in the area of construction waste management in order to scrutinise illegal dumping activities in Malaysia. The data from semistructured interviews were analysed by content analysis. Findings from this research will help to find out the strategies to reduce the illegal dumping activities. The final result also expected to increase the awareness and better solution for reducing illegal dumping activities in construction projects among construction players.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.