Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.This dissertation is concerned with the future of the construction industry in South
Africa and the ability to improve. Continuous growth is predicted through to the year
2015 and beyond, it is considered that to meet this challenge the South African
construction industry must achieve substantial improvement and change.
South Africa is a developing nation with ambitious objectives to improve social
development and growth through delivery of infrastructure and other areas including,
municipal development, hospitals, roads, water, electricity and government facilities.
It is essential that South Africa has a construction industry that can develop
capability and capacity to achieve sustainable growth.
Current management thinking acknowledges that the best management and
production principles are transferable. This is not a new concept or proposal, early
management and production theorists and applicators such as Frederick Taylor,
Frank B Gilbreth and Henry Ford all held the view that best practice techniques are
transferable in application.
By researching and presenting current successful management and production
practices it intends to identify principles that can be adopted for change and
improvement by the South African construction industry.
A current general review of the South African construction industry has been
undertaken to place it in context regarding the adoption of these best practice
principles.
The research will adopt a qualitative approach; it will be subjective and contain
descriptions of techniques, people interactions, observations and assumptions.
The principles addressed in this research are Benchmarking, Lean Production and
Supply Chain Management; they have been selected as current best practice and
as having significant use and proven continued success.
They are presented in a format to allow understanding of the principles now
developed and to illustrate via existing case studies, successes in application.
Conclusions are made on individual aspects, on common core practices existing in
all three principles and the current state of the South African construction industry.
Recommendations are made and further areas of research suggested