Value engineering

About: Value engineering is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1231 publications have been published within this topic receiving 10882 citations. The topic is also known as: VE.

Forecasting Private-Sector Construction Works: VAR Model Using Economic Indicators

Abstract: Accurately modeling and forecasting construction works completed by main contractors is pivotal for policymakers, who require reliable market intelligence to adjust or develop optimal labor and housing policies. Yet, despite its importance, limited research has been conducted to systematically develop approaches to investigating future trends of works completed in the private construction sector. Against this backdrop, this paper provides a study of the annual financial value of construction work in the private residential market. A vector auto-regression (VAR) model developed utilizes economic indicators (used by private financiers when making investment decisions) to estimate the value of annual construction work carried out by main contractors. Using data from the Hong Kong private residential market and constructing an accumulated impulse function, the developed model suggests that construction work completions in private residential markets can be explained by changes in economic indicators s...

Value Engineering in Egyptian Bridge Construction

Abstract: During the past two decades, various construction systems have been applied in building several highway bridges and elevated roads in Egypt. This paper deals with the use of value engineering principles to evaluate the selection of construction systems for major bridge projects in Egypt. The construction systems used in Egypt and their applicability under different site conditions were reviewed. The study includes eight construction systems and 14 bridge projects. The weighted evaluation technique was used to evaluate the construction system used for each project in comparison with other applicable alternatives. The most important criteria considered in this evaluation include construction cost, resource availability, ease of construction durability, construction progress rate, service life, design efficiency, and maintenance. The evaluation led to basic conclusions concerning whether the system used in each case was the best choice. A call is made for conducting value engineering studies in the early sta...

Determinants of Enterprise 2.0 adoption: A value-based adoption model approach

Abstract: Enterprise 2.0 technology has become popular in business, facilitated by Web 2.0 applications. Many researches on Enterprise 2.0 and related practitioners have recognized the importance of benefits and costs for individuals using Web 2.0. However, the effects of such benefits on enterprise adoption intentions are not discussed. To investigate this issue, this paper proposed a model to examine and understand the intention to adopt Enterprise 2.0. From the view of top management, three factors of importance were identified through a value-based adoption model (VAM), namely perceived benefits, perceived costs, and perceived value. An empirical survey was conducted to collect data, with 500 samples collected within 18 days, of which 150 were valid; a response rate of 30%. Partial Least Squares (PLS) was used to analyze the data and verify the model. The results showed that perceived value plays an important role in mediating the relationship between perceived benefits, costs, and adoption intentions, as well as exerting a significant influence on intention to adopt Enterprise 2.0. Moreover, this study identified major factors that may affect perceived value. It was also found that both perceived benefits and perceived costs have significant impacts on perceived value, and increase intentions to adopt Enterprise 2.0. Lastly, the implications of such findings were discussed.

Integral value engineering in design

Abstract: Construction industry clients demand certainty in project cost, quality and time. The inability of traditionally composed design teams to consistently deliver this suggests that their expertise is sometimes inadequate. As clients become more dynamic in the next millennium, they are likely to demand greater certainty when construction projects are implemented to support frequent revisions in their short term function. By establishing a collaborative working framework it is proposed that supply chains can be better managed to identify and design out potential problems using integrated, collaborative design processes. This proposal is being investigated by the Integrated Collaborative Design (ICD) research project, a collaboration of AMEC Construction, Loughborough University and eleven supply organisations, supported by the EPSRC and DETR through the IDAC Link programme. Focusing on one component of the ICD project, this paper reviews existing, reactive, value engineering methods and by identifying their inadequacies establishes the need for an integrated approach. A value management context is described which integrates value engineering into continuous design processes. The paper discusses the opportunities for utilising supplier design expertise by modelling design process information flows. It also identifies potential cultural barriers to the use of design processes incorporating integral value engineering techniques and describes the linkage to other ICD components that are addressing these issues.

The Patent-Classification Technology/Function Matrix - A Systematic Method for Design Around

Abstract: Patenting designs and products has been the foremost mechanism among companies to prevent competitors from copying them. 1 Through patent rights, a company can claim a large amount of compensation or royalty from its competitors when such designs or products are copied or used. However, the downside is that patents with wide scopes get comprehensively protected and as a result the possibility of such patents being infringed becomes very high. Thus, even where competitors do not mean to copy another company’s design or product, they might end up infringing them. To avoid infringing patent rights, designing around competitors’ patents becomes a matter of concern to other companies that develop and sell similar products. 2 The traditional methods of designing around are analogy and brain storming, and the more recent are some systematic methods like Value Engineering (VE), TRIZ and patent map, especially the technology/function matrix. These methods are often used for patent design around solutions. Value Engineering is a function oriented and systematic method for solving problems or reducing costs while improving performance and quality. 3 The word ‘value’ is the ratio of function to cost, so VE is improving design, construction, and costeffectiveness of product or service for increasing performance, reliability, quality, safety, durability, effectiveness, or other important features. 4 Value Engineering through function analysis is a structured problem solving process to enhance product or service