EMPOWERING SMALLER
CONSTRUCTION ENTERPRISES
Mohan Kumaraswamy 顧 茂 翰
Christopher Miller
Motiar Rahman 莫提亚
Thomas Ng 吳 兆 堂
Ekambaram Palaneeswaran
Joseph Ugwu
Centre for Infrastructure and Construction Industry Development
The University of Hong Kong
12 Sep. 2006
BEECON 2006
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Overview
• Small & Medium Construction Enterprises
(SCEs) do most of the actual work, but receive
least attention.
• SCEs have little time or resources
• Most Industry initiatives target LCEs
• Paper tells Tale of two Initiatives
(1) Top-down Three-party initiative - for SCEs in
Wales
(2) Bottom-up broad-based initiative - for SMCs in
Hong Kong (Presentation focuses on this
project: called SMILE-SMC)
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SMILE-SMC
Strategic Management with Information
Leveraged Excellence (SMILE)
F O R
Small and Medium Contractors (SMCs)
SMILE- SMC
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Why SCEs (incldg. SMCs)?
• In UK – SMEs employ 62 % of workforce
• Value of sub-contrcated work can be 90%
(even 100 %!)
• So Industry is at the mercy SCEs
(and not just vice versa!)
• They contribute significantly to the ‘good,
bad and ugly’ in industry!
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BEECON 2006
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Large Nos. of SMCs
Source: C&SD, HKSAR
December 2003
Group
Employees
range
No. of Establishments
Cumulative %
A -D
1- 49
23,275
98.60
Also, A+B (1-9 employees)
= 88.2%
E+F
50 – 199
280
99.79
G+H
200 – 399
40
99.96
I-W
400 & Above
10
100.00
TOTAL
12 Sep. 2006
23,605
BEECON 2006
100.00
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SMILE-SMC was funded by:
SME Development Fund of Trade & Industry Dept.
and Faculties of Engineering & Architecture, HKU
and SUPPORTED by
•17 Partner Contractors (PCs)
•Other Collaborators & Supporters
– Assns. of ‘bigger’ and ‘smaller’ contractors
in HK incldg. E&M assns.
– Five overseas Universities/ R&D Centers
in Australia, Singapore and UK
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SMILE-SMC Main Objectives
• Identify information & knowledge gaps,
co-ordination barriers, etc.
• Identify, consolidate and develop
– good practices, critical success factors, appropriate
benchmarks etc.
• Develop
– framework & innovative tools
– SMC-friendly web-based ‘strategic information &
knowledge manager’
– to improve performance & increase competitiveness
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What was done
• Conducted relevant Research Investigations:
–
–
–
–
Pilot Needs Analysis with PCs
Questionnaire Survey in the industry
Workflow Analysis with PCs
Two focused surveys on
• Process Improvement & Information Library
• Discussed, consolidated and refined
– Information and ideas
– at regular full Team Meetings
• Formulated the SMILE-SMC System and collected
feedback from
- five Workshops
-
partners & supporters
overseas advisors
other seminars & fora
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SMILE-SMC Users
Subcontractors
Main Contractors
Trade Contractors
Suppliers
Others
Clients
Web-Based Interface
Computer
‘Wanted’ zone
‘Available’ zone
Discussion Forum
Information Library
Performance improvement
SMILE-SMC Uses
Potential Users and Uses of
SMILE-SMC System
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Some Open-to-All benefits
• Search business partners from among SMILESMC members
• Browse News & Events
– News Alert, e-Bulletin, etc.
• Some Downloads
• Self-Learning Package
• Search
– within SMILE-SMC and the Internet
• Browse Wanted & Available Zones
– to obtain and market resources
• Browse Information Library – general parts
– Present and up-coming tenders
– Recently awarded contracts
– One-stop source of other useful information
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Some Membership benefits (1)
• Publicize company information & track
record highlights in Member Zone
– to attract potential business partners
• Own up to five user accounts
– to access specific services for members
• Advertise/ post messages in Wanted &
Available Zones, to obtain and market
Resources, and initiate business Partnerships
• Participate in Discussion Forum
– to voice out your concerns
– exchange/ share views and ideas
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Some Membership benefits (2)
• Access to special information developed by
SMILE-SMC Team
– SMC-friendly formats on ‘how to apply for excavation
permits’ ‘reporting accidents’: Flowcharts, Pointers, etc.
– Consolidated information on Demolition, MPF, Noise
Permit, Insurance, Contractor Registration, etc.
SPECIAL DOWNLOADS - for above and following:
• Valuable services for Performance Improvement
–Strategic Knowledge Management
–Electronic Information Exchange
–Benchmarking
• Target … … ???
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DEVELOPMENT
AND GROWTH
Parent/JV/
subsidary
company
mutual
improvements
Other
companies
on same
projects
Internal
improvements
LESS WORK
OPPORTUNITIES
GREATER PRICE
COMPETITION
mutual
improvements
Subcontractors
Suppliers
IMPROVED INFORMATION &
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT THROUGH SMILE-SMC
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Membership & Services: Availability
• SMILE-SMC was launched on 01 March 2006
– trial run & free usage for 10 months i.e. to 31 Dec. ‘06
– through initial ‘trial membership’
• Initial ‘trial membership’:
– FREE and All are welcome
– See http://smile.hku.hk/
• Some services will not be available during ‘trial
membership’ period
– But will be available to ‘full’ members later
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The Welsh Connection
• Identifies need for ‘Innovations’ and their diffusion for
SCE improvements
• Innovation take-up depends on Supply Chain
relationships between LCEs and SCEs
• ‘Technology Transfer Networks’ are best to learn from
each other, exchange experiences & diffuse technology
• Recommends to set up an Organisation to be a ‘project
knowledge broker’ to drive innovation through industry
• Uni. of Glamorgan – Conceptual Framework for
Innovation Management in Welsh SCEs
- (a) Umbrella body with Govt., Research Instns. and
Industry (b) Education & Training (c) Fora & Conduits
(Networks & ‘Knowledge brokers’) as above
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CONCLUSION: Useful to combine the
‘Top-down’ approach in Wales with the
‘Bottom-up’ approaches in Hong Kong
For more info. on the Welsh initiative, email:
Dr. Chris Miller at cjmiller@glam.ac.uk
For more on SMILE-SMC: see http://smile.hku.hk/
or email: smilesmc@hku.hk
Centre for Infrastructure and Construction Industry Development
HKU
CIVIL ENGRG.
12 Sep. 2006
DEPT.
BEECON 2006
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