Description

OECD statistics have long pointed to the global problem of low productivity of production systems in the construction industry as compared to other manufacturing sectors, which can innovate and digitize their production processes far more quickly due to the nature of production. The ongoing global issue of low productivity in the construction industry has inspired both research and societal efforts to identify construction-related methods and processes that are more effective. Increasing the productivity of the construction industry is a challenge for sharing theoretical and practical knowledge that supports research and development in the area of lean principles implementation in production methods in the construction industry. Doing so will enable waste to be reduced, quality to be improved, and productivity, predictability, and efficiency of construction projects to be increased.

The main principle of lean production is to identify, eliminate, or limit any activity that is characterized as waste and does not contribute to additional value while satisfying the customer’s needs and requirements as best as possible. In the context of lean construction, it’s the holistic pursuit of continuous improvements aimed at minimizing costs and maximizing value on a construction project.

There are a number of institutes and organizations dedicated to the research and application of lean principles in the construction sector that share activities aimed at supporting research on the suitability and effectiveness of individual lean construction tools including education or knowledge certification (Lean Construction Manager).

The applicant’s department – the Institute of Technology, Economics and Management in Construction – which is part of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Technical University of Kosice, has long been focused on educational and research topics related to a comprehensive view of improving the performance, efficiency and sustainability of the construction industry in terms of implementing innovative trends and concepts (BIM, Lean Construction, Modular and prefabricated construction, digitization and virtualization of construction project using augmented reality, automation and robotics of construction processes in accordance with the idea of Industry/Construction 4.0).

The EEA/Norway Grants provide an ideal scope to intensify bilateral relations within educational and research organizations that specifically deal with the above issues.

Initiative’s objectives

As both organizations are firmly oriented towards identical research and educational topics, the initiative’s objectives are to be divided into two areas.

  • In the research area, the aim of the intended bilateral activities will be to share the scope of research knowledge obtained at both organizations in the area of:
    • scheduling and management of construction projects,
    • concept development and concept processing in the early phase,
    • productivity in implementation with a focus on lean construction,
    • digitization of the construction process,
  • In the education area, with regard to the harmonization of the educational process according to the standards of the Slovak Accreditation Agency for universities based on the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area, the objective of the proposed bilateral activities involves sharing know- how in the field of forms and methods of teaching, learning and evaluation of study outcomes, which stimulate students to take an active role in the learning process.

Expected result of bilateral cooperation

Personal working meetings, which are planned three times during the implementation period – the initial meeting in Norway/Trondheim, the working meeting in

Slovakia/Košice and the closing meeting again in Norway/Trondheim, are the main prerequisite to reach the above initiative`s objectives. As part of the closing meeting, the Norwegian partner will arrange a meeting with representatives from several Nordic technical universities.

In order to reach the objectives in the research area, we expect to create prerequisites and agree on procedures for making joint research projects. With regard to specific research topics, discussed during working meetings, there will also arise opportunities for future work on joint publications in the form of comparative research and studies. Discussions concerned the joint international workshops planning or special sessions proposals as part of conferences on Lean Construction topic are also assumed.

In order to reach the objectives in the education area, we are in for workshops aimed at exchanging knowledge in this field, where we expect to share practical examples of teaching forms and methods, learning methods and methods of study results evaluation that stimulate students to take an active role in the learning process. In order to internationalize education, we expect to agree on procedures for reciprocal lectures for students at both universities as well as teacher and student mobility.

Sustainability of the initiative and results

Both organizations have long-term and permanent experience with various forms of domestic and foreign projects targeted on the above-mentioned theme.

Moreover, the age structure of the participants involved in the bilateral initiative, their identification with the initiative’s objectives, and their enthusiasm both in the areas of research and education are good prerequisites for the sustainability of the initiative.

The results will appear both in all target areas (research and education) and at all levels. The results of the planned bilateral initiative will be beneficial for both organizations regarding all levels of education, for example, in the form of:

  • learning student mobility,
  • training student mobility,
  • teaching mobility,
  • researcher mobility,

and research activities as well:

  • preparation for and participation in joint international projects
  • preparation and publishing of joint research results
  • invited participation in the international conferences or conferences for young scientist organized in both organizations countries

The pre-defined initiative aimed at bilateral relations intensification presents an ideal prerequisite for maintaining and developing the partnership between the academic institutions, namely the Technical University of Košice and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.