Paper Title (use abbreviation if necessary)Surname of the first author Executive Summary The report is aimed towards identifying the major concerns that are being encountered by Hickory, the construction company in Australia, and devising an innovation for the increased productivity of the same. The report identified that the concerned organization faced a concern relating to the absence of effective safety and security measures for the employees while they lift or move heavy construction materials. The employees suffered several injuries that interrupted the productivity of the organization and the task flow. Therefore, the report identified an innovation that would support the organization in minimizing the challenges through the utilization of AI based processes. The report developed an idea on the benefits that the organization would gather from the innovation and the steps that might be considered by the same for improving the effect of the innovation in the organizational productivity. Therefore, the overall purpose of the report was to devise the current concerns that are being faced by the construction organization and thereby refer an innovation with the purpose of empowering its productivity in the markets. Modern Construction Projects – Fall 20192of 2Western Sydney University
Paper Title (use abbreviation if necessary)Surname of the first author INTRODUCTION The different innovations that are undertaken by the organizations are reliant on the identification of the concerns and the need for mitigating the same towards continuous improvement. The report will be developing an idea on one of the major concerns that were encountered by the construction based organization, Hickory, and the manner in which the innovations allowed the business in improving the productivity.The overall report would analyze the concern, the innovation and the outcome of the innovation that was planned by the organization for building on their sustenance related goals. Hickory, Building innovation Hickory, the construction company, was founded in the year 1991 and since then the organization developed a wider range of innovations with the purpose of improving the sustainable edge of the same while operating as per the common goals (Hickory.com.au 2020). The continuous innovation of the organization in the construction industry permitted in improving their market position and brand value. The organization has been always equipped with the idea of providing the clients with the best possible assistance and services which allowed the business in gaining a competitive edge over the existing market players. It has been observed that the concerned organization employs around 1000 employees till date which enabled the business in maintaining the continuity of operations while adhering to the changing client needs (Hickory.com.au 2020). THE PROBLEM The concerned organization, Hickory, face a significant concern that has been affecting the capability of the business in improving the productivity of the business while adhering to the growing demand of the clients. It has been observed that the organization has been encountering significant concerns in minimizing the workplace accidents which have greatly threatened the productivity of the business. According to a report published by the organization, more than 7% of the workforce are affected through the accidents and mishaps that often occurs in the site which affects the productivity of other 93% of the workforce (Hickory.com.au 2020). It has been also noted that most of the injuries and accidents are encountered while transporting the raw building materials in the building sites. The absence of any safety device has forced the laborers and the other workforce to handle the heavy raw materials manually which often results to head and neck injuries among the people. The workplace safety related incidents have affected the morale and motivation of the employees affecting the overall productivity of the organization within the scheduled deadline. According toTinoco, Sato and Hasan (2016)the workplace accidents or injuries in a construction project specifically results to override in schedule which might affect the interests of the company while retaining the goodwill of the clients. The organization has already taken the initiative of utilizing the automated cranes and hydraulic lifters for raising and transporting the heavy raw materials. However, the threat of workplace accidents still showed up in quick intervals. The absence of complete automation in the high risk jobs has thereby incapacitated the organization in minimizing the risk content. According to the chief contractor in the organization and the engineers, the concerned organization have tactically developed a partial automated system of lifting the heavy loads (Hickory.com.au 2020). Modern Construction Projects – Fall 20193of 2Western Sydney University
Paper Title (use abbreviation if necessary)Surname of the first author However, the partial automation often requires human intervention and in most of the times the human interventions over powers the machinery which have retained the existence of the workplace risks (Hickory.com.au 2020). An employee in the organization complained that there are situations when the hydraulic crane fails to operate and with the purpose of not losing the deadline, the employees are forced to work on the heavy projects manually, thereby increasing the chances of getting injured (Hickory.com.au 2020). Therefore, the injuries that are suffered by the workforce while operating as per the common goals of the business specifically demotivated the employees towards work. The absence of motivation among the employees affected the capability of the organization in improving their performance as per the deadlines that are provided by the clients for the projects.Poirie, Forgues and Staub-French (2016)observed that the productivity of the organizations are specifically reliant on the proactive engagement of the workforce in the different processes. In this connection, the absence of active engagement of the employees in the different processes has affected the capability of the organization in improving their productivity. The lower productivity of the organization affected the capability of the same in retaining the trust and loyalty of the clients while improving the overall market position of the same. Therefore, the increased workplace accidents and absence of effective measures on health and safety of the workforce have affected the capability of the business in forging continuous improvements in the productivity of the same. THE INNOVATION The concerned organization might take the initiative of devising a complete automated picker or crane with the purpose of minimizing the human intervention in the different activities. The lower amount of human intervention in the processes would allow the organization in minimizing the threats of accidents. The organization might take the initiative of consulting with the different stakeholders before implementing the automated apparatus with the purpose of gaining their consent on the idea. The chief idea of the project would be to develop an AI system which would automatically raise the loaded objects in the site. The enumeration of the AI systems in the construction projects would allow the organization in minimizing the risks of life threats to the workforce. According toLevin (2016), the development of automated technologies through the implementation of AI systems supports an organization in increasing their productivity while operating as per the common goals of the venture. The overall idea of the innovation is to install an AI powered machine that would minimize the human intervention while maneuvering the heavy loads with the purpose of minimizing the risk incidents.Kivilä, Martinsuo and Vuorinen (2017)opined that the AI fitted machines work independently, without the intervention of the humans, which would specifically enable in improving the capability of the business in developing the overall activities. Therefore, the development of the AI integrated machineries and units would allow the organization in improving the overall productivity of the same and minimizing the intervention of the humans in the overall process designs. OUTCOME – LIST SPECIFIC BENEFITS INCLUDING ANY DATA ON SAFETY, QUALITY, COST, OR SCHEDULE The outcome of the overall innovation related activity of the organization would support the business in increasing the effectiveness of the operations while minimizing injuries to the workforce. It has been observed that the employees or the laborers in the organization faced Modern Construction Projects – Fall 20194of 2Western Sydney University
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Paper Title (use abbreviation if necessary)Surname of the first author significant concerns due to the injuries they received while manually lifting or operating on the heavy activities. Therefore, the implementation of the AI system in the lifters or movers might support the organization in minimizing the instances and consequences of the life threatening risks in the workforce. The safety and security of the workforce while operating on their respective job roles would allow the organization in keeping the employees motivated and focused. Motivated employees, without the fear of getting injured would fetch the organization with a better opportunity of improving the productivity.Eriksson, Larsson and Pesämaa (2017)observed that the motivated employees specifically empowers the organizational operations while adhering to the common goals of sustenance. In this connection, the absence of risks related to safety and security of the workforce would significantly empower the operations of the employees while adhering to the productivity related needs of the venture. On the other hand, the quality of the operations and the time required for moving and transporting the heavy loads by hand held techniques might be manipulated through the application of the AI technology infused systems. The lower human intervention would help the organization in saving time while reducing the instances of injuries that might induce interruptions in the work process. Moreover, the lower human intervention in the overall process would also reduce the risk of errors that might affect the overall flow of the process while improving the quality of the operations.Tezel, Koskela and Aziz (2018)stated that the induction of complete automation related technologies allows an organization in reducing the chances of human related errors and save on the time which thereby supports in improving the quality of the output. Lastly, the automation of the process would allow the organization in improving the effectiveness of the business operations while minimizing the cost of operations. According toIshkov,Mishlanova and Grabovyi (2016), the minimization of costs of an organization is specifically based on the implementation of automated processes with lower human intervention based needs. The lower human intervention based needs would allow the concerned organization in reducing the expenses from the remuneration of the existing whole lot of laborers. The minimized amount of operational expenses would allow the organization in improving the rate of profitability by the end of the fiscal years. The operational efficacy in the organization allows a business in gaining a competitive edge while empowering their discrete propositions to the target audience. In this connection, the improvement of the operations and minimization of the operational costs, through the innovation, would allow the concerned business in improving the overall position of the same in the markets. The lower rate of risks involvement threatening the security and safety of the employees and the laborers through the implementation of the AI based machines would allow the organization in facilitating uninterrupted activities. According toChen et al. (2016), the uninterrupted flow of activities in a construction based organization ensures in upholding the tough deadlines while operating as per the common goals of the venture. Therefore, the application of the AI based innovative machinery would allow the concerned organization in maximizing their productivity while improving the client relations with the business. POSSIBLE IMPROVEMENT ON THIS INNOVATION The entire innovation based machinery that is being devised is based on the AI mechanisms resulting to complete automation. The complete automation of the machines would allow the organization in minimizing the dependence of the same on the human workforce. However, the malfunctioning of the AI based automated machinery might affect the overall operations of the business. According toWilliams (2016), the mal- functioning of the complete automated units might affect the objective of uninterrupted flow of operations of Modern Construction Projects – Fall 20195of 2Western Sydney University
Paper Title (use abbreviation if necessary)Surname of the first author the organization. It has been observed that the breakdown of the automation process or the malfunctioning of the AI systems require huge amount of time to recover which might affect the capability of the organization in adhering to the needs of the clients while meeting tight deadlines. In this connection, the concerned organization might take the initiative of developing partial automation based devices as backup which would require human interventions only when the completely automated processes are malfunctioning. The development of the backup processes would allow the organization in maintaining the continuity of the operations while adhering to the growing needs of the client and delivering the projects within the tight schedules. According toLyytinen,Yoo and Boland Jr (2016), backup planning or contingency planning are the important activities that are undertaken by the organizations with the purpose of improving the overall operations of the venture. Therefore, the different changes in the organizational operations, in association with the complete automation process, would be the contingency planning activities. CONCLUSION Therefore, from the above assessment it might be stated that the safety and security of the laborers might be considered as a primary concern that is being encountered by the concerned organization Hickory while operating s per the common goals of the business. In this connection, the report identified that moist of the employees and laborers encounter injury while lifting or moving heavy construction materials. In this relation, the innovation that has been reflected in the report is based on AI and its integration with different machineries like lifters and hydraulic pumps. The induction of AI apparatus in the common machines would allow the organization in minimizing the costs and reducing the threats to the lives of the people while maximizing productivity. The report also identified the developmental function that might be considered by the concerned organization as a contingency plan for the innovation with the purpose of maintaining the uninterrupted flow of operations of the organization. Modern Construction Projects – Fall 20196of 2Western Sydney University
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