Productivity Improvement in the Construction Industry: A Case Study of Mechanization in Singapore

Globally, the construction industry is a key contributor to national economies including Singapore's. However, the industry is a serial productivity underperformer. The literature argues that mechanization, automation and use of advanced technologies help improve construction productivity, but real-world case studies are limited in number. This paper presents a case study of the introduction of mechanization to improve the level of construction productivity in Singapore. The case study under investigation was the production/fabrication of steel gratings, the conventional process of which depends heavily on labor with few workers present on site. The majority of these workers are migrant workers, which contributes to a significant social concern in Singapore. The case study organization introduced a more advanced laser cutting machine to the process. The project team observed the process of using the laser cutting machine, and quantitative and qualitative data were obtained. The researchers observed the processes, both conventional and updated, and recorded the data on both methods. The quantitative data were comparatively analyzed to investigate the relative quality, efficiency and productivity of the two methods. The data revealed that the mechanization process achieved a productivity improvement (or savings) in man-days of at least 78%. Material wastage was reduced, and moreover, less reliance was placed on migrant workers, which helped to mitigate the social concerns created by the influx of foreign workers to Singapore. The findings also shed some light on the positive influence of government incentives to improve the industry's productivity.