Centre for Infrastructure and Construction Industry Development The University of Hong Kong

1. 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 BEECON 2006

2. 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 (Presentationfocuses on this project: called SMILE-SMC) BEECON 2006

3. SMILE-SMC SMILE- SMC Strategic Management with Information Leveraged Excellence (SMILE) F O R Small and Medium Contractors(SMCs) BEECON 2006

4. 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! BEECON 2006

5. Large Nos. of SMCs Source: C&SD, HKSAR December 2003 BEECON 2006

6. SMILE-SMC was funded by: SMEDevelopment Fund ofTrade & 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 BEECON 2006

7. 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 BEECON 2006

8. Whatwas done • Conducted relevant Research Investigations: • Pilot Needs AnalysiswithPCs • 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 • Formulatedthe SMILE-SMC System and collected feedback from - five Workshops - partners & supporters • overseas advisors • other seminars & fora BEECON 2006

9. SMILE-SMC Users Subcontractors Main Contractors Trade Contractors Suppliers Others Clients Web-Based Interface ‘Wanted’ zone ‘Available’ zone Discussion Forum Information Library Performance improvement SMILE-SMC Uses Potential Users and Uses of SMILE-SMC System BEECON 2006

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11. Some Open-to-All benefits • Search business partners from among SMILE-SMC 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 BEECON 2006

12. 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 BEECON 2006

13. 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 … … ??? BEECON 2006

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15. 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 BEECON 2006

16. 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 & diffusetechnology • 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 BEECON 2006

17. 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 BEECON 2006