Concurrent engineering readiness assessment tool for construction

The adoption of concurrent engineering (CE) within the software and manufacturing industries has led to significant benefits including improved time-to-market, reduced production cost, improved product quality and active customer involvement. The implementation of CE within construction is also expected to result in positive changes within the industry, as CE has the potential to make construction projects less fragmented, improve project quality, reduce construction time and cut total project cost. It is considered essential within other industries to carry out a readiness assessment of an organization before implementing CE. Therefore, to facilitate the adoption of CE within the construction industry, it is necessary to assess the extent to which organizations in the industry are ready for CE. This would help an organization to view its current performance and areas of weakness so that corrective action could be taken. This paper discusses CE and its implementation within the construction industry and highlights the need for CE readiness assessment. It argues that there is a need for a specific readiness assessment tool for the construction industry and describes the development of a CE readiness assessment model for the construction industry—the BEACON model. The benefits of using the BEACON model are discussed and strategies and considerations for CE implementation are outlined.