同步模式與語音技術應用於工地資料蒐集改善之研究

Abstract

了解工地現場的施工狀態是影響專案成功與否的基本要素。從監工人員傳回的作業進度報告，專案管理者可以了解專案執行狀況與預防可能發生的作業錯誤。這個過程不僅形成資訊交換，也凸顯出工地資料蒐集(on-site data collection)與資訊流(information flow)之間的重要性。不確實的工地資料蒐集使得專案管理者無法正確地獲知作業進行狀況，更可能因此執行錯誤決策或是產生不當排程。 過去多數的監工人員除了利用紙、筆進行工地資料蒐集外，一般仍然要透過手動程序和資料轉換去完成相關的報表。這類人工形式的工地資料蒐集容易造成的問題包括：耗時的文書作業、產生錯誤的紀錄、降低工作效率、包含重複進行的程序和延遲回報時間等。近年來，為了改善這些問題，許多營建公司開始應用資訊技術(information technologies, IT)於工地資料蒐集上。相關研究結果亦顯示出資訊科技形式的工地資料蒐集提升了工作效率、減少了作業時間和提供較佳的專案成員合作機會。 然而，對於資訊技術形式的工地資料蒐集而言，作業過程中所形成的交互依賴關係和程序間的存在變數仍然有改善的可能性。例如，多數的資訊技術都需要監工人員用手去操作儀器才能蒐集資料。但是，監工人員可能正在進行其他程序或是暫時離開儀器。如此一來，資料蒐集因為不能立即地被完成而形成非連續的資料流。若要保持連續的資訊流，監工人員必須暫時停止正在進行的作業程序。因此，本論文將著眼在工地的資料蒐集過程，並提出相關改善方法。 本論文應用限制理論(theory of constraints)與精簡營建(lean construction)的觀點，提出一個同步模式(synchronization-based model)來改善工地資料蒐集所面臨的通訊鴻溝(communication barriers)與非同步作業(asynchronous operations)之問題。在第一階段的模式應用分析中，上述問題經由本論文所提出模式中的五個執行階段獲得改善，但整體系統仍然面臨勞工成本未明顯下降與非同步資料輸入複雜等問題。因此，本論文依據XHTML+Voice規範整合無線(wireless)與語音(speech)技術，並建構一個應用系統來改善上述問題。本論文除了成功地應用同步模式於改善工地資料蒐集的作業流程外，所建構的應用系統亦有效地增進監工人員與應用裝置的合作。測試結果顯示因為工作時間與執行程序的減少，整個流程的工作效率、作業時間與程序效益也獲得提升。整體而言，本論文所提出的同步模式，除了論文中所分析的工地資料收集課題外，對於其他的營建管理議題，例如現金流量管理、資源浪費改善、進度管理與勞工需求分析等，亦可提供另一創新的改善方法和有用的參考依據。

Comprehending activity and site status is essential to successful project management. Based on the activity progresses reported by construction workers, project managers can control project schedules and prevent activity problems. This procedure forms information exchange and flow, and addresses the interdependency between on-site data collection and information flow. Unauthentic on-site data collection not only causes a lack of activity information but also produces many management problems. Previously, besides recording activity details with pen and paper, most construction workers needed to complete site reports through manual operations and data transfer. This condition easily accompanied with time-consuming paperwork, erroneous site details, decreased productivity, repeated data collection processes, and delayed response times. To resolve the above problems, more and more construction companies value the feasibility of applying information technologies (IT) in on-site data collection in recent days. According to the relative study results, IT-based on-site data collection offered increased activity productivity, lower working time, and better cooperation among project participants than manual on-site data collection did. However, new emerged interdependence and variations for IT-based on-site data collection still have room to increase their efficiency. For example, most construction workers used their hands to operate electronic devices. When busy with other processes (e.g., transporting materials), construction workers had difficulty to simultaneously perform data entry. In this condition, information flow seemed to be discontinuous and causes information barriers. If this flow will be continuous, construction workers have to suspend these ongoing processes. This study thus focuses on the procedure of IT-based on-site data collection. Based on the “theory of constraints (TOC)” and lean construction philosophies, a synchronization-based model was proposed to smooth activity flows. When this study applied this model for the examined case study, communication barriers and asynchronous operations were improved through five stages and six measurements. After synchronous on-site data collection was formed, the additional labor cost and asynchronous data entry were main issues for continuous improvement. According to the XHTML+Voice standard, this study developed wireless-supporting and speech-enabled applications for simplifying data production and completion. Besides the proposed model was applied for on-site data collection improvement successfully, the developed applications enhanced the cooperation between construction workers and application devices. The test results showed that construction workers obtained the increased productivity, time efficiency and comparative work efficiency due to the decreased lead processes and operation time. In sum, this study represents novel approaches and a helpful reference for various construction management issues including cash flow, resource waste, progress control, and labor requirements.