RIMACON · Risk Management Software System for SMEs in the Construction Industry

Risk Management Software System for SMEs in the Construction Industry

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) especially in the construction sector are vulnerable, facing daily exposure to a wide variety of business risks, whilst they operate without a risk management system in place. There is abundant evidence both from informal market research and industry surveys to confirm that SMEs are continuously handicapped and therefore underperforming due to their inability to manage operational risk challenges facing them on a daily basis. RiMaCon consortium has been constituted to address this problem by developing a robust risk management software system that will proactively identify, analyse and manage a large variety of risks faced by SMEs in the construction sector. The main goal of the project was to implement a collaborative effort to promote the sharing of knowledge and competencies in a long-term strategic research partnership around the development, testing and validation of a cost-effective and user-friendly prototype Risk Management system for SMEs in the construction sector. This aim was to develop a system which could help improve productivity based on risk identification, analysis and proactive management. During the first two years on the project (Period 1) work took place to develop a conceptual framework model targeted at the construction sector based on the balanced score card (WP1, WP2). The second two years (Period 2) focused on developing the model for risk assessment/management (WP3), development of the Risk Management Prototype System (WP4) and Testing and Validation of the Risk Management Prototype System (WP5). During Period 1 the first two objectives were progressed through organised, systematic secondment of researchers between industry and academia during which primary and secondary data were collected and knowledge transferred. A post-doctoral researcher was recruited and was based at a partner site (VETTO) for 18 months. Research papers on various aspects of the study were published and presented at International conferences, a workshops were run for stakeholders in the construction sector and a risk management symposium proposed for Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing (2015) international conference. Project newsletters were produced for outreach activities and a functional website (www.rimacon.eu) developed to market the project. The RiMaCon model was developed and was based on the notions of project objectives (Time, Cost, Quality) that are affected by risk factors. A risk factor is any event or condition having an influence on any of the three project objectives. A hierarchical structure was used for quantification and ranking of risk factors. A literature survey was conducted to obtain a fully documented list of risk factors and a new computational model was developed. This included novel ideas such as; 1) Risk scoring based on elementary decisions on risk factors 2) Risk context creation based on attribute filters 3) Contextual scenario reordering 4) Individual scenario evaluation A test case was modelled and simulated and the entire computational framework was programmed in R language. Computors (CP) led on the development of the RiMaCon software prototype (WP4) during Period 2. CP worked on a very tight timescale having entered the project 2.5 years in following the withdrawal of THYME SOFTWARE. With each secondment of research from CP progress was made on two distinct fronts; the risk software model, and the user interface. A reliable prototype system was created built on robust technologies with an innovative interface and a database design that housed and fed the calculation model. The user interface developed is very flexible and allows for more changes in the future. VETTO led work on testing and validation of the prototype software (WP5) during Period 2. Due to unforeseen delays caused by partner changes, WP5 ran concurrently with WP4 as the Risk Management System Prototype was not fully ready. A literature review was conducted to understand the meaning of Testing and Validation, the process, and what activities were connected with the processes. Test activities were separated out from validation activities. Several secondments took place for WP5 and activities were split according to the characteristics, training, background and duration of secondments for the researchers involved. Researchers from UniWest and UniWolv spent time on secondment to VETTO. The literature review identified the standards for testing and the appropriate testing technique was adopted: Dynamic Testing Technique (ISO/IEC/IEE 29119-4). Test scenarios were then developed and applied. The data collected was sent to the Software developers (CP) for the elimination of errors discovered during testing. Due to time restraints the main validation was around the structure, architecture and functionalities of the SW. The idea was to verify if the SW was clever, user friendly and if in use by an SME it could give significant contribution in mitigation of risk exposure and save time in risk management. Questionnaires were also developed to be used by future users of the SW. In conclusion, the main result of WP5 is a clear list of the benefits for companies: - Project managers can understand how risks work in a project - Project managers can understand the range of the risks and make the appropriate considerations in the offer phase - Less time needs to be spent on risk management of a project; the first two levels of the software are very user friendly if you compare the old approach (Cost, Time, Quality matrix with probability & impact) - Risk data can be used and shared in different projects - Different PMs in the company can share the database and transfer knowledge to one another which is a good approach for the internal growth in SMEs Work over Period 2 has cumulated in the development of a robust, reliable web-based risk management prototype, based on open source software, targeting SMEs in the construction sector.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union