Facilitating the application of information technology in a UK piling contractor

This thesis looks at the problems encountered with developing Information Technology (IT) applications in a UK piling company. It is based on both my experience working as a research associate and on five years experience working within the industry as an IT development engineer. The construction industry has a reputation for being conservative and is perceived by many as being slow to adopt modern technologies. I consider why this might be the case and look at possible contributory factors such as tendering practices and industry fragmentation. I also consider why, increasingly, the industry is being asked to adopt a manufacturing methodology and the role that the industry report by the Construction Task Force in 1998 has played in this. I conclude that while this approach has merit there is a need to balance the pressure for change from without the construction industry with a facilitation of innovation from within it. To demonstrate this I look at the history of the application of IT within a particular UK piling company over a ten year period. I consider why some developments were successful while others were not and highlight the difficulties encountered at various stages. Four major projects that were undertaken are presented as case studies and these are described in detail. I then attempt to derive a number of general guidelines for identifying and managing the kind of developments that are most likely to succeed. These may have application in other areas of construction.