Reflections on the Challenges of the Ethiopian Construction Industry

Abstract

These  days  the  concept  of  competitiveness  in  the  construction  sector  has  gained  and  has  been  gaining unprecedented  importance.  International  construction  markets  are  considered  more  accessible  to  foreign firms  as  a  consequence  of  globalization.  Numerous  international  contractors  have  started  to  strategically develop  overseaspropositions  to  gain  new  revenue  and  minimize  domestic  market  risk.Construction industry all over the world is dynamic and the reason for this include clients’ growing demand, complexity of construction projects, advancement in technology and introduction ofnew innovation amongst others (Ali Parsa, Simon Huston, Anil Kashyap (2015)).

Construction  by  its  nature  is  a  complex  task  that  needs  tight  planning  and  control  system  and  tools throughout the project life. The progress of a construction can be affected by lots of factors. Koskela (1992)indicated  that  these  problems  are  poor  production  planning,  weak  project  management,  defective  design, poor quality, inferior working conditions, and low safety arrangement. Unfortunately, such problems resulta significant waste level for construction projects like lagging behind the schedule, poor quality work and cost overrun characterized by low productivity and limitedcompetitiveness(Fiallo c., M. & Revello P., 2002).

To  enhance  competitiveness  and  be  successful  in  the  dynamic  environment  requires  more  sophisticated management   tools   and   appropriate   Production   Planning   and   Control   (PPC)   tools. Currently, Lean Construction  (LC),  as  defined  by  the Lean  ConstructionInstitute “...the application of lean thinking to the design  &  construction  process  creating  improved  project  delivery  to  meetclientneeds  and  improved efficiency for constructors.â€;is  considered  as  a  good  approach  to  design  production  systems  and  diminish waste of resources and time as well as obtainthe maximum possible efficiency.The term 'lean construction' is  an  adaptation  of  lean  production  techniques  applied  to  the  construction  industry.  Very  broadly  it  can  be characterized as techniques aimed at maximizing value and minimizing waste.

It is very hard to achieve high level of reliability in constructionplan. Last Planner System (LPS), whichis a planning,  monitoring  and  control  tool  that  follows  lean  construction  principles has  been  developed  as  a useful  technique for production  planning  and  control  in  construction.  It  has  been  successfully  and  widely implemented  in  many  construction  projects  in  developed  countries  such  as  United  States,  Brazil, Chile  and Korea.  It  helps  to  increase  the  reliability  of  planning,  improve  production  performance  and  create  a predictable and smooth workflow bycoping with theuncertainties in design.

In Ethiopia,  there  are  anumber  of  different  level  contractors  who are involve  in road,  dam,  and  house building projects. However, thesecontractors are not involved on projects that require high competition and are  prone  to  the  problems  that  are  listed  above.  Therefore,  it  is  useful  to  identify  the  basic  strategies  that Ethiopian  contractors  can  proactively  adopt  to  respond  to  changing  internal  and  external  circumstances  in order to achieve more sustainable growth in the international construction market. In this context, it will be necessary for Ethiopian construction firms to adopt differentmethods of operation in order to be competitive in the global construction markets.