iv

OPTIMIZING PRODUCTION LINE OF IBS BY USING

SIMULATION MODEL

ALI MOHAMMED ALASHWAL

A project report submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the award of the Degree of

Master of Science (Construction Management)

Faculty of Civil Engineering

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

November 2006

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

BORANG PENGESAHAN STATUS TESIS

JUDUL: OPTIMIZING PRODUCTION LINE OF (IBS) BY USING SIMULATION MODEL.

SESI PENGAJIAN: 2005/2006

Saya: ALI MOHAMMED MOHAMMED ALASHWAL.

(HURUF BESAR)

Mengaku membenarkan tesis (PSM/Sarjana/Doktor Falsafah)* ini disimpan di perpustakaan Universiti Teknologi Malaysia dengan syarat-syarat kegunaan seperti berikut:-

1. Tesis adalah hakmilik Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. 2. Perpustakaan Universiti Teknologi Malaysia dibenarkan membuat salinan untuk tujuan pengajian

sahaja. 3. Perpustakaan dibenarkan membuat salinan tesis ini sebagai bahan pertukaran antara institusi pengajian

tinggi.4. **Sila tandakan ( )

SULIT (Mengandungi maklumat berdarjah keselamatan atau kepentingan Malaysia seperti yang termaktub di dalam AKTA RAHSIA RASMI 1972)

TERHAD (Mengandungi maklumat TERHAD yang telah ditentukan oleh organisasi/badan dimana penyelidikan dijalankan

TIDAK TERHAD

Disahkan oleh

(TANDATANGAN PENULIS) (TANDATANGAN PENYELIA)

ALAMAT TETAP: PROF. MADYA DR. ABDUL KADIR Yahsob School St. – Yareem – Ibb –

Republic of Yemen. (Phone +9674501550). MARSONO

NAMA PENYELIA

TARIKH:

NOVEMBER 2006

TARIKH:

NOVEMBER 2006

CATATAN: * Potong yang tidak berkenaan. ** Jika tesis ini SULIT atau TERHAD, sila lampirkan surat daripada pihak berkuasa /organisasi erkenaan dengan menyatakan sekali sebab dan tempoh tesis ini perlu dikelaskan sebagai SULIT atau TERHAD.

Tesis dimaksudkan sebagai tesis bagi Ijazah Doktor Falsafah dan Sarjana secara penyelidikan, atau disertasi bagi pengajian secara kerja kursus dan penyelidikan, atau Laporan Projek Sarjana Muda (PSM).

Status Declaration Letter

Date: November, 2006

LibrarianPerpustakaan Sultanah Zanariah UTM, Skudai Johor

Sir,

CLASSIFICATION OF THESIS AS RESTRICTED

OPTIMIZING PRODUCTION LINE OF IBS BY USING SIMULATION MODEL

ALI MOHAMMED ALASHWAL

Please be informed that the above mentioned thesis entitled “OPTIMIZING PRODUCTION LINE OF IBS BY USING SIMULATION MODEL” be classified as RESTRICTED for a period of three (3) years from the date of this letter. The reasons for this classification are

(i) COMMERCIALIZATION OF RESEARCH PRODUCT (ii) NEGOTIATION STAGE WITH UTSB SDN. BHD. AS BUSINESS

CONSULTANT (iii) NICHE IBS PRODUCT COMPONENTS ARE WAITING TO BE

MANUFACTURED

Thank you.

Sincerely yours,

ASSOC. PROF. DR. ABDUL KADIR MARSONO M46-23807-5531606013-7257737

iii

“We hereby declare that I have read this project and in my opinion this project is

sufficient in terms of scope and quality for the award of the degree of Master of Science

(Construction Management) by taught course.”

Signature : …………………………………….

Name of Supervisor I : ASSOC. PROF. DR. ABDUL KADIR

MARSONO

Date : November 2006

Signature : ……………………………………

Name of Supervisor II : ASSOC. PROF. DR. MASINE MD. TAP

Date : November 2006

Signature : ………………………………………..

Name of Supervisor II : ASSOC. PROF. DR. AHMAD MAHIR

MAKHTAR

Date : November 2006

v

“I declared that this project report entitled “OPTIMIZING PRODUCTION LINE OF IBS

BY USING SIMULATION MODEL” is the result of my own research except as cited in

references. This report has not been accepted for any degree and is not concurrently

submitted in candidature of any degree”.

Signature : …………………………………… Name : ALI MOHAMMED ALASHWAL

Date : November 2006

vi

Especially dedicated to my beloved family

vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The author wishes to express his sincere appreciation to all who have helped

directly or indirectly in his Masters Project research work. The first gratitude is to Allah

for his prosperity and guidance. A big thank is to the project supervisor, Associate

Professor Dr. Abdul Kadir Bin Marsono, for his passionate assistance, and concern. With

his invaluable advices and superb directions, the author has successfully completed his

Masters Project. It is indeed a true honor and privilege for being able to work under the

supervision of such a dedicated and enthusiastic lecturer.

Special thanks are due to Associate Professor Dr. Masine Md Tap for her close

guidance and assistance throughout the process of carrying out the research work.

Besides, the author would like to thank Associate Professor Dr. Ahmad Mahir Makhtar

for his helpful and concern. A particular grateful is due to my cousin Hani Tahir

Alashwal for his unlimited helpful, support, and assistance.

Last but not least, the author would like to express his heartfelt gratitude to his

family members and friends for their utmost support and motivation throughout this

research work. My thanks to them all.

viii

ABSTRACT

Even though IBS has the ability to offer intensive production elements, the rapid

increasing demands of providing a shelter for every citizen is enforced enhancing the

productivity and the delivery time of IBS. That may obtained by improving the

production line layout of the manufacture plant, enhancing production time, and

resources utilization. Recently, simulation has begun to be applied in construction

industry sector. In this study, “Witness 2001” program has been testified to be able to

build a simulation model for the production line of pre-cast concrete columns and beams.

This simulation model offers the alternatives to modify the production line attributes as

the capacity of elements treatment area, number of re-useable moulds and labour,

breakdown of activities and so on. In fact, that imitates a real plant production line. The

model provides the opportunity to identify the optimum production line of the suggested

layout. This research presents the results of two simulation models either for columns and

beams. The results involve basically on the selection of the appropriate production layout,

the required time to produce the assumed amount of columns and beams. Finally, the

effect of machineries breakdown and the required resources has been determined in this

research.

ix

ABSTRAK

Walaupun IBS berupaya menawarkan elemen-elemen yang dihasilkan secara

intensif, namun peningkatan terhadap permintaan yang begitu mendadak untuk

menyediakan tempat perlindungan bagi setiap penduduk memerlukan peningkatan

produktiviti dan masa yang lebih singkat. Ianya boleh dicapai dengan memperbaiki susun

atur loji pengeluar bahagian pengeluaran, mengurangkan masa pengeluaran, dan

penggunaan sumber-sumber secara efisyen. Simulasi project ini diuji untuk dalam sektor

industri pembinaan. Dengan pevisian “Witness 2001”, ujikaji bagi menunjukkan

keupayaannya dalam membina model simulasi yang digunakan oleh bahagian

pengeluaran rasuk dan tiang konkrit IBS. Model simulasi yang dimanipulasikan

menawarkan alternatif untuk mengubahsuai ciri-ciri bahagian pengeluaran seperti

kapasiti kawasan yang diperlukan untuk pengawalan pengeluaran, bilangan pekerja dan

bahan yang perlu digunakan, pecahan aktiviti-aktiviti dan sebagainya. Hakikatnya, ianya

menggambarkan keadaan sebenar sesuatu bahagian pengeluaran kilang IBS Sebenarnya,

model yang dihasilkan memberikan peluang untuk mengenalpasti penggunaan susun atur

yang optimum dalam bahagian pengeluaran bagi susun atur yang dicadangkan. Kajian ini

memberikan hasil simulasi dua model iaitu bagi penghasilan tiang dan rasuk. Hasil kajian

secara asasnya melibatkan pemilihan susun atur pengeluaran yang bersesuaian, serta

masa yang diperlukan bagi menghasilkan sebilangan jumlah tiang dan rasuk. Akhir

sekali, kesan kerosakan jentera yang digunakan serta sumber-sumber yang diperlukan

juga telah ditentukan di dalam kajian ini.

x

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Description Page

TITLE i

DECLARATION ii

DEDICATION vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT vii

ABTRACT viii

ABSTRAK ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS x

LIST OF TABLES xiv

LIST OF FIGURES xvi

LIST OF CHART xviii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Problem Statement 3

1.3 Aim and Objectives of Study 3

1.4 Scope of Study 4

1.5 Significance of Study 5

xi

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction 6

2.2 Industrialised Building System (IBS) 7

2.2.1 The Definition of IBS 7

2.2.2 The Feature of IBS 7

2.2.3 The Benefits and Limitation of IBS 8

2.2.4 IBS Components 9

2.2.5 IBS in Malaysia 10

2.3 Pre-cast Concrete 11

2.3.1 The Definition of Pre-cast Concrete 11

2.3.2 Advantages of Using Pre-cast Concrete 12

2.3.3 Pre-cast Concrete Production Stages 13

2.3.4 Stage (1): Preparation 14

2.3.5 Stage (2): Casting 15

2.3.6 Stage (3): Curing 19

2.3.7 Stage (4): Stripping and Demoulding 22

2.3.8 Stage (5): In-process Check 23

2.3.9 Stage (6): Lifting and Handling 23

2.4 Work Organization 24

2.4.1 All-purpose Team Method 25

2.4.2 Workstation Method 26

2.5 Production Line Layout 27

2.5.1 Flow Analysis and Activities

Analysis of Layout 28

2.5.2 Types of Flow Patterns 29

2.5.3 Types of Layout 31

2.6 Simulation 32

2.6.1 Simulation Definition 32

xii

2.6.2 Importance of Simulation 33

2.6.3 Advantages of Using Simulation 33

2.6.4 Disadvantages of Using Simulation 34

2.6.5 Simulation Software 35

2.7 Witness 2001 Software 36

2.7.1 Building a Simulation Model in

Witness 2001 36

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction 37

3.2 Production Stages Determination 37

3.3 Data Collection 39

3.4 Modelling and Simulation 40

3.5 Data Analysis and Discussion 41

3.6 Research Methodology Flowchart 41

CHAPTER 4 DATA COLLECTION

4.1 Introduction 43

4.2 Data Collection 44

4.3 The Production Line 44

4.3.1 Preparation Stage Data 45

4.3.2 Casting Stage Data 48

4.3.3 Treatment Stage Data 48

4.4 Production Plant Layout 51

4.5 Working Shifts 52

xiii

4.6 Witness 2001 Software 53

4.7 Applying Data 54

CHAPTER 5 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

5.1 Introduction 56

5.2 Columns Production Line 56

5.2.1 Trial One 56

5.2.2 Trial Two 58

5.2.3 Trial Three 59

5.2.4 Trial Four (Increasing the Number

of Moulds 60

5.2.5 Trial Five (Increasing The Labour

and Machines 61

5.3 Columns Production Line and Working Shifts 63

5.4 Activities Breakdown 63

5.5 Beam Production Line 66

5.6 Beam Production Time and Working Shifts 70

5.7 Beam Production Line Breakdown 70

5.8 Production Lines Resources 72

CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

6.1 Conclusion 75

6.2 Recommendations 77

REFERENCES 78

APPENDIXES 80

xiv

LIST OF TABLES

Table No. Title Page

4.1 The preparation of cement and raw

materials data 45

4.2 The preparation of steel reinforcement data 46

4.3 Mould preparation data 47

4.4 Placing steel cage and cleaning data 48

4.5 The casting stage data 48

4.6 Treatment stage data 49

4.7 The stages of concrete pre-cast

production elements 50

5.1 First trial results (columns production line) 57

5.2 Second trial results (columns production line) 58

5.3 Third trial results (columns production line) 59

5.4 Fourth trial results (columns production line) 61

5.5 Fifth trial results (columns production line) 62

xv

5.6 Columns production line attributes and the obtained time

(250 columns) 63

5.7 Comparison between times required to

produce Columns and times after breakdown 65

5.8 First trial results (beams production line) 67

5. 9 Second trial results (beams production line) 68

5.10 Third trial results (beams production line) 68

5.11 Fourth trial results (beams production line) 68

5.12 Fifth trial results (beams production line) 69

5.13 Sixth trial results (beams production line) 69

5.14 Beam production line attributes and the obtained time

(two production lines - 750 beams) 70

5.15 Comparison between the times required to produce

beams and time after breakdown 71

5.16 One shift work to produce 1000 columns and beams

in 50.5 days 73

5.17 Two shifts work to produce 1000 columns and beams

in 25.3 days 74

xvi

5.18 Two shifts work to produce 1000 columns and beams

in 16.8 days 74

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure No. Title Page

1.1 Pre-cast concrete beam and column 5

2.1 The fabricated reinforcement steel cage 14

2.2 Fixing the steel cage to the steel useable mould 15

2.3 All-purpose team work method 25

2.4 The workstation method 26

2.5 Communication links among product, process, schedule

and layout design 27

2.6 Basic flow pattern 30

2.7 Vertical flow pattern 30

2.8 Model building steps in Witness 2001 36

3.1 The flowchart of the stages of production pre-cast

concrete elements 38

xvii

3.2 The production line to be developed in the research 39

3.3 Research methodology flowchart 42

4.1 Concrete pre-cast columns and beams production

line layout 51

4.2 The start up window of Witness 2001 software 53

4.3 The six elements used to build the model 55

5.1 Columns production line simulation model 57

5.2 Breakdown window in Witness 2001 software 64

5.3 Beams production line simulation model 67

xviii

LIST OF CHARTS

Chart No. Title Page

2.1 The growth of Malaysian economy and [GDP] 11

5.1 The production line time for the trials one, two, and three 60

5.2 A comparison between trials three, four, and five 62

5.3 Effect of the activities breakdown on columns

production line time 65

5.4 Effect of the activities breakdown on beams

production line time 71

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

The improvement of productivity and quality in building construction can be

attained only through intensive industrialization and building system process

development. The industrialization of building is most effective when as many as

possible of the building components are prefabricated in a plant with appropriate

equipment and efficient technological and managerial methods. Comprehensive

prefabricated elements that produced in the plant considerably reduce both the amount of

work onsite and dependence on the skill of available labour, on the weather, and on

various local constraints.

Historically, the industrial revolution affected the building sector in many ways.

Perhaps its most important affects were the introduction of structural steel and reinforced

concrete as main building materials in the second half of the 19th century. In addition,

reinforced concrete established itself as one of the major building materials because it

had some distinctive advantages over other prevalent material. Its production process was

2

relatively simple; it could be moulded into any shape and with proper processing yield an

attractive exterior surface.

One of the first applications of pre-cast concrete components was by W.H.

Lascelles in England in1878. Lascelles employed thin pre-cast concrete plates attached to

timber posts for use in walls and attached to concrete joints for use in floors of residential

cottages (Warszawski, 1999).

In Malaysia IBS started with the establishment of the Ministry of Local

Government and Housing in 1964. The Ministry focused then on the need to provide low

cost houses for the low income group. Towards this, housing programmes for the low

income people was launched and by 1966 the Ministry has launched two pilot projects in

two major cities namely Kuala Lumpur and Penang (AbdulRahim S., 2004).

During the five years of the Seventh Malaysian Plan, Malaysia built an amazing

one million dwelling, which constantly amazes visiting building professionals. The

Malaysian housing industry mass-produces more houses on per capita basis than any

other countries in the world. However, we must come to terms with harsh reality that

Malaysia is stuck at the bottom rung of the building technology ladder.

The information revolution started in the second part of the 20th century draws

from the use of computer for storing, processing, and transmitting information of

industrialized processes. The information revolution had a considerable effect on design

work in building and on some aspects of its administration and control in manufacturing

plant.

Actually, the applications of simulation in manufacturing and industrialized

building system are increasing rapidly. Consequently, simulation is a unique ability to

accurately predict the performance of complex processes which makes it ideally suited

for systems planning. In addition, simulation is emerging as an important developed tool

to enhance the production process performance of IBS.

3

Overall, a highly processing planning and an accurate layout of manufacturing

production lines are required to enrich the production activities of industrialized building

system elements.

1.2 Problem Statement

The production of Industrialized Building System elements at the prefabrication

plant involves many stages. One of the most important stages of IBS is the production

stage, especially if we talk about the pre-cast production as a part of IBS. In fact, this

stage is considered as one of the longest stages in term of time, processes, and activities.

The requirements of providing the appropriate shelter for every citizen enforced

multiple efforts to cover that increasing requirements and to enhance once again the

productivity of IBS elements. It is essential to reduce time and plan the resources and the

activities of the whole production processes. The need to adopt an optimized production

layout is essential to enhance the productivity, reduces the lead time and eliminates the

resources involved in the plant.

1.3 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of this study is to improve the performance of the production process at a

manufacturing plant to produce some of the pre-cast concrete elements as a part of IBS.

The word improvement involves reducing the production time, selecting the accurate

amount of resources, and identifying the optimum production line according to a specific

layout.

There are some specific objectives of this study, which are:

4

Propose an optimized layout of preparing raw materials and moulds, casting the

concrete, and curing the elements processes.

Estimate based on simulation test, the lead time, this is the time required to

produce IBS elements.

Determine the accurate number of resources such as labour and machineries

involved in manufacturing plant.

1.4 Scope of Study

The scope of this study is limited to the pre-cast concrete elements as a part of

IBS components production. The suggestion here is to produce 1,000 pre-cast concrete

elements namely: 750 beams and 250 columns. While the number of reusable steel

moulds is limited by 50 steel moulds to produce all the elements.

Accelerators admixtures are adopted in this research. The admixtures have been

assumed to be added during the concrete mixing process in order to hasting the hardening

of those elements, shortage the duration of the production process, and reducing the

number of moulds used.

Besides, using simulation software namely ‘Witness 2001’ program to build a

simulation model represent a production line of pre-cast concrete columns and beam.

Activities breakdown has been considered in this research. The effect of two

machines breakdown has been studied. These two machines are concrete compactor table

and concrete mixer.

Finally, there are some assumptions made in this study such as the production will

not to be interrupted due to lack of labours or insufficient supply of raw materials or

parts. The following figure shows the elements of IBS which are beam and column

5

produced by a pre-cast plant to build a typical house consist of 100 % prefabricated

components.

© EBS 2005

Figure 1.1: Pre-cast concrete beam and column.

1.5 Significance of Study

The proposed simulation model in this study can be applied in the planning of IBS

plants especially the production line of concrete pre-cast and the treatment areas.

Propose a way to ease the determination of the period time required to produce

and delivery of IBS elements to the erection site.

Propose a suggestion to determine the resources in the fabrication plant such as

labours, machineries and equipments involved.

Propose an economical production line by reducing the steel moulds used and the

production time.

The cost of the production line can be calculated from the proposed model.

6

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

This chapter exposes the literature related to Industrialized Building System

(IBS), the production of concrete pre-cast processes, work organization method, and the

manufacturing layout. It also depicts the simulation and Witness 2001 simulation

program in some details. This chapter is divided into three parts: the first part defines and

describes IBS and its features, benefits, limitations, and its components. This section also

gives an overview of IBS in Malaysia. The second section talks about the pre-cast

concrete; and it focuses on the production of pre-cast processes which is divided into six

processes: preparation, casting, curing, demoulding, handling and check process. Also

this part provides an overview about the manufacturing layout. The last part is about the

simulation which has been commented in some details and it starts with the definition of

the simulation, its purpose, advantages and disadvantages, and finally, the simulation

software.

7

2.2 Industrialized Building System (IBS)

2.2.1 The Definition of IBS

Industrialized Building System means any of components which is wholly or in

substantial part fabricated in or off site manufacturing facility for installation or assembly

on a permanent foundation at the building site.

Another definition of IBS in the construction industry includes the industrialized

process by which components of building are conceived, planning, fabricated, transported

and erected on site (Thanoon & others (2), 2003).

Warszawski, (1999) defined the building system as a set of interrelated elements

that act together to enable the designated performance of a building.

2.2.2 The Features of IBS

The main features of an industrialized building system are as follows:

(Warszawski, 1999).

1. As many of the building elements are prefabricated offsite, at a central facility,

where specialized equipment and organization can be established for this purpose.

2. The various building works are incorporated into large prefabricated assemblies

with minimum erection, jointing and finishing work onsite.

3. Materials and component handling onsite is extensively mechanized; in concrete

work, large standard steel forms, ready-mixed concrete, and concrete pumps are

used.

4. Design, production, and erection onsite are strongly interrelated. They must be

viewed therefore as parts of an integrated process which has to be planned and

coordinated accordingly.

8

2.2.3 The Benefits and Limitations of IBS

The benefits of Industrialized Building System are:

1. Saving in manual labour onsite (up to 40-50 % of the input in conventional

construction), especially in skilled trades such as formwork, masonry, plastering,

carpentry, tiling, and pipelaying (electrical and water supply).

2. Faster construction process, that is, earlier completion of building projects.

3. Higher quality of components attainable through careful choice of materials, use

of better production tools – in batching and casting – and strict quality control.

Despite these benefits, the share of industrialized building in the total output is not

increasing in most countries, as expected, mainly due to the following reasons:

1. Volatility of the building market and a general decline in demand for large public

housing projects.

2. The excessive tendency toward repetitiveness and standardization in public

projects, where industrialization was most widely applied, resulted in monotonous

complexes that very often turned into dilapidated slums within several years.

3. Industrialized systems were considered very rigid with respect to changes, which

might be required in the building over its economic life.

4. The technology, organization, and design of prefabrication building systems never

became an integral part of the professional knowledge of engineers and architect,

obtained as other subjects through a regular academic education (Warszawski,

1999).

9

2.2.4 IBS Components

Building Systems can be classified in different ways, depending on the particular

interest of their users or producers. A frequent basis for such classification is the

construction technology. In this manner four major groups can be distinguished: systems

with (1) timber, (2) steel, (3) cast in situ concrete, and (4) pre-cast concrete as their main

structural and space-enclosing material (Warszawski, 1999).

The IBS classifications in Malaysia are expounded by Thanoon & others (1),

(2003). The IBS generally divided into four categories, namely: (1) system formwork –

table and half-tunnel form, (2) frame system – pre-cast concrete and pre-cast steel, (3)

panel system – sandwich panel, half slabs, hollow core slabs and solid concrete panel,

and (4) block system – interlocking block, hollow block, solid block and lightweight

block.

Warszawski, (1999) emphasized on the pre-cast concrete systems and listed three

groups of building systems as the following:

1. Linear or skeleton (beam and column) systems;

2. Planar or panel systems;

3. Three-dimensional or box systems.

Linear systems use as their main structural elements columns, beams, frame, or

trusses made of plain or prestressed concrete. Their important feature is the capacity to

transfer heavy loads over large spans. Probably the most widely used type of

prefabricated are those employing planar or panel shaped elements for floor slabs,

vertical supports, partitions, and exterior walls. The three-dimensional systems use, as

their main building element, box units that contain concrete walls and floors. The units

can be either cast in boxlike molds or assembled in the plant from panel elements.

10

2.2.5 IBS in Malaysia

The idea of using IBS in Malaysia was first mooted during the early sixties when

the Minister of Housing and Local Government visited several European countries and

evaluated their building systems performance. Then, in 1964, the government took a

brave decision to try two pilot projects using IBS concept. The first pilot project was

constructed on 22.7 acres of land along Jalan Pekeliling, which included the construction

of 7 blocks of 17 storey flats, and 4 blocks of 4 storey flats comprising about 3,000 units

of low cost flats and 40 storey shop lots. The project was awarded to the Gammon/Larsen

Nielsen using the Danish System of large panel industrialized prefabricated system.

Meanwhile, the second pilot project was built in Penang with the construction of 6 blocks

of 17 storey flats and 3 blocks of 18 storey flats comprising 3,699 units and 66 shop lots

along Jalan Rifle Range. The project was awarded to Hochtief/Chee Seng using the

French Estiot System. (Thanoon & others (1), 2003).

Rao & Naik, (1991) stated that the first large scale project of constructing

prefabricated residential buildings was awarded to the Japanese team of Marubeni Taisei,

who developed the Shah Alam Area, capital of the state of Selangor, about 25 km from

Kuala Lumpur. This trigerred off a chain of developments in large panel pre-cast concrete

construction.

The construction industry in Malaysia has contributed significantly to the

economic growth, it contributing about 24% of the country's Gross Domestic Product

[GDP]. Over the last 20 years, the industry has been consistently contributing between

3% to 5% of GDP (Sumadi & others, 2003)& (Abd. Hamid & Sarshar, 2003).

The following chart shows the growth of Malaysian economy and Gross

Domestic Product [GDP]: