Abstract
M.Phil. (Engineering Management)
Literature shows that Configuration Management is still a challenge in the steel industry and if neglected or inadequate, can result in loss of life and high costs. Consequently organisations are beginning to consider configuration management in their functions. Others are adopting such management procedures so that they will be able to control and manage changes to projects by maintaining the information and documentation on the associated facilities and products, in order to remain competitive and operate efficiently. Based on an assessment of the steel industry and particularly the organisations that the researcher was familiar with, it was established that it appeared that configuration management was not one of the key functions of these organisations. It also appeared from the preliminary assessment that this type of management might be related to certain safety incidents and costs of projects. Therefore the current study was embarked on and sought to establish the impact of the said management on safety and costs in a steel manufacturing plant. Findings from literature on this concept were used to determine its relationship with safety and project costs. In addition to a review of literature, empirical data was collected and interviews were held.
Findings confirmed that configuration management had an impact on costs and safety in a steel manufacturing plant. Consequently recommendations were that it was critical if organisations in the steel manufacturing sector were to achieve a zero accident target. Recommendations include a study on the barriers to implementing it.