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The performance of the facilities management supply chain (FMSC) in the hotel sector is challenged by the diverse nature of parties involved, their relationships and the flows of services and products. Although performance measurement systems have been endorsed by researchers worldwide as a mechanism to evaluate and improve performance, there seems lack of mechanisms to evaluate the FMSC performance in hotels. Hence, this paper aims to develop a framework that would enable to evaluate FMSC performance in hotels.

A case study strategy was used, where 3 five-star hotels in Sri Lanka were studied for the purpose. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with 21 professionals involved in FMSC and through document reviews. A content analysis was performed and the framework was developed. This was validated with 3 subject matter experts in the field.

The study findings revealed that the FMSC process is different from manufacturing and service supply chain (SC) processes as it comprises both product and service elements and incorporates internal, as well as external customers. The developed FMSC process comprises seven sub-processes as follows: delivery of products, delivery of services, sourcing, make/fulfil, delivery of FM services and products, receipt of FM services and receipt of products by customers. Based on the derived FMSC process and the key activities, 38 key performance indicators were developed and used in the framework to evaluate the performance of FMSC.

The developed performance evaluation framework is expected to facilitate performance measurement of the SC and enhance its performance. Further, it would enhance cooperation among FMSC partners and assist in achieving FMSC excellence.

The incidence of disability is increasing globally over the past decades. Despite the increased proportion of disabled individuals, established fire emergency evacuation procedures for disabled in high-rise buildings are lacking attention. Hence, this paper aims to focus on investigating fire emergency evacuation procedures for differently-abled people in high-rise buildings.

To address the gap, the case study strategy under the qualitative research approach was deployed by focussing 10 high-rise buildings. Data collected through semi-structured interviews and document reviews were analysed using content analysis.

The study findings revealed that even though a fire disaster is a major area to be considered, there is a noticeable gap in legal requirements related to differently-abled fire evacuation in Sri Lanka compared to the global context. Moreover, it was identified that importance given to differently enabled fire evacuations procedures varied based on the type of high-rise facilities in which hospitals and hotels provided more importance compared to office buildings, apartments and shopping complexes. Further, the study has highlighted the main gaps in the evacuation procedures and improvements required. Lack of imposed regulations for disabled evacuation was identified as a major barrier hindering the development of effective fire evacuation procedures for disabled, which creates a cascading effect. Further, the consideration given to legal, organisational, individual and technological factors would assist in straightening the identified issues.

This research provides a clear insight into the necessity of focussing at disabled individuals when developing fire emergency procedures. Most importantly, this study had exposed the current gaps in fire emergency evacuation procedures for the disabled community. Understanding these gaps is of high value for industry practitioners to ensure disabled safety during a fire emergency.

This study aims to assess the usability of augmented reality (AR) based mobile app for excavation and earthmoving processes using a novel tool entitled Excavator Augmented Reality (EAR).

A mixed-methods research approach was used through conducting experimentation to collect qualitative and quantitative data collected from the Sri Lankan construction sector. EAR app was used for experimentation in outdoor areas examining how a 360° tracked hydraulic excavator can be navigated in different physical environments similar to the real prospected job.

The findings reveal that EAR could make a considerable impact on enhancing productivity, safety and training processes. However, the developed EAR App subjected to assessment demonstrated the highest satisfaction gap for the auditory aspects. Among the remaining criterion, the satisfaction met user expectations for comfortability and no-risk practice. An analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis) conducted revealed that visualising the excavator activities and the requirements of improved features were the highest agreed strengths and weaknesses of the EAR. Among the opportunities for improvement, the necessity of improving emergency and safety reached the highest agreement. Moreover, the study presented the challenges in introducing mobile augmented reality (MAR) to the construction sector under the political, economic, sociocultural, technological, environmental and legal (PESTEL) model along with solutions to be taken.

This study provides a novel approach to addressing the safety, productivity and training concerns in heavy mobile plants and machinery on construction sites which remains to be unexplored to this end.