Industrialization of construction
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The industrialization of construction is the process through which construction aims to improve productivity through increased mechanization and automation.[1][2] The process commonly involves modularization, prefabrication, preassembly, and mass production.[1][3][4][5]
Traditionally, construction has made use of manual labor such as tradesmen and subcontractors for tasks such as the installation of prefabricated elements.[6] In the industrialization phase, construction uses manufacturing processes and technology to perform off-site prefabrication, assembling building components off-site rather than at the point of installation.[6][7][2] Pre-assembled components are then sent to the building site in modular units.[6][8] This type of prefabrication done away from the construction site is often referred to as externalizing work.[9]
The industrialization of construction also implements principles such as the Toyota Production System[7][10] and agile construction[5][11] for developing work information systems. These systems and information technology such as the Internet of Things (IoT) create real-time feedback loops for improved decision making.[3][12]
Scholars name five stages for the industrialization of construction: management of labor, management of work, lean operations, modeling and simulation, and feedback of the source based on the study of industrialization in other industries.[13][14]
Lean Industrial Construction[15] has far-reaching potential. Industrialized construction offers a framework for the fundamental shifts needed across the construction industry — moving from a disconnected design process to fully digital designs based on project data and from buying one-off projects to buying sustainable, productized buildings.
