The design process has a significant impact on the performance and profitability of a housing project. Therefore, decisions made during the design process should take into consideration knowledge and experience from other processes in previously accomplished projects, specifically from the production phase. How to capture and use production experience in housing has not gained enough interest, possibly leading to suboptimal improvements during the construction process. This motivates research on how onsite production experience from similar previous projects can be captured and used to improve constructability without risking customer values. Based on the concept of constructability, 'design for manufacturing and assembly' and the theory of waste, the method 'design for construction' (DFC) has been developed. The four-step model complements the conventional construction process, and consists of the following steps: (1) specify customer values and similar previous projects; (2) identify onsite waste and cost drivers in previous projects; (3) develop criteria to evaluate constructability; and (4) evaluate constructability of the design. The DFC method is exemplified and tested through a case study, in which it was shown that the method facilitated identification of all problems that were considered in the investigated project. The method also highlighted other project obstacles that potentially could have been solved to improve constructability.
A 5-step method for developing configurable "products in product" platforms to be used in an engineer-to-order (ETO) design process is proposed. The idea is based on the transformation of typical product architectures into modular design platforms where standard and variant modules are identified and developed. The platform modules can then be configured and combined using traditional design methods to meet the project specific requirements in the design process. Based on 1193 project designs, several configurable "products in product" were identified and developed in a real case study using the proposed method.
<p>The design process in construction has seldom been a target for industrialization, as it is assumed to be creative, ad-hoc, and iterative. However, digitalization has opened the door for the integration of design automation into construction through the use of product configurators. Configurators enable the specification of project-specific features from a pre-developed product platform. The case study demonstrates how configurator implementation affects the design process of a noise barrier and project performance. When the configurator is used, the specification process becomes simplified, systematized, and includes fewer iterations. Supporting software ensures information flow, reducing lead-time and production costs. Furthermore, configurator use increased the flexibility to respond to a client’s topographical adherence requirements, as well as the blueprint quality and buildability. This case study shows that the design of civil engineering products can be industrialized through the configuration of product platforms.</p>
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