Using Modularity to Reduce Complexity of Industrialized Building Systems for Mass Customization

Daniela D. Viana, Iris D. Tommelein and Carlos T. Formoso
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Daniela D. Viana: Interdisciplinary Department, Campus Litoral Norte, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Tramandai 95590-000, Brazil
Iris D. Tommelein: Project Production Systems Laboratory, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-1712, USA
Carlos T. Formoso: Building Innovation Research Unit (NORIE), School of Engineering, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre 90035-190, Brazil

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 10, 1-17

Abstract: It is widely known that industrialized building systems can positively impact construction projects in terms of efficiency, duration, safety, and quality. Although the use of industrialized building systems can potentially simplify the production process on-site, the complexity of the overall delivery system tends to be high, especially in engineered-to-order (ETO) environments, due to factors such as uncertainty related to goals and methods, conflicts between different trades on-site, and interdependence between supply chain members. This paper explores the concept of modularity, which has proven to be useful in different industries as a way of dealing with complex systems. The aim of this paper is to illustrate how modularity can reduce the complexity of ETO industrialized building systems, in companies that adopt a mass customization strategy. This investigation is based on two descriptive case studies on the development of modular structural steel systems for buildings that have adopted innovative beam-to-column connections. The main contribution of this research is demonstrating the need to adopt an integrated product and process-oriented conceptualization of modularity in industrialized building systems. Moreover, the comparison between the two case studies pointed out that the management of tolerances plays a key role in achieving high productivity and short lead times in structural steel building systems. This investigation also illustrates how the adoption of a limited set of modular components can be used to decouple design decisions, and standardize different types of processes.

Keywords: mass customization; modularity; integration; tolerances; industrialized building systems; steel structures; lean construction; connection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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