Cecília Gravina da Rocha

Method to Implement Delayed Product Differentiation in Construction of High-Rise Apartment Building Projects

AbstractThe customization of apartments can add value and increase clients’ satisfaction. However, companies offering such a strategy often face problems in managing the construction process. Delayed product differentiation—postponing the tasks that customize a product as much as possible—is a principle applied in manufacturing that enables companies to better cope with customization. Yet, it has not been widely explored in the building industry. This paper proposes a method to implement this principle in the construction of high-rise apartment building projects using the line-of-balance technique. First, the method is described, followed by its application in a project developed by a construction company. A comparison between the long-term plan devised using the proposed method and the initial plan shows a postponement of the decoupling point (namely, the first task that customizes an apartment) of approximately 42 weeks. At the end, the potential benefits and difficulties in creating such postponement a...

Integrating product and process design in construction

Abstract Product modularity namely the notion that products can be decomposed into parts (or modules) has been widely applied in manufacturing but not in construction, precluding this industry to also benefit from it. The narrow definition of a module, which is often simplistically equated to a sub-assembly produced off-site, and the lack of integration between product and process design, which is typical in construction, are argued to be two root causes of such problem. This paper starts by discussing the operational implications of misaligned decisions in these two domains in an empirical study addressing a high-rise apartments building project. Seven guidelines are then devised using a Design Science Research (DSR) approach for integrating product (product modularity and modules) and process (work structure and work packages) design. The results indicate that product modularity can be applied for improving operations regardless of the construction method(s) used. Yet, a revised understanding of modules (as a material, a component, a non-volumetric or a volumetric sub-assembly) is needed in addition to a coordinated product and process design, particularly for traditional construction.

Product Modularity, Tolerance Management, and Visual Management: Potential Synergies

Product Modularity refers to the hierarchical partitioning of products into their constitutive components. This concept has been explored in manufacturing to ease product design, simplify production, and to efficiently provide variety. Efforts have been made to transfer this knowledge to the construction context (i.e. one-off products, temporary supply chain, production taking place inside the product), especially to support the latter goal: variety. Yet, it is argued that a re-conceptualization of building design and production is required for the successful application of modularization. That is, materials and components used to erect a building should be grouped (at least conceptually) as families of modules and work (production tasks) has to be structured according to such organization. This paper explores the synergies among Product Modularity, Tolerance Management, and Visual Management to improve and ease the understanding of such reconceptualization in design and production. It also examines patterns from the theoretical background of Design for Behaviour Change, and how these can be adapted to embed information in modules and present tolerance data in design drawings.