Document Version Peer reviewed versionLink back to DTU Orbit Citation (APA): Bonev, M., Wörösch, M., & Hvam, L. (2015). Utilizing platforms in industrialized construction: A case study of a precast manufacturer. Construction Innovation, 15(1), 84-106. https://doi. AbstractPurpose -Offering custom tailored buildings at reasonable costs has been a growing concern to many construction companies. A promising approach adapted by operations management and design theory regards individual building projects as the adjustment and recombination of components and processes from a set of predefined platforms, while configuration systems assure feasible building solutions. The aim of this paper is to explore the development of a platform-based project execution in the industrialised construction sector, with a focus on systematically balancing for cost and value.Design/methodology/approach -After adapting some of the underlying assertions of platform design to the engineer-to-order situation in construction, the practical implications are evaluated on a case study of a precast manufacturer using high performance concrete.Findings -Based on empirical findings from three distinct platform strategies, this research highlights key aspects of adapting platform-based developed theory to industrialised construction. Building projects employ different layers of product, process and logistics platforms to form the right cost-value ratio for the target market application, while modelling methods map structural platform characteristics so as to balance commonality and distinctiveness.Originality/value -This paper proposes a general theory of platform-based development and execution in the industrialised construction sector, which goes beyond concurrent approaches of standardising and systemising buildings projects. It adapts and extends established frameworks for platform development to the engineer-to-order situation in construction and empirically validates their cost and value effects.

With product customization companies aim at creating higher customer value and stronger economic benefits. The profitability of the offered variety relies on the quality of the developed product family architectures and their consistent implementation in configuration systems. Yet existing methods are informal, providing limited support for domain experts to communicate, synthesize and document architectures effectively. In single product design explicit visual models such as design structure matrices and node-link diagrams have been used in combination with structural analysis methods to overcome the limitation of the informal approach. Drawing on thereto established best practises, this paper evaluates and extends the relevant methods and modelling techniques, to create a consistent and formal approach for the design and customization of entire product families. To validate it's applicability, the approach is tested on a case study at a manufacturing company offering bespoke industrial applications. A generic modelling method termed the integrated design model (IDM) is developed and complemented with a computational structural analysis method, to assist domain experts in their daily work. When combined with a configuration system, the presented IDM tool automates the documentation and formalizes the synthesis of architectures, thereby making any decision about a preferred solution explicit and transparent.

 Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.  You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain  You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.

Abstract

The current business environment presents challenges for companies, including increased pressure on time to market, customer expectations, cost and increased competition. To overcome the challenges in the new business environment, the companies introduce common products components and variants in order to reduce complexity and improve the performance. Besides, the manufacturers attempt to increase the variety in products and services in response to the personalization demands; which leads to more complexity. However, the companies can improve the due-date setting and resource allocation to optimize internal process performance. This paper describes a design-time estimation model for planning engineering activities based on a quantification of the most important product complexity factors such as: 1) basic components variety, 2) functional requirements, 3) design interdependencies and 4) regulations and standards. Such factors can decrease or increase the expected time consumption for the specification tasks. This paper identifies key factors essential to assessing the expected hours for specific engineering tasks based on a case study and literature review. Qualitative and quantitative information was obtained by means of (i) archival documents, (ii) participant-observations, and (iii) workshops in the case company. These complexity factors are then combined to develop a mathematical design-time estimation model that supports the internal performance optimization in a given engineering design process. Finally, an IT tool is prototyped and tested in an engineering company. In conclusion, the developed model and IT tool assist the case company to improve the estimations for due-date setting and resource allocation to optimize internal process performance.