Design for manufacture and assembly in construction: a review

Abstract

Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) is known as both a philosophy and a methodology whereby products are designed in a way that is as amenable as possible for downstream manufacturing and assembly. As construction is moving towards a combination of offsite prefabrication and onsite assembly, DfMA is gaining momentum in this heterogeneous industry. Nevertheless, a comprehensive review of DfMA in construction, its prospects and challenges in particular, seems absent from the literature. This study reviews the processes and principles of DfMA and explores the possible perspectives of DfMA with a view to providing implications to the construction industry. It was found that DfMA in construction has been interpreted from three perspectives: (1) a holistic design process that encompasses how structure or object will be manufactured, assembled and guided with DfMA principles; (2) an evaluation system that can work with virtual design and construction (VDC) to evaluate the efficiency of manufacturing and assembly; and (3) a game-changing philosophy that embraces the ever-changing prefabrication and modular construction technologies. This study suggests that development of design guidelines, forming multidisciplinary team, use of VDC systems and understanding the lean principles are factors that could further enhance the successful application of DfMA in construction.

Mapping the dynamics of China’s prefabricated building policies from 1956 to 2019: a bibliometric analysis

“…Standardization can reduce the complexity of PB design and enhance the efficiency of PB production, which contributes to a reduction of the direct costs (Wuni & Shen, 2019). Standardized PB components can be mass produced in factories and easily assembled on the construction site, which reduces the time of onsite construction activities (Gao et al, 2019). More importantly, standardization does not mitigate the diversity of PB products because PB components are produced in industrialized systems that are customizable (Wuni & Shen, 2019).…”

How Lack of Knowledge and Tools Hinders the Eco-Design of Buildings—A Systematic Review

“…During building construction, waste will be generated, mainly from material cut-offs and from mistakes in either drawings or from workers on site [78]. Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) is focused on minimizing the generated waste, and material consumption that follow, through increasing the buildability/constructability in the design phase [79][80][81]. The key to DfMA is reducing complexity, through standardization, minimizing the number of materials and components, as well as limiting/facilitating assembly and handling on site [79,[81][82][83].…”

“…Furthermore, Gerth et al (2013) argues that DfMA is about integrating previous experiences in new design projects, by creating a feedback loop between design and manufacturing/assembly functions [81]. The identified benefits are all of a qualitative nature, as there is a limited amount of empirical evidence of the effects of DMA in construction [80]. Thereby, it is believed that application of DfMA can reduce waste and defects during construction, shorten construction time through increased productivity which will result in lower cost and higher quality [80,[82][83][84].…”

Proposal for the Promotion of Standardization of Precast Beams in Highway Concrete Bridges

“…Similarly, Edum-Fotwe et al (2004) note that standardization and the stability it entails are essential for any performance improvement measures to become embedded in operational processes in construction. Gao et al (2020) holistically examined the construction perspective to the DFMA approach and provided a thorough literature review. A DFMA -inspired approach for construction has also been proposed by Gerth et al (2013); their 'Design for Construction' (DfC) design evaluation model is based on the number, size, and positioning of components and parts that need to be processed, assembled and handled onsite.…”

“…Although the concept of DfMA has only recently become a popular topic in construction, the concept of 'assemblability' has long been considered in the sector through the counterpart concept of buildability (Gao et al, 2020). Buildability refers to 'how the design process can accomplish simple construction' (Rwamamara et al, 2010) and promotes the design rationalization and standardization principles as means to achieve site efficiency, predictability, and better value for money in construction (CIRIA, 1999).…”