Multifaceted Productivity Comparison of Off-Site Timber Manufacturing Strategies in Mainland Europe and the United Kingdom

Abstract

Offsite construction methods have been suggested as a necessity for improving the efficiency and productivity of the construction industry through implementation of automation and lean principles in a controlled factory environment, known as Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). The products, projects delivery and management strategies of offsite construction have been studied in this research through a multi-faceted qualitative exploration of offsite timber management strategies across ten manufacturers, including three UK panel, three UK volumetric and four European (EU) volumetric timber manufacturers. A comparative productivity analysis was carried out in this research project and its sensitivities were analysed which led to the conclusion that the labour productivity of the surveyed UK panelised and EU volumetric manufacturers were comparable, but the UK volumetric manufacturers' productivity was lower. As a result, the level of automation and the lean and Design for Disassembly (DfD)

Proposing a multifaceted model for adopting prefabricated construction technology in the construction industry

“…These benefits provide an explanation for the increased interest in PC technology in numerous developed and developing countries such as Singapore (Hwang et al. , 2018), Malaysia (Wan Omar, 2018), the UK (Duncheva and Bradley, 2019), the USA (Razkenari et al. , 2020), Australia (Sahin et al.…”

“…As an innovative construction method, prefabricated construction (PC) changes the steps, scopes and interfaces of conventional construction (Luo et al, 2015), which entail several benefits such as reduction of resource depletion (Cao et al, 2015a, b), a decrease of energy consumption (Hong et al, 2016), less environmental emissions (Teng et al, 2018), improved construction safety and quality (Li et al, 2011) and increased productivity (Shahpari et al, 2020). These benefits provide an explanation for the increased interest in PC technology in numerous developed and developing countries such as Singapore (Hwang et al, 2018), Malaysia (Wan Omar, 2018), the UK (Duncheva and Bradley, 2019), the USA (Razkenari et al, 2020), Australia (Sahin et al, 2018), Japan (Yashiro, 2014), Korea (Jeong et al, 2017) and China (Li et al, 2020). Researchers generally agree that PC technology is a green initiative that can improve both the performance and the image of the construction industry (Hu et al, 2019).…”

“It's your fault!” – said a public client to modernity advocates: an exploration of UK public sector’s viewpoints on the modern methods of construction

“…An innovation's compatibility with adopter's norms, needs, and past experience enhances its adoptability (Rogers, 2003). Contractually, MMC may require amendments to the standard forms of contracts due to changes compared to traditional methods (Charlson and Dimka, 2021), as fewer onsite activities may require a different contractual approach (Duncheva and Bradley, 2019). Moreover, less onsite work may mean less job opportunities, which influence existing skill sets (Pablo and London, 2020); for instance, the new need for assemblers, a role that is MMC-relevant (Hairstans and Smith, 2018).…”

Structural performance of composite WikiHouse beams from CNC-cut timber panels

“…Novel off-site construction methods have been subject to intensive research in recent years, with the goal of increasing the efficiency of the construction industry (Pan et al 2008;Pan and Sidwell 2011;Arif et al 2012;Boyd et al 2013;Hosseini et al 2018;Hairstans and Smith 2018;Duncheva and Bradley 2019).…”