Visualising the Impact of Early Design Decisions on a Modular Housing Supply Network

Abstract

Increasingly, modular housing manufacturers choose to compete by becoming system integrators. The transition to this new business model requires companies to develop system-level knowledge that 'they know more than they produce' in managing supply networks. Engineering system design tools, through visualizing supply network design and make processes, can help companies to overcome many uncertainties when they choose to become system integrators within the supply network. This paper illustrates how simulation models can be derived from design characteristics, experiential data, and a pragmatic system engineering design 'vee' framework. This helps modular housing managers to observe and compare the risks of different products and supply network configurations, and see how behavior changes of individual organizations impact system-level performance. A modular housing case study illustrates the implementation and benefits of our approach.

The derivation and visualization of supply network risk profiles from product architectures

“…With respect to model validation, in this paper, the choice of process (the development of test products for certification) and performance indicator (time taken in design and make supply networks), made it feasible to access necessary data. Early work exploring the applicability of the approach to the construction sector 30 has also highlighted the importance of incorporating factors from the business operating environment that influence process operations, especially when the processes are operated by multiple organizations in more volatile supply chain contexts. The approach could also be adapted to support simulations of other lifecycle processes.…”

“…To be used in real world preliminary design processes, however, exploring the applicability of the approach to the construction sector 30 has also highlighted the importance of incorporating factors from the business operating environment that influence process operations, especially when the processes are operated by multiple organizations in more volatile supply chain contexts. The approach could also be adapted to support simulations of other lifecycle processes.…”