Smart factories for single-family wooden houses – a practitioner’s perspective

Abstract

Purpose

The meaning of Industry 4.0 has started to be outlined for the construction industry, but there is still limited knowledge on the implications for the single-family wooden house building industry. The purpose of this paper is to expand the understanding of what the fourth industrial revolution implies for the single-family wooden house industry. The paper contributes with practitioners’ view of the content and meaning of a smart single-family wooden house factory.

Design/methodology/approach

An exploratory multiple case study was carried out at two Swedish single-family wooden house builders, combined with a traditional literature review.

Findings

As a result of a multiple case studies, the content and meaning of a smart single-family wooden house factory was elaborated on. In total, 15 components of a smart single-family wooden house factory were identified, of which 8 corresponded to the components of Industry 4.0 as described in other sectors.

Research limitations/implications

The study can be expanded to also include multi-family wooden house builders and other branches of the offsite wooden building industry.

Practical implications

Managers in the house-building industry who want to improve and strive for a smart single-family wooden house factory can learn from this study, get an insight of what other companies consider as important and how it relates to Industry 4.0.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is a first attempt to understand what Industry 4.0 mean and how it can be accomplished for the single-family wooden house offsite manufacturing industry.

Citation

Vestin, A., Säfsten, K. and Löfving, M. (2021), "Smart factories for single-family wooden houses – a practitioner’s perspective", Construction Innovation, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 64-84. https://doi.org/10.1108/CI-10-2019-0114