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Article
Publication date: 24 April 2007

A. Björnfot and R. Jongeling

The purpose of this paper is to suggest the application of the line‐of‐balance (LoB) scheduling technique in combination with a 4D CAD workspace model as a method to improve the…

1594

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to suggest the application of the line‐of‐balance (LoB) scheduling technique in combination with a 4D CAD workspace model as a method to improve the management of the flow of resources through locations in construction projects, defined as work flow. Current scheduling methods fail to consistently manage work flow, which can disrupt the construction process, leading to waste such as conflicts in time and space by construction crews.

Design/methodology/approach

LoB and 4D CAD are applied to a case study of multi‐story timber housing project involving the construction of 95 apartments in five six‐storey buildings. Based on the case study results, the benefits and limitations of the combined use of both methods are discussed.

Findings

The majority of the problems experienced during the actual construction process quickly become evident from an analysis of a relatively simple LoB diagram. Furthermore, the 4D CAD workspace model provides additional insights in the scheduling of construction activities, such as workspace availability, the spatial context of workspaces and partial overlap of workspaces.

Practical implications

Virtual design and construction methods based on principles from lean construction can contribute significantly to the value of the product and the elimination of waste in any construction project.

Originality/value

The paper refers to the guiding principles from lean construction in relation to virtual design and construction methods, such as simulations with 4D CAD. Additional research and studies of practical applications are suggested to facilitate the combination of principles from lean construction with virtual design and construction methods.

Details

Construction Innovation, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-4175

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Article
Publication date: 19 April 2011

Louise Bildsten, Anders Björnfot and Erik Sandberg

The purpose of this paper is to hypothesize that value‐driven purchasing of customized kitchen cabinets is more profitable than market‐driven purchasing in industrialised housing…

743

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to hypothesize that value‐driven purchasing of customized kitchen cabinets is more profitable than market‐driven purchasing in industrialised housing construction. The hypothesis is examined through a case study of kitchen carpentry at one of the Sweden's largest producers of industrialised prefabricated multi‐storey housing. By comparing characteristics of market‐ vs value‐driven purchasing, this paper aims to further clarify the benefits and drawbacks of these two strategies.

Design/methodology/approach

By comparing characteristics of market‐ vs value‐driven purchasing, a theoretical framework is proposed that clarifies the benefits and drawbacks of the two strategies. An explorative case study of kitchen carpentry at a house manufacturer illustrates purchasing of kitchen cabinets in the industrialised housing industry in relation to the proposed framework.

Findings

The case study results indicate that, from a value perspective, a long‐term relationship with a dedicated local smaller supplier is a preferable choice over a short‐term relationship with a low‐price mass producer.

Research limitations/implications

This is a single case study that should be verified by further empirical work of a test delivery from the local sub‐system manufacturer. Such a study would provide more insights into this area of work and make it possible to thoroughly evaluate potential risks. The indicative results in this paper can be made conclusive through quantification of the proposed lean purchasing characteristics.

Originality/value

A comparison of value‐ and market‐driven purchasing is carried out in theory and applied to a real case study that brings new perspectives to purchasing. In this way, the paper proposes alternative purchasing strategies to the construction industry.

Details

Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-4387

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Book part
Publication date: 13 September 2018

Abbas Elmualim, Sherif Mostafa, Nicholas Chileshe and Raufdeen Rameezdeen

This chapter discusses the profound and influential impact the construction industry has on the national economy, together with the huge negative effect it has on the environment…

Abstract

This chapter discusses the profound and influential impact the construction industry has on the national economy, together with the huge negative effect it has on the environment. It argues that by adopting smart and industrialised prefabrication (SAIP), the Australian construction industry, and the construction industry globally, is well positioned to leverage the circular economy to advance future industries with less impact on our natural environment. It discusses aspects of the application of digital technologies, specifically building information modelling, virtualisation, augmented and virtual reality and 3D printing, coupled with reverse logistics as a proponent for advancing the circular economy through smart, digitally enabled, industrialised prefabrication. It further postulates a framework for SAIP for the circular economy.

Details

Unmaking Waste in Production and Consumption: Towards the Circular Economy
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-620-4

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Book part
Publication date: 15 June 2020

Thomas Walker and Sherif Goubran

In recent years, sustainability considerations in the real estate sector have moved from being a niche market phenomenon to a mainstream trend. The movement has been accompanied…

Abstract

In recent years, sustainability considerations in the real estate sector have moved from being a niche market phenomenon to a mainstream trend. The movement has been accompanied by a shift in the industry’s perception of sustainable buildings. Traditional cost-saving goals are now complemented by a growing interest in the potential for sustainable buildings to tackle broader economic and social sustainability challenges as well as issues related to health and well-being. The real estate industry is increasingly expected to adapt its strategies to incorporate new and more stringent environmental and urban development requirements, to cater to shifting demographics, and to utilize new advancements in construction processes and materials. This chapter explores recent research on sustainable real estate and highlights some of the newest trends in the market. The chapter then examines how policy and technological advancements can enable real estate developers to tackle environmental, social, and economic sustainability challenges. This will be exemplified through a focus on carbon taxation and timber construction. Based on these case studies, the chapter illustrates how today’s sustainable real estate sector – marked by its move beyond a focus on cost savings – requires for building practices to be strongly rooted in global, sustainable development policies.

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Article
Publication date: 13 July 2015

Jerker Lessing, Lars Stehn and Anders Ekholm

– This article aims to describe the development of industrialised house-building (IHB) to increase the understanding of the field.

2317

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to describe the development of industrialised house-building (IHB) to increase the understanding of the field.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on an extensive literature study and a case study with three companies, studied between 2005 and 2013 which enabled an in-depth knowledge about the companies’ development within IHB. Interviews, observations and document studies are the main sources of information in the case studies.

Findings

IHB is a complex field, consisting of several constructs that need to be integrated and continuously developed. Development of structured technical building systems has been central to the development of IHB along with developed production methods and processes. The interest in organisational fit or adaptation to industrialisation and strategy concerning business, production and products is increasing. This implies that IHB needs to be managed strategically and not on a building project level.

Practical implications

The article gives an orientation on how leading companies have structured and organised their work within industrialisation, giving valuable advice to practitioners with interest in the field.

Originality/value

This article describes the development of IHB based on studies of literature and three Swedish IHB companies’ development. This provides an aggregated view of the field’s emergence and unique information about the studied companies’ development.

Details

Construction Innovation, vol. 15 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-4175

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Article
Publication date: 5 October 2012

Samuel Forsman, Niclas Björngrim, Anders Bystedt, Lars Laitila, Peter Bomark and Micael Öhman

The construction industry has been criticized for not keeping up with other production industries in terms of cost efficiency, innovation, and production methods. The purpose of…

1377

Abstract

Purpose

The construction industry has been criticized for not keeping up with other production industries in terms of cost efficiency, innovation, and production methods. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge about what hampers efficiency in supplying engineer‐to‐order (ETO) joinery‐products to the construction process. The objective is to identify the main contributors to inefficiency and to define areas for innovation in improving this industry.

Design/methodology/approach

Case studies of the supply chain of a Swedish ETO joinery‐products supplier are carried out, and observations, semi‐structured interviews, and documents from these cases are analysed from an efficiency improvement perspective.

Findings

From a lean thinking and information modelling perspective, longer‐term procurement relations and efficient communication of information are the main areas of innovation for enhancing the efficiency of supplying ETO joinery‐products. It seems to be possible to make improvements in planning and coordination, assembly information, and spatial measuring through information modelling and spatial scanning technology. This is likely to result in an increased level of prefabrication, decreased assembly time, and increased predictability of on‐site work.

Originality/value

The role of supplying ETO joinery‐products is a novel research area in construction. There is a need to develop each segment of the manufacturing industry supplying construction and this paper contributes to the collective knowledge in this area. The focus is on the possibilities for innovation in the ETO joinery‐products industry and on its improved integration in the construction industry value chain in general.

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Article
Publication date: 19 November 2024

Laura Kauppinen, Petteri Annunen and Harri Haapasalo

Industrialized construction has brought about expectations of improved productivity in the construction industry. However, the lack of a commonly accepted definition has created…

223

Abstract

Purpose

Industrialized construction has brought about expectations of improved productivity in the construction industry. However, the lack of a commonly accepted definition has created confusion regarding the types of development covered by the industrialized construction umbrella. These inconsistent definitions convoluted the discussion on this phenomenon. This study aims to clarify the definition of industrialized construction through a systematic literature review.

Design/methodology/approach

This systematic literature review was conducted according to PRISMA principles. Records were gathered from Scopus and Web of Science. Following the scientometric analysis, content analysis was conducted according to the template analysis approach.

Findings

The analysis of 121 articles revealed four main themes related to industrialized construction: 1) the construction concept, 2) construction methodologies, 3) systematization, rationalization and automatization and 4) societal and industrial change processes. Definitions of industrialized construction can be analyzed with seven clusters: 1) prefabrication, 2) standardization, 3) sector, 4) integration, 5) manufacturing practices, 6) technological investment and 7) none. Based on the content analysis, the proposed definition is: industrialized construction is the adoption of practices that minimize project-specific work in construction from the start of the design to the end of the building’s life cycle.

Originality/value

This study proposes a definition for industrialized construction following content analysis of broadly sampled literature. The proposed definition can provide a basis on which developments in the construction industry can be reflected.

Details

Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6099

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Article
Publication date: 4 August 2020

Lars Stehn, Susanne Engström, Petri Uusitalo and Rita Lavikka

To further the understanding of industrialised house building (IHB) from a temporal, emergent corporate-ability perspective, this study aims to trace the build-up of corporate…

463

Abstract

Purpose

To further the understanding of industrialised house building (IHB) from a temporal, emergent corporate-ability perspective, this study aims to trace the build-up of corporate assets in an IHB company over time. The research draws on dynamic capabilities, acknowledging not only what assets the company have developed and currently are exploiting, but also how these assets were develop and managed (i.e. enhanced, combined, protected and potentially reconfigured) to sustain long-term competitiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study design was used to form a narrative that covers the evolution of an IHB company over a 25-year period. Corporate archival material, analysis of original data from a large number of research studies during 1993-2013 and retrospective reflections of owners and managers, including crosschecking interpretations of archival material, developed and triangulated the narrative.

Findings

The study presents rich empirical findings on the build-up of corporate assets. Starting from a successive process of exploration and exploitation formation of dynamic capabilities eventually played out into an exponential dynamic capability build-up. The IHB case company displays the ability to not only continuously exploit and renew resources and competences, but also to sense, seize and reconfigure cumulative assets over time. The exponential development of dynamic capabilities resonates to literature on higher-order dynamic capabilities implying that: the accumulated and higher-order dynamic capabilities are difficult to imitate and a (any) company must possess higher-order dynamic capabilities to be able to exploit and/or take up IHB.

Originality/value

The study is complementing and potentially challenging frequent framings of the IHB concept. Previous research has addressed and characterised IHB mainly by encapsulating a moment in time and, thus, characteristics are momentary and represent static views on IHB. However, IHB has seen a strong development over the past 25 years, and the study reflects on this development from the perspective of one of the IHB-forerunner companies in Sweden. By exploring from a company perspective the developments, reconfiguration and capacity to develop/reconfigure over time in a changing environment, the study introduces an alternative understanding of IHB as dynamic capabilities.

Details

Construction Innovation , vol. 21 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-4175

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Article
Publication date: 11 September 2017

Ulrik Wagner, H. Thomas R. Persson and Marie Overbye

The purpose of this paper is to investigate firms’ reasons and motives for becoming sponsors and how they benefit from this networking engagement by exploring sponsorship networks…

1058

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate firms’ reasons and motives for becoming sponsors and how they benefit from this networking engagement by exploring sponsorship networks associated with two Danish team sport clubs – a Premier League football club and a second-division handball club.

Design/methodology/approach

Two online surveys were conducted with firms associated with the networks during the Autumn and Winter of 2013/2014 (n=116). The questionnaire was theoretically anchored in the existing sponsorship literature, business network research, and social capital theory.

Findings

The results show that business logics were the dominating reasons for joining the network. A large proportion of the respondents reported having increased their number of business (32 percent) and social (26 percent) relations with other network members after joining the network. Furthermore, 37 percent of the respondents reported having made business agreements with companies external to the network via network contacts, which supports ideas of bridging social capital. More than half the respondents (59 percent) preferred doing business with network members rather than with non-members.

Originality/value

By investigating a local and regional sport club context, the paper adds to our knowledge about sponsorship networks. It emphasizes the potential importance of team sport clubs for the business landscape, thus maintaining that sport clubs fulfill an important role for local communities beyond being mere entertainment industries.

Details

Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, vol. 7 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-678X

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Article
Publication date: 19 April 2011

Jose Salvatierra‐Garrido and Christine Pasquire

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the common perspective of value for lean construction (LC) researchers and practitioners. Thus, this paper aims to generate a future…

3201

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the common perspective of value for lean construction (LC) researchers and practitioners. Thus, this paper aims to generate a future discussion in the construction sector about the huge impact of construction projects over the entire society and, consequently, to underline the need of an expansion of current value perspectives moving from a local context (project level) to a global context (society).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper critically reviews the concept of value from LC perspective. As such, literature review has been conducted as a main task.

Findings

LC value perspectives lack in a common idea to be applied in the construction industry as a whole. Customer‐focused construction practices, where satisfaction of customer requirements predominates over societal welfare.

Research limitations/implications

The work described forms part of a larger study intended to expand common value perspective to the wide society. Therefore, a future global model of value should be proposed and validated through an interactive workshop with participation of relevant actors in construction industry.

Practical implications

Construction industry should reformulate current practices and governments, as representative of the society, should promote construction regulation policies based on delivery of value including environmental and social issues.

Originality/value

The concept of value is placed in a global context, changing common LC perspective. Thus, this paper gives the opportunity to continue discussing the contribution of construction industry to the cure of environmental and social issues.

Details

Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-4387

Keywords

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