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The paper aims to present the concept, the layout design and the evaluation performed of a flexible field factory for construction industry. Both the concept and layout are focused on flexibility and mobility factors, providing a versatile system for manufacturing and assembly that can be transported to construction sites without need of special permissions.

The design is based on the design for manufacture and assembly (DFMA) principles, lean manufacturing, and construction industry experts' knowledge.

The developed factory layout is dimensioned to fit in a standard 20‐feet‐long container. Simulation processes have been run to verify the viability of the system. The time estimates calculated in the simulations are compared with traditional in and off‐site construction method estimates, providing quantified cost and time benefits.

This paper presents the concept of the robotized field factory designed for on‐site prefabrication, the design of which began during the EU 6FP ManuBuild Project. This reconfigurable and flexible system is oriented to the production of small and medium size modular systems. The viability of the field factory has been evaluated thanks to the application of a modular system for building installations called Service Core. Its design has been based on DFMA and lean principles as well as the expertise from construction partners from the ManuBuild Project.

The purpose is two-fold: (1) to explore the interactions of robotic systems and lean construction in the context of offsite construction (OC) that were addressed in the literature published between 2008 and 2019 and (2) to identify the gaps in such interactions while discussing how addressing those gaps can benefit not only OC but the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry as a whole.

First, a systematic literature review (SLR) identified journal papers addressing the interactions of automation and lean in OC. Then, the researchers focused the analysis on the under-researched subtopic of robotic systems. The focused analysis includes discussing the interactions identified in the SLR through a matrix of interactions and utilizing literature beyond the previously identified articles for future research directions on robotic systems and lean construction in OC.

The study found 35 journal papers that addressed automation and lean in the context of OC. Most of the identified literature focused on interactions of BIM and lean construction, while only nine focused on the interactions of robotic systems and lean construction. Identified literature related to robotic systems mainly addressed robots and automated equipment. Additional interactions were identified in the realm of wearable devices, unmanned aerial vehicles/automated guided vehicles and digital fabrication/computer numerical control (CNC) machines.

This is one of the first studies dedicated to exploring the interactions of robotic systems and lean construction in OC. Also, it proposes a categorization for construction automation and a matrix of interactions between construction automation and lean construction.