Gao, S; Jin, R and Lu, W (2020) Design for manufacture and assembly in construction: A review. Building Research & Information, 48(5), pp. 538-550. ISSN 0961-3218
Abstract
Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) is known as both a philosophy and a methodology whereby products are designed in a way that is as amenable as possible for downstream manufacturing and assembly. As construction is moving towards a combination of offsite prefabrication and onsite assembly, DfMA is gaining momentum in this heterogeneous industry. Nevertheless, a comprehensive review of DfMA in construction, its prospects and challenges in particular, seems absent from the literature. This study reviews the processes and principles of DfMA and explores the possible perspectives of DfMA with a view to providing implications to the construction industry. It was found that DfMA in construction has been interpreted from three perspectives: (1) a holistic design process that encompasses how structure or object will be manufactured, assembled and guided with DfMA principles; (2) an evaluation system that can work with virtual design and construction (VDC) to evaluate the efficiency of manufacturing and assembly; and (3) a game-changing philosophy that embraces the ever-changing prefabrication and modular construction technologies. This study suggests that development of design guidelines, forming multidisciplinary team, use of VDC systems and understanding the lean principles are factors that could further enhance the successful application of DfMA in construction.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | assembly; construction; design; design for manufacture and assembly; lean construction; prefabrication |
| Index terms: | design for manufacture and assembly, efficiency, onsite, construction industry, prefabrication, virtual design and construction, multidisciplinary team, philosophy, lean construction, design process, methodology, modular construction |
| Subjects: | design methods, industry analysis, philosophical studies, building construction, sociology, digital design, research methods, performance management, manufacturing engineering |
| Topics: | Site Management, Quality Management, Design Practice, Digital Applications, Construction Technology, Research Practice, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here