New offsite production and business models in construction: Priorities for the future research agenda

Goulding, J S; Pour Rahimian, F; Arif, M and Sharp, M D (2015) New offsite production and business models in construction: Priorities for the future research agenda. Architectural Engineering and Design Management, 11(3), pp. 163-184. ISSN 1745-2007

Abstract

Despite the benefits offered by offsite construction, as a percentage, the offsite market is still relatively small. This phenomena is complex; but for brevity, includes a myriad of factors, not least: lack of awareness; supply chain challenges (capacity and knowledge); cultural perception; lack of viable business process models/solutions; and paucity of skills (design/manufacturing/construction). However, many governments are still promoting the offsite agenda through various conduits. Given this, a CIB Task Group (TG74) developed a research roadmap for new production and business models for the construction industry uptake. This paper summarises the work of TG74, where people, process and technology drivers were investigated for construction, manufacturing and design and mapped against three levels of priority and three timeframes. Results indicate that for people drivers, new skills are urgently needed in the design field within a 0–5 year timeframe (compared to a timeframe of 6–10 years for the manufacturing sector). Regarding process drivers, construction process was classed as high priority, followed by design process and manufacturing process. Finally, for technology drivers, construction technology was identified as being high priority, followed by design technology and manufacturing technology, all of which need to be addressed in the medium term. This study presents a roadmap for future uptake.,

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: modern methods of construction; offsite manufacturing; people; process; research roadmap; technology
Index terms: modern methods of construction, design process, research agenda, manufacturing process, research roadmap, business model, construction process, construction technology, construction industry
Subjects: industry analysis, building construction, research management, manufacturing engineering, design methods, business, digital engineering
Topics: Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Business Strategy, Construction Technology, Design Practice, Digital Applications, Site Management
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