Moon, S; Ham, N; Kim, S; Hou, L; Kim, J H and Kim, J J (2020) Fourth industrialization-oriented offsite construction: Case study of an application to an irregular commercial building. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 27(9), pp. 2271-2286. ISSN 0969-9988
Abstract
Purpose: This study, a research project, aims to examine the distinct characteristics of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), with a focus on construction. Following this examination, the paper presents a field study to evaluate the impact of the 4IR on the construction process. Design/methodology/approach: The first half of this project is dedicated to defining the 4IR by reviewing existing literature. The other half of the project presents a case study to demonstrate the concept of the 4IR and measure the effect of its application. To validate the defined concept of the 4IR, the study focuses on the following: autonomous system for producing drawings and robotics in construction. Findings: The intensive literature review revealed three unequivocal features of the 4IR: defined tasks, undefined tasks and improvement possibilities. The following case study showed that the incorporation of the three 4IR features resulted in improved productivity and efficiency during the construction of the podium for the Lotte World Tower. For example, the macro-based autonomous system achieved 5.52 shop drawings per hour, highlighting the potential impact of independent, autonomous machinery. Originality/value: The originality of this project stems from its attempt to quantify the effectiveness of applying autonomous technologies to a practical project. While previous works in this field have focused on system development and improvement, this paper presents an autonomous system at work in an actual project, in which junior engineers were able to be entirely replaced. The system was successful in independently creating numerous required shop drawings. The value of this analysis is to generate scientific evidence to evaluate the efficacy of the adoption of 4IR-oriented technologies.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | autonomous system; construction; industry 4.0 |
| Index terms: | methodology, commercial building, construction process, evidence, field study, literature review, industrialization, drawing, fourth industrial revolution, robotics, effectiveness, autonomous machinery, efficiency, industry 4.0, case study, productivity, engineer |
| Subjects: | automation and robotics, performance management, research methods, management, economic development, building construction, construction type, profession, evaluation and assessment methods, data collection methods, data analysis and analytics, technology adoption, technical documentation |
| Topics: | Quality Management, Digital Applications, Design Practice, Site Management, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Sustainability, Construction Technology, Roles and Professions |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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