Manufacturing productivity

Panelized construction has been recognized as a promising approach to residential construction. However, its full potential in terms of productivity improvement has not yet been realized due to the absence of an automated production planning and control system. This research thus conceives an integrated production planning and control system for a prefabricated panelized home production facility. The proposed system consists of four primary modules: (1) a real-time data acquisition module, which is employed in this study to collect time and location information of building panels from the production floor in real time; (2) a scheduling module, which generates an optimized building panel production schedule with the objective of minimizing the production lead time and material waste on the basis of detailed job information from a 3D BIM model; (3) a DES module, which is developed based on the historical data from the data acquisition module in order to provide a performance benchmark; and (4) a financial module, which provides total labour cost for every job as well as unit labour cost for each workstation. These four modules are seamlessly integrated through a central database in order to generate the production schedule, real-time location tracking, simulation-based performance evaluation, and cost control. The proposed system is implemented and validated in a panelized wall production facility operated by ACQBUILT, Inc., in Edmonton, Canada.

In the context of BIM, rich information is generally embedded into the BIM model as properties for parametric building objects and is exchangeable among project stakeholders and BIM design programs—a key feature of BIM for enhancing communication and work efficiency. BIM itself is a purpose-built, product-centric information database; however, obtaining domain semantics in order to extract construction-oriented quantity take-off information for the purpose of construction workface planning remains a challenge. Moreover, some information crucial to construction practitioners, such as the topological relationships among building objects, remains implicit in the BIM design model. This restricts information extraction from the BIM model for downstream analyses in construction. To address the identified limitations, this study proposes an ontology-based semantic approach to extracting construction-oriented quantity take-off information from a BIM design model. This approach allows users to semantically query the BIM design model using a domain vocabulary, capitalizing on building product ontology formalized from construction perspectives. As such, quantity take-off information relevant to construction practitioners can be readily extracted and visualized in 3D in order to serve application needs in the construction field.

Large-scale projects have a zero-tolerance policy in regards to timely project delivery and quality. However, the traditional stick-built construction method is heavily dependent on weather conditions, a situation which raises the risk of project delays and deficiencies. Industrialized construction stands as an alternative that provides high-quality products in a timely manner. Once manufactured, modular or panelized units are shipped to the construction site to be assembled. These two dependent but interconnected phases of industrialized construction introduce unique challenges to project scheduling. The skill-based target scheduling (STS) tool developed in this research employs a dynamic skill-based resource reallocation technique that uses learning curves and task–labour matrix. Testing the developed framework on a 1,700-bedroom modular workforce camp shows significant productivity and quality improvements.

Performance indicators require reliable data collection methods, as well as an understanding of process flexibility, manufacturing capacity, and resource availability for the assembly of the product. However, before adding new technology or implementing changes to the production line, feasibility study and cost-benefit analysis must be carried out. With the emergence of simulation as a powerful tool for construction planning and management, sequential tasks can be analyzed and adjusted as the enterprise desires, which makes it is possible to evaluate the impact of a change to the manufacturing process before implementing it in real life. Furthermore, DES can assist with calculating performance factors in many areas, including manufacturing, while also observing how performance is affected by changes implemented by the enterprise.

The Compassion House project involved expansion and renovation of the existing building (shown in grey in the figure below). The project was funded by Compassion House Foundation, a non-profit organization established in 1998 to provide housing to women with breast cancer from Northern Alberta during diagnosis, treatment, and the early stages of recovery. The project is located in Edmonton, Canada.

Stantec, an architectural firm based in Edmonton, developed architectural plans for this project based on traditional stick-built wood construction. Our research team was engaged to develop plans for an alternative precast concrete -based approach to expedite construction. A number of meetings and discussions were held with the architectural and structural consultants (Stantec) and precast-concrete panel manufacturer (P. Kruger Concrete Products Ltd.) to refine the design and tailor it to a precast concrete approach to the construction.

The scope of this research involved conducting a feasibility study to determine the benefits of using precast modular construction methods as an alternative to traditional stick-built construction. The research team worked alongside the architect and contractor to find ways to modularize the building structure into various volumetric components. In the second phase of this project, the research team developed an automated design and drafting tool for precast concrete components in order to speed up the drafting process.

In this research we introduce automation of quantity take-off as an add-on to Autodesk Revit. The central aim of this research is to create a bridge between the BIM model and a database that can be used to hold data extracted from the model. This bridge allows the automatic transfer of material quantities from the BIM model to the database.

We also introduce material optimization as a functionality achieved in an add-on to Autodesk Revit (focusing on lumber and sheathing). 1D and 2D materials are extracted from the BIM model and then organized in order to establish optimized lumber and sheathing cutting plans.