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Modern Methods of Construction (MMC)
Published in Derek Worthing, Nigel Dann, Roger Heath, of Houses, 2021
Derek Worthing, Nigel Dann, Roger Heath
The term MMC is wide-ranging and relates to both off-site and on-site construction processes. Some of these ‘modern’ methods have been used for some time, but they are all increasingly seen as providing the means of providing sustainable and affordable housing. Off-site construction processes– This term refers to a range of relatively new industrialised construction processes and technologies that involve factory prefabrication, modular construction, off-site construction, manufacture and/or assembly and other forms of system building. In 2012, the Steel Construction Institute (SCI) estimated that there could be a reduction of as much as 75% of site labour through the use of off-site construction.On-site construction processes– These include the use of innovative building systems that commonly make use of on-site assembly of pre-manufactured components and material as well as the recycling of materials and the reduction or avoidance of waste.
Introduction
Published in Yatish T. Shah, Modular Systems for Energy and Fuel Recovery and Conversion, 2019
Building industry has used off-site modular construction for a long time. Such efforts include [11–31] Off-site construction which involves the process of planning, designing, fabricating, transporting, and assembling building elements for rapid site assembly to a greater degree of finish than in traditional piecemeal on-site construction.A range of materials, scales and systems, digital software, methods of manufacture and fabrication, and innovations in social and technological integration.Componentized, panelized, and modularized elements deployed in the service of structural, enclosure, service, and interior partition systems.Integration of these systems and supply chain through research, design, testing, and prototyping.Possibilities of insertions of new innovations in nanotechnology for building materials.
Preconstruction planning
Published in John E. Schaufelberger, Len Holm, Management of Construction Projects, 2017
John E. Schaufelberger, Len Holm
Another process for improving construction productivity is the use of off-site construction and prefabrication of building components and modules. Off-site construction reduces material waste, improves worker safety, provides better quality control, reduces trade interference, improves worker productivity, and reduces on-site construction time. Expanded use of BIM has facilitated the increased use of off-site construction. Many electrical and mechanical systems are being prefabricated in specialized shops and delivered to project sites as assemblies to be installed in projects under construction instead of being constructed piece by piece on site. This eliminates requirements for craft labor to use ladders to perform work on the project site, improving productivity and safety. In other cases, multi-craft modules are constructed off site that are delivered to the construction site for installation reducing cost and schedule and improving quality and safety. An example showing prefabricated mechanical racks is shown in Figure 5.4. The modules and prefabricated components need to be designed, and the designs need to be submitted to the project designers for approval. The size of the modules and components will be limited to the ability to transport them to a project site. Use of off-site construction may affect the project owner’s cash flow for the project because components are fabricated well in advance of their installation on site so contractors need to ensure that owners are aware of the payment schedule.
A BIM-based approach for DfMA in building construction: framework and first results on an Italian case study
Published in Architectural Engineering and Design Management, 2020
Evandro Alfieri, E. Seghezzi, M. Sauchelli, G. M. Di Giuda, G. Masera
Recent publications advocate the adoption of a Design for Manufacturing Strategy (DfMA) as an option to improve the overall assets’ performance (Barbosa et al., 2017; Changali, Mohammad, & Van Nieuwland, 2015; Farmer, 2016; Rodrigues de Almeida & Zafra Solas, 2016; Southern, 2016). Changali, Mohammad, & Van Nieuwland (2015) investigates, among other things, on cost-reduction and waste minimisation obtained through prefabrication methods; Farmer (2016) proposes 10 recommendations for the industry to meet UK government infrastructure and housebuilding targets and underlines a greater use of off-site construction techniques among them. Southern (2016) lists evidences that off-site construction offers an alternative to construction status-quo by promising transformative improvements across the asset lifecycle in time, cost, quality and health and safety, and most importantly, predictability. Barbosa et al., (2017) reports on the opportunities offered by DfMA in some sample projects. The measures included investing in off-site manufacturing capability, using BIM to speed up and coordinate aspects of design, using common specifications and details across projects and adjusting the business model to produce more detailed information earlier in the process. As a consequence of these innovative measures, construction time decreased considerably and safety on the construction site improved greatly; the project cost and lifetime cost (such as energy consumption) were reduced and became more predictable.
Performance-based control of variability and tolerance in off-site manufacture and assembly: optimization of penalty on poor production quality
Published in Construction Management and Economics, 2020
Mehrdad Arashpour, Amin Heidarpour, Ali Akbar Nezhad, Zahra Hosseinifard, Nicholas Chileshe, Reza Hosseini
Off-site construction is a hybrid of manufacturing and construction in which many on-site operations are transferred to the controlled environment of prefabrication factories (Mwamila and Karumuna 1999, Johnsson and Meiling 2009, Jaillon and Poon 2010). Although the quality of prefabrication is generally higher than stick-built construction, the problem of geometric variability is still prevalent (Arashpour, Wakefield, Lee, et al. 2016, Mostafa and Chileshe 2017, Jiang et al. 2018). This variability can be caused either during transportation or production processes such as flexing and welding (Bock 2016, Choi et al. 2017, Altaf et al. 2018) and creates problems for on-site assembly. Such problems have been measured in the construction literature in terms of time and cost. Completion time of prefabrication projects are significantly increased due to unavailability of parts that are due for installation. This often has a cascading effect by delaying the installation of subsequent parts (Brodetskaia et al. 2013). Previous research also shows that variability and resultant rework are often costly to rectify, especially in volumetric modules where variability in structural and non-structural elements such as cold-formed steel and plasterboards should be treated at the manufacturing plant with additional transportation costs (Innella et al. 2018).
Optimal process integration architectures in off-site construction: Theorizing the use of multi-skilled resources
Published in Architectural Engineering and Design Management, 2018
Mehrdad Arashpour, Ron Wakefield, Babak Abbasi, Mohammadreza Arashpour, Reza Hosseini
Off-site production has significant potential to improve productivity and performance of the construction industry. Off-site construction is a unique hybrid of manufacturing and construction in which structural and nonstructural elements are manufactured in controlled factory environments (Goulding, Pour Rahimian, Arif, & Sharp, 2015). However, at present, off-site construction is being criticized for replicating the traditional subcontracting approach and therefore the fragmented practice in the construction industry (Global_Construction, 2015). Operations in this environment are often undertaken without the necessary coordination to prevent work blockages in the production network (Goulding, Nadim, Petridis, & Alshawi, 2012). Therefore, there is currently not much difference between on-site and off-site construction processes where defragmentation initiatives such as process integration are yet to be adopted.