Craig Johnson, Senior Account Executive at Trimble, explores the value of standardised construction and the supporting role that digital technology can play in solving one of the construction industry’s most significant hidden financial burdens.
Rework has been a longstanding problem within the industry – in short, it’s an endemic. On average, direct rework costs range from 5-12% of a project’s total contract value. In worst cases, this figure can be as high as 20-30%. As well as leading to significant project delays, avoidable errors are reported to cost around £5billion per year in the UK. Clearly something needs to be done. So, what are the typical causes?
It may sound simple, but poor communication between teams and stakeholders can have a very real impact, potentially leading to quality control failures, a lack of organisation and fragmented processes. Manual workflows and paper-based checks are susceptible to human error, leading to rework further down the line if not detected. While the design and engineering stages are perhaps the most prone to issues, with design related errors said to account for up to 70% of all rework. With increasing costs, volatile interest rates and skilled labour shortages, it’s clear that rework needs to be stopped in its tracks – but how?
From MMC to industrialised construction
There are many changes and processes that can help to improve quality and reduce error. One is MMC, frequently tipped as the solution to our problems. In fact, it’s been the industry mantra for decades. In recent years, it has evolved one step further to focus on standardisation, promoting the value of a ‘kit of parts’ approach or industrialised construction. This approach has already been adopted in other industries, including aerospace and automotive manufacturing, so why not construction?
It’s easy to see the benefits. With standardised components and repeatable ‘templates’, you can reduce the variants and increase predictability, in turn minimising risk. Unlike traditional building methods, which in essence are the creation of a series of one off prototypes, repetition and standardisation bring increased quality and productivity gains, being quicker and easier to design, manufacture and assemble.
The digital tools driving standardisation
When it comes to implementing standardisation across construction projects, digital technology and software platforms can have an important role to play in enhancing the productivity gains. Let’s take custom components as an example, a means of defining customised connections, details and parts for your project within a design and detailing software platform. Generally speaking, once a custom component is defined and stored, it can be easily accessed from the catalogue and used in any other location or any model.
Custom components are a valuable asset, with companies able to create components bespoke to them and their individual procurement, manufacturing and assembly processes. Once you have created a bespoke library of standard components, these can be easily accessed and repeated across multiple projects that follow the same script. It can offer a means of standardising profiles or restricting the number of connection types that can be used in a model, reducing variation and improving quality control. Stairs can be a great example: why have five different stair types within a building when you can have one.
Read the full article in the latest Offsite Magazine: https://issuu.com/radarcommunications