Guidelines for integrated planning and control of engineer-to-order prefabrication systems

The industrialization of construction processes is an important strategy for improving quality and productivity in construction. However, the adoption of industrialized technologies does not necessarily have a high impact in the overall performance of the production system. In fact, most papers on the implementation of Lean concepts and principles in prefabricated building systems have focused on a particular stage of the construction process, such as design, prefabrication or assembly. This paper is concerned with planning and controlling engineer-to-order (ETO) prefabricated systems, in which a single company is responsible for designing, and prefabricating components, and assembling them on site. This paper reports the preliminary results of an ongoing research project that aims to understand how the assembly process at the construction site can pull the prefabrication of components in a context with high variability. It is based on a study carried out at a steel fabricator company in which an integrated planning and control model has been developed, involving design, prefabrication and site assembly. This paper presents a set of guidelines for devising planning and control systems in such an environment.

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