Knowledge-based engineering in construction: the prefabricated timber housing case

SUMMARY: Swedish prefabricators of domestic buildings need to become more effective and efficient; the aim of this paper is to investigate the usefulness of rule-based IT support tools for this purpose. The current sales and design process at a timber volume element prefabricator is presented and evaluated regarding information management and standardisation. It was found that information management during early design is often ad hoc and person dependent; therefore searching for information that could lead to reuse of past solutions is rather time demanding. There is a need for standardisation due to a mentality of designing one-of-a-kind buildings. Knowledge-based engineering is seen as an enabler to enhance the current situation and an IT support procedure is suggested. A demonstrator stair tool was tested, which lets the seller discuss needs with the customer and then use the tool to assess cost and manufacturability. It is argued that the IT support procedure can enable; automation of activities and availability of down stream knowledge in virtual format and a connection between instances of the same geometry. If design flaws can be found early on, downstream waste activities can be reduced. Standardisation could be realised through modularisation, which the implementation of the IT support tool procedure could gain from.

[1]  Thomas Olofsson,et al.  Produktmodeller i ett flexibelt industriellt byggande , 2004 .

[2]  Sven Bertelsen,et al.  Modularisation: A Third Approach to Making Construction Lean? , 2005 .

[3]  Mark D. Gross,et al.  Why can't CAD be more like Lego? CKB, a program for building construction kits , 1996 .

[4]  Lawrence W. Rosenfeld.  Solid modeling and knowledge-based engineering , 1995 .

[5]  David Gann,et al.  Construction as a manufacturing process? Similarities and differences between industrialized housing and car production in Japan , 1996 .

[6]  Finn Kensing,et al.  Generating visions: future workshops and metaphorical design , 1992 .

[7]  Timothy W. Simpson,et al.  Product platform design and customization: Status and promise , 2004, Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing.

[8]  T Froese.  Help wanted: project information officer , 2004 .

[9]  Christopher L. Tucci,et al.  Interfirm Modularity and Its Implications for Product Development , 2005 .

[10]  Maria J. Stokes,et al.  Managing Engineering Knowledge: MOKA-Methodology for Knowledge Based Engineering Applications , 2001 .

[11]  Ola Isaksson.  A GENERATIVE MODELING APPROACH TO ENGINEERING DESIGN , 2003 .

[12]  Janaka S. Weerasinghe,et al.  Use of Wikis as An Engineering Collaborative Tool , 2007 .

[13]  A Ingram,et al.  Knowledge-based engineering for SMEs — a methodology , 2000 .

[14]  Lars Stehn,et al.  Connecting Lean Construction to Pre-fabrication Complexity in Swedish Volume Element Housing , 2005 .

[15]  Morten Kyng,et al.  Design at Work , 1992 .

[16]  Jerker Lessing,et al.  Industrialised House-Building. Concept and Processes , 2006 .

[17]  Peter E.D. Love,et al.  Total quality management and the learning organization: a dialogue for change in construction , 2000 .

[18]  Matilda Höök,et al.  Timber Volume Element Prefabrication Production and market aspects , 2005 .

[19]  Martyn Pinfold,et al.  The application of a knowledge based engineering approach to the rapid design and analysis of an automotive structure , 2001 .

[20]  Steven C. Wheelwright,et al.  Revolutionizing Product Development: Quantum Leaps in Speed, Efficiency and Quality , 1992 .

[21]  Craig B. Chapman,et al.  Design engineering - a need to rethink the solution using knowledge based engineering , 1999, Knowledge-Based Systems.

[22]  Johan Malmqvist,et al.  Towards Integration of KBE and PLM , 2007 .

[23]  L. Stehn,et al.  Benefits and disadvantages of ERP in industrialised timber frame housing in Sweden , 2005 .

[24]  Andrew J. Crowley.  Construction as a manufacturing process: Lessons from the automotive industry , 1998 .

[25]  Stefan Persson,et al.  IT-stöd för industriellt byggande i trä , 2006 .

[26]  Andrew Cook,et al.  Revolutionizing Product Development‐Quantum Leaps in Speed, Eficiency, and Quality , 1994 .

[27]  Yunhe Pan,et al.  Automated design of house-floor layout with distributed planning , 1990, Comput. Aided Des..

[28]  Annette L. Stumpf,et al.  Integrating Object-Oriented CAD and Rule-Based Technologies for Construction Planning. , 1996 .