Productization vs. industrialization in construction

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Productization drives more value, offers more scalability, and bypasses financial sinkholes triggered by trade-based interference.

Advanced Modularization Techniques


With integration-ready, multi-trade modules, the construction virtual twin-based approach can ultimately extend upstream to realize model-driven procurement, as well as microfactory-powered manufacturing and assembly processes.


Standardized interfaces reduce the complexity of materials needed on site and support procurement automation. Microfactories are structured to service multiple construction clients by manufacturing customized modules with standardized interfaces. Using a microfactory drastically reduces the cost of designing, manufacturing, and assembling these custom building blocks. With the growing adoption of integration-ready modules, generative configuration and variant management will open the door to a construction module marketplace complete with virtual construction experiences.


Product Lines and Portfolios


With productized modules come product lines and product portfolios. Servicing the value chain involves the evolution of product lines geared toward various customer use cases. To be profitable and scalable, product lines are best managed off cycle — independently of any given construction project.

Productization in Action: How to supply integration-ready construction modules independently of a defined project:

With a product architecture established, the off-cycle product management team iteratively improves on the construction module definition. A module definition includes parts, interfaces, assembly instructions and other intellectual property (IP). Module variations are organized into a portfolio
of product lines.

Once a project is commissioned, the design team creates a high-level design, then generatively composes a detailed model from the available portfolio of pre-defined modules. Finally, the modules are manufactured on demand, near the site and assembled using existing installation instructions. Feedback from the integration experience is incorporated into the module definition for future projects.

Learn more about what productization means for the construction industry in our white paper.

This article is excerpted from THE PRODUCTIZATION EFFECT: How integration-ready modules will transform the roles of general contractors, specialty contractors and the entire construction value chain. This white paper maps the path to productization and defines how general contractors, specialty contractors and the entire construction value chain can leverage virtual twins on an end-to-end collaboration platform, transcend the limitations of classic industrialization and leapfrog to personalized construction.

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Akio Moriwaki

Akio Moriwaki

As head of global marketing for the AEC Industry at Dassault Systèmes, Mr. Moriwaki launches and promotes groundbreaking Industry Solution Experiences including "Optimized Construction," "Façade Design for Fabrication," and "Civil Design for Fabrication." He is a member of buildingSMART.