The Case for Industrialization of the Construction Industry

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This post is an excerpt from the paper, “Industrialization of the Construction Industry,” by Dr. Perry Daneshgari and  Dr. Heather Moore of  MCA Inc.

Like many other industries the construction industry is under constant pressure to improve productivity, reduce cost, and minimize waste in the operation.

While the productivity in the manufacturing industry has improved by four hundred percent (400%) over the last century, the construction industry’s productivity has, in the best case, stayed flat or turned negative.

Tweet: Problem: Over the last 100 yrs productivity in the #AEC industry has, in best case, stayed flat. Solution: http://ctt.ec/mf0SU+ @3DSAECClick to tweet: “Problem: over the 100 yrs productivity in the #AEC
industry has, in the best case, stayed flat. Solution: industrialization”

One main reason for the improvement of the manufacturing and other industries’ productivity is the “Industrialization” of those industries. Industrialization of any industry will rely on the following five factors:

  1. Management of Labor
  2. Management of work
  3. Lean Operations
  4. Modeling and Simulation
  5. Feedback from the source

The driver for establishing and applying industrialization in manufacturing was the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Currently no known association is leading this mission in the construction industry.

A marked result of the advancement in productivity of the manufacturing industry is the relative price of an automobile.  Whilst the cost of an automobile has gone from 140% in 1910 of the average national per capita income in the United States down to 33% in 2012, the cost of an average dwelling has gone up from 333% to 619% of per capita income during the same period.

Tweet: Since 1910 automobile production cost decreased 75%. The cost of a dwelling has doubled. Time to industrialize @3DSAEC http://ctt.ec/Urcfa+Click to tweet: “Since 1910 automobile production cost decreased
75%. Production cost of a dwelling has doubled. Time to industrialize”

This post is an excerpt from the white paper, “Industrialization of the Construction Industry,” by Dr. Perry Daneshgari and Dr. Heather Moore. Commissioned by Dassault Systemes and prepared by MCA Inc., this whitepaper focuses on industrialization of construction industry. It maps out the construction industry challenges, relates the history of industrialization in the manufacturing industry, and summarizes five critical aspects and approaches.

Download the whitepaper and start accelerating the “Industrialization of the Construction Industry” through lessons learned from manufacturing and other industries.

Tweet: The Case for Industrialization of the #Construction Industry @3DSAEC @Dassault3DS #AEC #BIM http://ctt.ec/Uz_OK+Click to tweet this article

 

Akio MoriwakiAkio Moriwaki
Dassault Systèmes’ head of global marketing for the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry, Mr. Moriwaki led the launch of the groundbreaking Lean Construction Solution Experience and is a member of buildingSMART

Related resources:

Lean Construction Industry Solution Experience

Download Lean Construction Solution Brief

White Paper: Industrialization of the Construction Industry

MCA® Website

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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.