Offsite manufacturing in the construction industry Essay

Off office manufacturing in the construction intentness - Essay Example door and Context Too often construction projects conducted on site exact exhibited inefficient project processes, paltry integration among team members, poor productivity levels, and poor performance in safety and health. In compargon the manufacturing sector does not normally experience these repercussions which has led some innovative mind in the industry to consider a better way. This turned out to be off site structure, which has been noted to have many advantages over traditional construction (Ogden, 2007). In the light of the need for Zenith PM to develop a new strategy to improve its revenues and retain its skilled personnel, the company has identified off-site construction as its most viable option. Current thinking on offsite manufacturing New developments The off-site construction trend grew significantly in 2006 in various countries worldwide, partly because clients and contracts have come to rea lise its benefits in terms of disgrace cost, better quality, predictability of outcome, sustainability, and better compliance with health and safety standards. The off-site industry is still in its infancy despite the rise in the demand for its products at this point, the industry is still a diverse and garbled group of technologies and off-site producers. at that place is certainly room for further development which, as the sector matures, go forth enhance standardisation and regulation so that clients and contractors could benefit from much reliable products and also more options per product. There ar currently four off-site construction techniques where the manufacturing or fabrication is performed away from the project site and before the installation. Na and Bausman (2008) identified these as (1) Offsite preassembly, referring to the process wherein different building materials, equipment, and prefabricated components are assembled at a remote location for later installa tion. It is focused on a system instead of a product. i example is roof trusses, or preassembled vessels complete with installations, platforms piping and ladders. (2) Hybrid systems are prefabricated building facilities, i.e. they are building units that are fully mill finish, complete with internal furnishes and building services. An example is a factory finished bathroom with interior finishing, plumbing, electrical service, and factory completed office rooms. (3) Panelized Building Systems are comprised of the structural frame, or building envelop, employing factory manufactured building panels. These consist more of factory-built components rather than completed modules usually including the factory based fabrication like finished wall panels with cladding insulation, internal finishes, doors and windows. They are brought to the site and are there assembled and permanently secured (4) Modular buildings are popularly known as the factory-built homes of one or more units comp letely assembled or fabricated in a manufacturing plant far from the jobsite. They consist typically of multi-rooms with cubic units, that are constructed and pre-assembled and already include installed trim work, electrical, mechanical, and plumbing. After fabrication, they are transported and assembled on site. Benefits and core challenges There are a host of benefits brought about by off-site construction that have been long-recognized by the HSE and other supervise agencies. These include predictability, quality assurance, faster construction times, less waste,