33rd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 33) - Osaka and Kyoto, Japan - 2025

https://doi.org/10.24928/2025/0207

Implications of Construction Robots for On-site Lean Construction: an In-depth Case Study

Rongbo Hu1, Jiazhen Mao2, Soungho Chae3 & Justin K.W. Yeoh4

1Researcher, Kajima Technical Research Institute Singapore, Kajima Corporation, Singapore, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0717-1094
2CTO and Co-founder, Shanghai Weibuild Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0009-0009-6108-7262
3Chief Research Engineer, Kajima Technical Research Institute Singapore, Kajima Corporation, Singapore, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7272-2262
4Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2783-303X

Abstract

The construction sector plays a crucial role in the global economy. At the same time, it is constantly facing enormous economic, social, and environmental challenges. Lean construction practices, ever since their emergence, have continued to bring many benefits to the construction industry. Studies showed that construction robots as an emerging technology have the potential to improve lean construction particularly around off-site construction, but the implications of robots for on-site lean construction have been rarely discussed. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the implications of single-task construction robots for on-site lean construction on the micro, meso, and macro levels based on an in-depth case study in Singapore. The results show that construction robots can provide many lean construction-related positive implications for on-site lean construction in economic, social, and environmental aspects, indicating that construction robots together with their compatible operating environment and optimized work processes can be a meaningful and powerful tool for on-site lean construction practices. Furthermore, this study provides the first empirical evidence of the benefits of adopting construction robots in Singapore’s construction industry. Various key stakeholders in the construction industry can benefit from the analysis framework in this study at various levels when implementing on-site construction robots.

Keywords

Construction robotics, lean construction, on-site construction, plastering, Singapore.

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Reference in APA 7th edition format:

Hu, R., Mao, J., Chae, S. & Yeoh, J. K.. (2025). Implications of Construction Robots for On-site Lean Construction: an In-depth Case Study. In Seppänen, O., Koskela, L., & Murata , K. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 33) (pp. 999–1010). https://doi.org/10.24928/2025/0207

Shortened reference for use in IGLC papers:

Hu, R., Mao, J., Chae, S. & Yeoh, J. K.. (2025). Implications of Construction Robots for On-site Lean Construction: an In-depth Case Study. IGLC33. https://doi.org/10.24928/2025/0207

 

Founded in 1993, the IGLC is an international network of researchers from practice and academia in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) who feel that the practice, education, and research of the AEC industry have to be radically renewed in order to respond to the global challenges ahead.

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