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

https://doi.org/10.24928/2025/0225

Comparative Analysis of Construction Waste: Robotic Vs. Manual Offsite Assembly

Ali Hadi1, Franco Cheung2 & Solomon Adjei3

1Doctoral Researcher, Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0002-9411-1283; Senior Lecturer, University of Warith Al-Anbiyaa, Karbala, Iraq
2Professor, Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0001-6088-6315
3Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0001-5712-6171

Abstract

Construction waste (CW) is a significant environmental concern that started to shape the future of the construction industry. Offsite construction (OSC) is one key approach widely praised for its capability to reduce CW due to its controlled environment where lean and technology principles can be applied. Despite the growing research confirming OSC capability to promote productivity and reduce lead times, evidence on material efficiency is highly limited. Hence, this study aims to fill this gap in the literature by conducting a comparative case study to investigate CW generation in OSC. Two timber frame panelised construction factories were approached with OSB assembly stations chosen to investigate how, how much and why CW is generated and whether lean and technology uptake are supporting CW reduction. While Factory A adopted a manual station to assemble the OSB layer, Factory B adopted a fully automated robotic station. The results indicate that the robotic station generated significant offcuts, accounting for 27% of the total OSB usage, compared to 16% generated by the manual station. The application of lean and technology practices is found to primarily focus on workflow, time, and cost, with limited consideration to material efficiency.

Keywords

Construction Waste, Offsite Construction, Lean Construction, Automated Assembly

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Reference in APA 7th edition format:

Hadi, A., Cheung, F. & Adjei, S.. (2025). Comparative Analysis of Construction Waste: Robotic Vs. Manual Offsite Assembly. In Seppänen, O., Koskela, L., & Murata , K. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 33) (pp. 775–786). https://doi.org/10.24928/2025/0225

Shortened reference for use in IGLC papers:

Hadi, A., Cheung, F. & Adjei, S.. (2025). Comparative Analysis of Construction Waste: Robotic Vs. Manual Offsite Assembly. IGLC33. https://doi.org/10.24928/2025/0225

 

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