21th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction - Fortaleza, Brazil - 2013

Improving Buildabuility With Platforms and Configurators

Patrik Jensen1, Johan Larsson2, Peter Simonsson3 & Thomas Olofsson4

11 PhD student, Division of Structural and Construction Engineering, Luleå university of technology, Sweden, Phone +46 (010) 452-2440, [email protected]
2PhD student, Division of Structural and Construction Engineering, Luleå university of technology, Sweden, Phone +1 (0920) 492-263, [email protected]
3Tech. Dr, Division of Structural and Construction Engineering, Luleå university of technology, Sweden, Phone +1 (070) 290-0410, [email protected]
4Professor, Division of Structural and Construction Engineering, Luleå university of technology, Sweden, Phone +1 (0920) 493-662, [email protected]

Abstract

The different stages in construction projects are often separated with little interaction between the different trades. Many researchers proclaim that this separation between design and production limits the buildability of construction design. Thus there is a need for providing knowledge of rules and constraints imposed from production into the design of construction products. A way of integrating production knowledge into design is by implementing platforms in construction products. This study will however investigate if and how configurators could function as carriers of both product and process (production) knowledge within platform thinking. Previous work developing configurators has mainly focused on the efficiency of the design phase and is usually not linked to production improvements and simplifications. By defining a platform for a certain bridge variant within its market segment, the technical solutions can be designed to be flexible while ensuring good buildability in the construction phase. The developed configurator is built in SolidWorks and parametrically coupled using Tacton Studio. The first version generates geometrical drawings, whereas validation of the generated drawings from the configurator compared with the previous designed drawings from a single case study shows that parametric modelling configurators can be used for increasing buildability and efficiency at site.

Keywords

Buildability, Customization, Standardization, Integration, Platform, Configurator.

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Reference

Jensen, P. , Larsson, J. , Simonsson, P. & Olofsson, T. 2013. Improving Buildabuility With Platforms and Configurators , 21th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction , 771-780. doi.org/

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