TY  - CONF
TI  - Why Is Product Modularity Underdeveloped in Construction? 
C1  - Berkeley, California, USA
C3  - Proc. 28th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC)
SP  - 697
EP  - 708
PY  - 2020
DO  - 10.24928/2020/0050
AU  - Rocha, Cecilia G. da
AU  - Koskela, Lauri
AD  -  Lecturer, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, Bldg 11, Lv 11, NSW 2007, Australia, cecilia.rocha@uts.edu.au, doi.org/0000-0001-6764-1724 
AD  - Professor, School of Art, Design and Architecture, University of Huddersfield, Queen Street Building, Queen St., Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, HD1 3DU, United Kingdom, L.Koskela@hud.ac.uk, 0000- doi.org/0003-4449-2281
AB  - Product modularity (a term often associated with off-site construction/prefabrication) has been discussed in construction for a few decades. In spite of that, its understanding in this new context is still emergent. This paper sets out to explore why that is the case. The paper builds on both (i) recent investigations of this concept in construction, including empirical studies which are critically analysed here, and (ii) seminal works on the definition of product modularity in manufacturing. An important insight is that product modularity can benefit traditional construction (by adopting a space-oriented perspective), and thus should not be considered applicable only to off-site construction. Conversely, off-site construction does not ensure per se the adoption of product modularity (even though the terms might be sometimes perceived as closely related). Based on the analysis of literature and empirical cases, three limitations in the understanding and application of product modularity in construction are: (i) unclear boundaries between modules (namely, which components pertain to which module), (ii) invariant modules (namely, the components forming a module do not change depending on the combination in which it is used), and (iii) interfaces as synonymous with surfaces (despite the fact that an interface might entail more than one surface and vice-versa). 
KW  - Modular construction
KW  - interfaces
KW  - customisation
KW  - off-site construction.
PB  - 
T2  - Proc. 28th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC)
DA  - 2020/07/06
CY  - Berkeley, California, USA
L1  - http://iglc.net/Papers/Details/1787/pdf
L2  - http://iglc.net/Papers/Details/1787
N1  - Export Date: 28 April 2024
DB  - IGLC.net
DP  - IGLC
LA  - English
ER  -