TY - CONF TI - Product Variety in Construction: A Critical Review and Way Forward C1 - Lima, Peru C3 - Proc. 29th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC) SP - 594 EP - 604 PY - 2021 DO - 10.24928/2021/0133 AU - Rocha, Cecilia Gravina da AU - Kemmer, Sergio AD - Lecturer, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia. cecilia.rocha@uts.edu.au, orcid.org/0000-0001-6764-1724 AD - Director, SK Consultoria e Treinamento, Curitiba – Parana, Brazil (https://www.sergiokemmer.com) contato@sergiokemmer.com, orcid.org/0000-0002-0803-2096 AB - This paper presents a critical analysis of current construction literature on product variety. In particular, two theoretical bases, namely, (i) hierarchical product breakdown and (ii) generic supply chain types, that address such conceptualization are reviewed. Three limitations were encountered, which hinder their application in measuring levels of product variety and associated disruptions in the production flow of building projects. Hierarchical product breakdowns (i) do not reflect the production sequence employed for erecting a building and (ii) do not enable spatial and layout changes (a key aspect of variety in building projects) to be appropriately framed. Supply chain types, in turn, provide only a high-level understanding of the effect of product variety (or customisation) on the production flow, and thus do not allow product variety to be assessed and compared at a project level. The paper concludes by discussing a number of conceptualizations (Work structure & Work Packages, Product Variants, Decoupling Point, Modules, and Design Structure Matrix) that can advance in the understanding of product variety in construction. KW - Customization KW - process KW - flow KW - work packages KW - modularity PB - T2 - Proc. 29th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC) DA - 2021/07/14 CY - Lima, Peru L1 - http://iglc.net/Papers/Details/1910/pdf L2 - http://iglc.net/Papers/Details/1910 N1 - Export Date: 25 April 2024 DB - IGLC.net DP - IGLC LA - English ER -