Sacremento, California Seoul, Korea

Gloucestershire, UK

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Alda periodically undertakes study tours of factories in different countries to review its capability and capacity. In reviewing factories, Alda looks at 3 key success factors: competency of Supervisors, preparation of Shopdrawings, procure-ment of materials.

The reviews are only a brief summary. For further details please request alda@ aldaconsultants.com.au.

Do the supervisors have building con-struction experience? Are each supervisor assigned to a specific role in the manufacture? How appropriate is their QAQC system?

Who is the design manager? Are draw-ings produced in BIM? Are shopdraw-ings outsourced or insourced? How competent are their shopdrawing detailers?

Who is their pro-curement manager? Is the procurement system linked to BIM ? Where do they source and store the materials? Can you trace the material?

How many storeys have they built with their modules? How tall can they build? What is the method of construction, steel, timber or con-crete? What is their structural system?

Supervision Shop Drawings Procurement Height

alda

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Posco is one of South Korea’s largest conglomerates and steel manufacturer. Its Architectural and Engineering division (Posco A&E) designs and manufactures modular steel framed buildings and operates the Cheon-an factory based 2 hours outside of Seoul. Its modular manufacturing business model is based on buying steel from Posco Steel and selling the finished product to its Engineering and Construction division (Posco E&C) which has a stake in mining projects in Australia, Russia and Canada. Predominantly these products are single storey dormitory modules.

‘Muto’, an Architectural Award project in Cheongdam, Seoul, is a 4 storey high self contained single bed apartment that is Posco owned, developed and occupied by Posco staff. Their next project is in Suseo, a 5 storey high apartment.

Posco FactorySeoul, Korea

Factory Review

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Procurement:Inhouse

Height:4 Storeys

Shop Drawings: Inhouse

Supervision

The enclosed factory is a modest size with output capacity of 2 modules per day. The steel floor chassis are fitted with wheels that are set into a single guide track on the factory floor and moved as it progresses through each stage of its construction. The final product is shrink wrapped and lifted by large overhead crane for storage outside. Factory is neatly organized and efficiently laid out as you would expect from a world-class South Korean manufacturer. Its equipment appears well serviced and maintained.

BIM design and shop drawings are produced in house Procurement is also linked to their BIM. Obviously steel is the dominant material specified in their products. The display apartments in Seoul uses concrete floors but walls are steel stud framed lined with insulation and fire rated boards.

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01. Computerational Modeling02. Single guide track03. Corner detail of module04. External face of module05. Steel frame structure06. Corner detail of module07. Electrical08. Organised factory floor

09. Subfloor service10. Outdoor overhead crane11. Concrete slab floor12. Model of Posco Factory

(Seoul)13. Window & wall assembly14. Modules on production line15. Jig

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Zeta manufactures modular buildings and supplies to Builders for the Northern California market . It focuses on timber framed 4-5 storey buildings. Zeta runs a lean operation and takes a very pragmatic unsophisticated approach to manufacturing. It relies on sourcing materials that are available locally like timber rather imported materials. They use traditional tradesmen who use standard tools are focused individually on their own trade and work station.

Design Development for Architecture and Engineering is outsourced in BIM but shopdrawings and procurement carried out by staff in house. All projects are customised to suit the owner’s design.

This 2500 sqm factory is based about 90 minutes north of San Francisco near Sacramento CA. It is not designed for high automation or reliance on specialised equipment or processes. For instance the floor assembly is fitted with castor wheels and is moved manually around to various work stations for assembly. Only the final assembled module is moved by hydraulic lift castors to the holding yard ready for transport to the site.

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Zeta Design + BuildMcClellan, California

Factory Review

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Procurement:Inhouse

Height:4 Storeys

Shop Drawings: Outsource

Supervision

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01 Under floor access02 Floor assembly03 Floor assembly04 Insulation fitting05 Bill Talbot,

Factory Manager06 Module ceiling07 Internal fittings08 Fitting wheels to

chasis

09 Subfloor services10 Timber frame

modules11 Internlal wall

plastering12 Hydraulic services13 Finished module14 Transporting module15 Store

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LightspeedGloucestershire, United Kingdom

Factory Review

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The 10,000sqm factory was extremely well design and maintained. Based on a continuous rolling production line process adapted from the automotive industry, it relied on automating and moving large lightweight steel panelized components through the production line. For instance to paint the the walls, entire length of a wall were hung on racks and moved robotically through the enclosed paint booth and drying booth . This process was repeated for each coat of paint. At its peak with 2 shifts of 16 people, it could produce close to 25 modules per day - 1 module every hour.Its estimated that the entire factory cost over £20M and was sold in parts to various parties for a small fraction of its cost. Fluctuations in demand proved too costly for a fixed-cost, inflexible, single product focused factory.

Arguably one of the best manufacturing facility in the UK, the now defunct factory in Gloucestershire was once owned by the Unite Group and produced thousands of modules for the student accommodation market in the UK. The factory was purpose designed for this market, which limited its ability to service other markets that demanded flexibility in the dimensions of its rooms

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Procurement:Inhouse

Height:4 Storeys

Shop Drawings: Outsource

Supervision

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01 Hydraulic lifting plaster board02 Module on conveyor03 Henrob rivetting04 Overhead access05 Assembly floor06 Hanging racks for wall panels07 Steel framed module08 Bottom corner detail of module09 Bottom corner detail of module10 Store11 Finished module12 Plasterboard lining13 Corner detail of module14 Jamb of opening15 Snap fit electricity16 Corner detail of module17 Hydraulic manifold18 Tool and fittings

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