chapter 1. industrialization of

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INDUSTRIALIZATION OF

CONSTRUCTION WORKS


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The history of technology, in the field ofconstruction, represents man's efforts to controlhis material environment for his own benefit.Man has been able to do this using tools andapplying reason to the properties of matter andenergy. For many thousands of years, his

progress in technology was made by trial anderror, which made possible impressive results. Itwas only toward the end of the 18th century,once with the Industrial Revolution, thattechnology started to transform itself form craftskills. to applied science.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS


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CONSTRUCTION

INDUSTRIALIZATION

Definition of industrialization: The application of scientific principles to the optimalconversion of natural resources into structures, machines, products, systems, andprocesses (DEX 1998).

Industrialization is concerned with both on-site and off-site methods ofconstruction organized in a systematic way in such that erection can proceed as acontinuous operation. This is achieved by careful planning of activities carried out andby setting up a production line to provide an organized flow of components. Muchtraditional building procedure remains site-bound and labor-intensive. Tradition is stillused in the field of wet construction. However, by incorporating factory producedunits and components into traditional in situ concrete construction, and by employingmechanical plant and equipment, erection time has been shortened considerably,particularly on work of a repetitive nature. Sometimes the contractor uses part of thesite as a workshop or temporary factory for the production of woodwork or pre-castcomponents. Whether traditional or industrialized, on-site organization of materials,components, and labor is vital in construction procedure; pre-planning of each stage

is essential, and adequate time should be allowed for working out details beforeoperations can commence. Preplanning of activities should cover - site layout, worksequence, design, manufacture, and fixing of standardized components, mechanicalplant.


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1.3. BASIC PRINCIPLES OF INDUSTRIALIZATIONThe efficiency of industrialized production results from the careful, systematic application

of the ideas and concepts outlined above. The following summary lists the basic

principles of mass production:

- Prefabrication of building components. Many prefabrication technologies deliver abetter product because building is done in a quality controlled sheltered environment.

Just as importantly, prefabrication can dramatically improve productivity. The method

controls construction costs by economizing on time, labor, wages, and materials.

- Developing new construction methods like industrial type production to constantly

improve efficiency in the scope of improving labor productivity (minimizes the amount of

human effort required).

- Careful division of the production operations into specialized tasks comprising of

relative simple, highly repetitive human motion patterns and minimal handling or

positioning of the workpiece that can be easily learned and rapidly performed with a

minimum of unnecessary motion or mental readjustment.

-Developing new and improved construction materials in factory type prefabrication

up to the total elimination of the time consuming operations (reinforcement bending,

tying wires, welding etc.) within the construction site. These operations must improve

construction quality.

- Simplification and standardization of component parts through:

1. dimensional co-ordination agreement made between the manufacturers of

building units and the designers in order to simplify assembly by standardizing sizes;


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2. modular design a technique that uses a standard size module (1M = 100 mm) as

the fundamental unit for space planning. Larger spaces comprise multiple modules

(n x M), while smaller spaces sub modules (M/n). to allow large production runs of parts

that are without difficulty fitted to other parts without adjustment. The imposition of other

standards (e.g. dimensional tolerances, parts location, material types) on all parts of the

product further increases the economic benefit that can be achieved.

Carefully designed, construction engineering and management, projects are required to

achieve the maximum benefits that application of these principles can provide. Planning

begins with the original design of the product; raw materials and component parts shall

be adaptable to production and handling by mass techniques. The entire production

process is planned in detail, including the flows of materials and information throughout

the process. For the industrialization of construction to be efficient, the production flow ofcomponents/ materials shall be:

- Carefully estimated because the selection of techniques depends upon the volume to

be produced and anticipated short-term changes in demand.

- Large enough, first, to permit the task to be divided into sub-processes assigned to

different individuals; second, to justify the substantial capital investment often required

for specialized machines and processes; and third, to permit large production runs sothat human effort and capital are efficiently employed.

- Planed in detail because the large, continuous flow of product from the factory

requires distribution and marketing operations to bring the product to the client.

Advantages of industrialization in construction: In addition to lowering cost, the

application of the principles of industrialization has led to major improvements in

uniformity and quality. The large volume, standardized design, and standardized


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materials and processes facilitate statistical control and inspection techniques to monitor

production and control quality.

Limitations of industrialization in construction - the resulting system is inherently

inflexible, because maximum efficiency is desired; tools, machines, and work positions

are often quite precisely adapted to details of the parts produced but not necessarily to

the workers involved in the process. Changes in product design may converge toward

high costs. Usually, a production line is designed to operate most efficiently at a

specified rate. If the required production levels fall below that rate, operators and

machines are being inefficiently used; and if the rate goes too high, operators must work

overtime, machine maintenance cannot keep up, breakdowns occur, and the costs of

production rise. Proper planning can eliminate the problems encountered; flexibility to

accommodate changes economically must be planned into the system.

chapter 1. industrialization of

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