Abstract
Productivity in the UK construction sector has historically lagged behind other industry sectors. The government is aiming to improve this through increasing the level of pre-manufactured value in built assets. Since 2001, the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre has been developing technological innovations for the aerospace and automotive sectors. This paper shows how lessons learnt from, and technologies developed for, these sectors can be transferred into the construction supply chain through horizontal innovation. Technologies such as robotics and automation, augmented and virtual reality, discrete event simulation, large volume metrology, and improved tools and processes all have a role to play. Significant productivity increases are possible, with the benefit often driven by the digitalisation of traditionally manual paper-based processes.
Highlights
The use of advanced manufacturing techniques developed and proved in high-value manufacturing sectors such as aerospace and defence may be thought to have little application for highvolume traditional sectors such as the construction industry
The biggest obstacle to a sector-wide transformation is less the adaptation of advanced technologies to construction (Brown, 2018) and more the reluctance among some industry leaders and policy makers to change a conservative mindset to one that embraces the adoption of industrial digitalisation: robotics; automation; augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality; discrete event simulation (DES); and digital twins
As offsite modular construction moves up the UK government agenda and a stronger market emerges, there will be a shift to fabrication and assembly processes operated within a controlled and equipped work environment before the final modules are delivered to the building site
Summary
The use of advanced manufacturing techniques developed and proved in high-value manufacturing sectors such as aerospace and defence may be thought to have little application for highvolume traditional sectors such as the construction industry. This paper explores use cases for advanced manufacturing technologies in research projects with construction trail-blazers such as Laing O’Rourke, Legal and General Modular Homes and Berkeley Modular, along with disruptive innovators such as Sublime and Carbon Dynamic. It shows how the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) is collaborating with industry to develop novel techniques and processes that could have significant impact on productivity, quality, training and skills
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