Industrializing the Residential Construction
Site Phase IV: Production Simulation
(December 2004, 76 p)
Four years ago, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) began a concerted research effort to discover
ways to automate the home construction process, improve construction
workflows, and coordinate construction sites. The fourth phase
of this project features development of a computerized simulation
model of framing processes; i.e., the erection of prefabricated
wall panels, based on observations of current field practices.
The simulation model makes experiments possible, replicating
conditions of a proposed system without actually having to
build. It’s a useful tool for reducing design and production
errors prior to implementation, and a good indicator of the
type of information needed by field installers working in
residential construction. Industrializing the Residential
Construction Site Phase IV: Production Simulation, reports
the findings of this phase of the project.
The model duplicates levels of detail that are useful in
understanding the overall process, as well as detailing material
and assembly planning, stacking priority, and assembly processes.
The report also describes the panel erection process in a
clear, step-by-step manner, and provides estimates of the
required labor time. The study found that simulation modeling
is successful (in that it shows the cost of errors in framing),
and can also be useful in evaluating various approaches to
staging materials, positioning equipment, and balancing production
capacities across subcontracts.
|
| 
