Contained in:
Book Chapter

A Value Stream Mapping Approach to the Identification of Lean Management Opportunities for Off-Site Construction Production: A Case of Reinforced Concrete Slabs

  • Zhe Chen
  • Zhengting Guo
  • Fan Xue

Off-site construction (OSC), including prefabrication and Modular-integrated Construction (MiC), is gaining popularity as a school of sustainable construction methods that can improve productivity, quality, and waste reduction. However, OSC projects face challenges related to technical integration, collaboration among stakeholders, and dynamic uncertainties. As a result, high-quality standards throughout the manufacturing process of OSC products are difficult to ensure, leading to costly rework, delays, and safety issues. This paper applies a value stream mapping (VSM) approach based on lean principles to OSC production for identifying lean management opportunities for off-site construction production. The case studied in this paper is reinforced concrete slabs. First, we employed a combination of field investigations and interviews to formalize the flow of materials and information for the case. Then, VSM processed the flow for the current state map, which highlights twelve opportunities to prioritize for slab production, e.g., the adoption of digital technology (VR, BIM) in information flows. The findings in value-added activities improvement of the opportunities demonstrate the potential of lean management in the slab production case. Furthermore, the VSM approach in this paper can identify the ‘wastes’ in lean theory, which are the control points of OSC production, for enhancing quality, efficiency, and resource utilization. The findings contribute to the existing body of knowledge by providing empirical evidence of the VSM approach to the identification of lean management opportunities for OSC production

  • Keywords:
  • Off-site construction,
  • Prefabricated products,
  • Lean management,
  • Value stream mapping,
  • Quality assurance,
  • Construction industrialization,
  • Lean construction,
+ Show More

Zhe Chen

The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Zhengting Guo

China State Construction Hailong Technology Company Limited, China - ORCID: 0009-0003-6040-551X

Fan Xue

The University of Hong Kong, China - ORCID: 0000-0003-2217-3693

  1. Chen, J. C., Li, Y., & Shady, B. D. (2008). From value stream mapping toward a lean/sigma continuous improvement process: an industrial case study. International Journal of Production Research, 48(4), 1069–1086. DOI: 10.1080/00207540802484911
  2. Fontanini, P. S. P., De Souza Milano, C., Fujimoto, A., Lintz, R. C. C., Barbosa, L. a. G., De Avila Jacintho, A. E. P. G., & Pimentel, L. L. (2013). Concrete slab Value stream mapping of Brazilian residential buildings - A lean construction study case. Advanced Materials Research, 690–693, 829–834. DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.690-693.829
  3. Grewal, C. S. (2008). An initiative to implement lean manufacturing using value stream mapping in a small company. International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management, 15(3/4), 404. DOI: 10.1504/ijmtm.2008.020176
  4. Heravi, G., & Firoozi, M. (2016). Production process improvement of buildings’ prefabricated steel frames using value stream mapping. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 89(9–12), 3307–3321. DOI: 10.1007/s00170-016-9306-9
  5. Hosseini, M. R., Martek, I., Zavadskas, E. K., Aibinu, A. A., Arashpour, M., & Chileshe, N. (2018). Critical evaluation of off-site construction research: A Scientometric analysis. Automation in Construction, 87, 235–247. DOI: 10.1016/j.autcon.2017.12.002
  6. Khalili, A., & Chua, D. K. H. (2014). Integrated prefabrication configuration and component grouping for resource optimization of precast production. Journal of the Construction Division and Management, 140(2). DOI: 10.1061/(asce)co.1943-7862.0000798
  7. Ko, C., & Kuo, J. (2015). MAKING FORMWORK CONSTRUCTION LEAN. Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, 21(4), 444–458. DOI: 10.3846/13923730.2014.890655
  8. Koskela, L. (1993). Lean production in construction. Proceedings of the . . . ISARC. DOI: 10.22260/isarc1993/0007
  9. Lee, D. Y., Chi, H., Wang, J., Wang, X., & Park, C. (2016). A linked data system framework for sharing construction defect information using ontologies and BIM environments. Automation in Construction, 68, 102–113. DOI: 10.1016/j.autcon.2016.05.003
  10. Li, C. Z., Chen, Z., Xue, F., Kong, X. T., Xiao, B., Lai, X., & Zhao, Y. (2021). A blockchain- and IoT-based smart product-service system for the sustainability of prefabricated housing construction. Journal of Cleaner Production, 286, 125391. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125391
  11. Loss, C., Piazza, M., & Zandonini, R. (2016). Connections for steel–timber hybrid prefabricated buildings. Part II: Innovative modular structures. Construction and Building Materials, 122, 796–808. DOI: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2015.12.001
  12. Lu, W., Chen, K., Xue, F., & Pan, W. (2018). Searching for an optimal level of prefabrication in construction: An analytical framework. Journal of Cleaner Production, 201, 236–245. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.07.319
  13. Mitolo, N., Nesi, P., Pantaleo, G., & Paolucci, M. (2021). Snap4City Platform to Speed Up Policies. In Green energy and technology. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-57764-3_7
  14. Park, C., Lee, D., Kwon, O., & Wang, X. (2013). A framework for proactive construction defect management using BIM, augmented reality and ontology-based data collection template. Automation in Construction, 33, 61–71. DOI: 10.1016/j.autcon.2012.09.010
  15. Rahani, A. R., & Al-Ashraf, M. (2012). Production Flow Analysis through Value Stream Mapping: A Lean Manufacturing Process Case Study. Procedia Engineering, 41, 1727–1734. DOI: 10.1016/j.proeng.2012.07.375
  16. Rahimian, F. P., & Ibrahim, R. (2011). Impacts of VR 3D sketching on novice designers’ spatial cognition in collaborative conceptual architectural design. Design Studies, 32(3), 255–291. DOI: 10.1016/j.destud.2010.10.003
  17. Sacks, R., Girolami, M., & Brilakis, I. (2020). Building information modelling, artificial intelligence and construction tech. Developments in the Built Environment, 4, 100011. DOI: 10.1016/j.dibe.2020.100011
  18. Sacks, R., Koskela, L., Dave, B., & Owen, R. (2010). Interaction of lean and building information modeling in construction. Journal of the Construction Division and Management, 136(9), 968–980. DOI: 10.1061/(asce)co.1943-7862.0000203
  19. Wu, G., Yang, R., Li, L., Bi, X., Liu, B., Li, S., & Zhou, S. (2019). Factors influencing the application of prefabricated construction in China: From perspectives of technology promotion and cleaner production. Journal of Cleaner Production, 219, 753–762. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.02.110
  20. Wu, P., & Pheng, L. S. (2011). Lean production, value chain and sustainability in precast concrete factory - a case study in Singapore. Lean Construction Journal, 92–109. https://www.leanconstruction.org/media/docs/lcj/2011/LCJ_10_007.pdf
  21. Xue, F., Chen, K., Lu, W., Niu, Y., & Huang, G. Q. (2018). Linking radio-frequency identification to Building Information Modeling: Status quo, development trajectory and guidelines for practitioners. Automation in Construction, 93, 241–251. DOI: 10.1016/j.autcon.2018.05.023
  22. Xue, F., Wu, L., & Lu, W. (2021). Semantic enrichment of building and city information models: A ten-year review. Advanced Engineering Informatics, 47, 101245. DOI: 10.1016/j.aei.2020.101245
  23. Yu, H., Tweed, T., Al-Hussein, M., & Nasseri, R. (2009). Development of lean model for house construction using value stream mapping. Journal of the Construction Division and Management, 135(8), 782–790. DOI: 10.1061/(asce)0733-9364(2009)135:8(782
  24. Zhao, R., Chen, Z., & Xue, F. (2023). A blockchain 3.0 paradigm for digital twins in construction project management. Automation in Construction, 145, 104645. DOI: 10.1016/j.autcon.2022.104645
PDF
  • Publication Year: 2023
  • Pages: 388-397

XML
  • Publication Year: 2023

Chapter Information

Chapter Title

A Value Stream Mapping Approach to the Identification of Lean Management Opportunities for Off-Site Construction Production: A Case of Reinforced Concrete Slabs

Authors

Zhe Chen, Zhengting Guo, Fan Xue

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0289-3.38

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2023

Copyright Information

© 2023 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY-NC 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Bibliographic Information

Book Title

CONVR 2023 - Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Construction Applications of Virtual Reality

Book Subtitle

Managing the Digital Transformation of Construction Industry

Editors

Pietro Capone, Vito Getuli, Farzad Pour Rahimian, Nashwan Dawood, Alessandro Bruttini, Tommaso Sorbi

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2023

Copyright Information

© 2023 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY-NC 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Publisher Name

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0289-3

eISBN (pdf)

979-12-215-0289-3

eISBN (xml)

979-12-215-0257-2

Series Title

Proceedings e report

Series ISSN

2704-601X

Series E-ISSN

2704-5846

151

Fulltext
downloads

142

Views

Export Citation

1,361

Open Access Books

in the Catalogue

2,368

Book Chapters

3,870,371

Fulltext
downloads

4,536

Authors

from 942 Research Institutions

of 66 Nations

67

scientific boards

from 357 Research Institutions

of 43 Nations

1,249

Referees

from 381 Research Institutions

of 38 Nations