In an optimized design and construction process, the virtual twin captures the architect’s intent: the types of materials desired, styles of rooms, types of constraints to address, etc. The construction team can then assemble the building based on a list of integration-ready modular systems identified in the virtual construction twin.

With this approach, the GC (as prime integrator) orchestrates the work from virtual makers, prefab shops and microfactories, and determines the construction experience needed to deliver and install productized modules in the field.

Assembly OSM: A Modular Strategy in Action

A rendering of the still under-wraps future full building project.
(Photo courtesy of Assembly OSM)

New York-based Assembly OSM, founded by SHoP Architects co-founders Bill and Chris Sharples, was established as a modular construction company. The team engineers components and sub-assemblies (structural steel chassis; unitized facades; wall, floor and ceiling cassettes; mechanical, electrical, plumbing and environmental systems; kitchen, bathroom and casework pods; building cores with elevators and stairs) to fit a single platform of infinite combinations.

(more…)

Today, each construction project is managed as a discrete effort and building models are still commonly delivered as drawings. General Contractors analyze the drawings, itemize the parts needed, order them from suppliers and ship them to a site where they are installed by craftspeople.

With off-site manufacturing and assembly, parts are first shipped to a prefab shop and pre-assembled so tradespeople are not running into each other. Some specialty contractors can work indoors. Processes have industrialized, the work is somewhat more efficient, but the traditional sequencing of processes remains the same.

In the near future, construction will be organized like a multi-tier manufacturing chain, which is exponentially more scalable. What does this transformation mean for the individual players within the construction value chain?

In The Next Normal in Construction, McKinsey & Company projects that GCs risk losing 20% to 25% of their value in a fully productized value chain in the coming years and specialty contractors risk 9% to 13% of their already modest slice. By resisting change, GCs will be disintermediated from the building delivery process. They will find themselves competing against module manufacturers and the firms that partner with them. In contrast, those who embrace productization and adapt as follows will retain the most value and demonstrate the most resilience through the transformation of the industry.

(more…)

Productization drives more value, offers more scalability, and bypasses financial sinkholes triggered by trade-based interference.

Advanced Modularization Techniques

With integration-ready, multi-trade modules, the construction virtual twin-based approach can ultimately extend upstream to realize model-driven procurement, as well as microfactory-powered manufacturing and assembly processes.

Standardized interfaces reduce the complexity of materials needed on site and support procurement automation. Microfactories are structured to service multiple construction clients by manufacturing customized modules with standardized interfaces. Using a microfactory drastically reduces the cost of designing, manufacturing, and assembling these custom building blocks. With the growing adoption of integration-ready modules, generative configuration and variant management will open the door to a construction module marketplace complete with virtual construction experiences.
(more…)

A modular approach to building design offers a high degree of configurability. It also enables the engineering of building systems outside of a project cycle, increasing scalability and cost efficiency. Virtual construction twin enables a construction project team to develop integration ready modules for this new approach. They include standardized interfaces, multi-trade assemblies, and generative variants.

THE 3 ELEMENTS OF INTEGRATION-READY MODULES

Standardized Interfaces Accelerate Installations

Interfaces are the mechanisms by which a module connects to another module or to the larger build. Integration-ready modules must allow for interchangeability, with flexible outcomes and a wide range of end-product variants.

Construction modules can offer great value with standardized interfaces. By decoupling trade-centric knowledge from the physical tasks of the construction job, module interfaces can be designed such that unskilled labor can perform on-site installations at scale.

Much like consumers are able to insert a standardized electrical plug on a home appliance into a wall outlet without the support of an electrician, any laborer can be trained to install construction modules with standardized interfaces without the need for tradespeople on site. (more…)