Microfactories are a new category of value chain players. A microfactory is a popup manufacturing facility located within a short distance of the construction site that fabricates parts and multi-trade assemblies into integration-ready modules.

Distinct from prefab shops, which simply move trade-based processes off site, microfactories are distributed manufacturing operations that can be structured to service multiple construction clients through standardized components and modular platforms.

Once manufactured, the locally-produced, integration-ready, multi-trade modules are transported a short distance to the construction site for installation by unskilled laborers.

Microfactories are creating new value pools in a changing industry.

The construction industry is facing extreme demands for speed, sustainability and customization. The only way to meet these demands is to break free of the constraints of today’s trade-based prefabrication and subcontractor coordination mentalities.

Productization drives more value, offers more scalability and bypasses financial sinkholes rampant in trade-based industrialized processes. As productization becomes more widespread, construction value chain players will reorganize and collaborate more closely through virtual twins. GCs will serve as prime integrators of multi-trade modules. Specialty contractors will morph into virtual makers. Microfactories will become more prevalent.

Forward-thinking business leaders are already adjusting their business models around virtualized processes, digital deliverables and off-cycle product management. Construction teams will ultimately maximize value with integration-ready construction modules that include multi-trade assemblies, generative variants and standardized interfaces.
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Plumbing remains a traditional domain. FLOVEA is very attached to its craftsmanship expertise and its value. At the same time, the company was born with a strong will to provide plumbing with the benefits of scientific and technological advances. FLOVEA has invested much in designing new solutions based on basic research and engineering. It aims to develop and produce concrete solutions to facilitate the daily life of plumbers and their clients and partners.

FLOVEA performs a constant technological watch on its core of business and is committed to creating innovative technologies through partnerships with research centers and laboratories. As part of a research partnership, FLOVEA has committed with NOBATEK which is an important research laboratory based in Bordeaux (Gironde). It mainly focuses on nondestructive testing, process engineering,  civil engineering and energy.

The sanitary plumbing and heating solution of FLOVEA is a real time saver on site and a guarantee of homogeneous and leak-free installation. In the assembly of a boiler, it could be easily assembled and installed on the site with fixing tools as the structure was pre-engineered, pre-soldered, pre-tightened, pre-tested and ready to be mounted!

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Jet Contractors is a fully integrated group that operates in Morocco and across Africa, offering 30 years of expertise in engineering, procurement, manufacturing, construction and historical knowledge. The team uses innovative tools to create complex shapes and architectural designs for public infrastructure, residential, industrial and service-oriented programs, including metal works of art.

On the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, Jet Contractors started with a geometry and generated 4,000 unique parts to encase a double-curved architecture. With CATIA’s xGenerative design tools, the team referenced shared geometries and parameters to generate a whole assembly.

The model aided the manufacturing and assembly processes, reducing risk while increasing productivity and quality. The developers understood how the design performed in virtual twin experiences, enabling automated processes through production and lifecycle management.

Orange Côte d’Ivoire headquarters under construction

Unique double curved parts of the façade

Manufacturing and assembly of double curved parts of the façade

This article is excerpted from THE PRODUCTIZATION EFFECT: How integration-ready modules will transform the roles of general contractors, specialty contractors and the entire construction value chain. This white paper maps the path to productization and defines how general contractors, specialty contractors and the entire construction value chain can leverage virtual twins on an end-to-end collaboration platform, transcend the limitations of classic industrialization and leapfrog to personalized construction.

Today, specialty contractors capture value only after they have installed the physical product. This arrangement subjects these subcontractors to the same potential financial sinkholes around budget and timeline faced by general contractors.

With the adoption of productization, specialty contractors will see their business model evolve as they embrace new roles and revenue streams by shifting to so-called “virtual makers.” Virtual makers contribute to the virtual twin by applying trade-specific knowhow in the upstream design and simulation phases. They collaborate on a single model of a construction project in a virtual environment along with fellow specialty and general contractors — and are compensated accordingly for their time, expertise and continuous access to their virtual creations and intellectual property.

It’s important to note that as the productization transformation unfolds, specialty contractors have the opportunity to continue to offer existing trade-based services at the off-site manufacturing and assembly phases. The newfound virtual maker role will be a second function to perform as industry-wide change progresses in the coming years. Over time, the physical installation work will take a backseat to the virtual work.

Virtual makers are positioned to collaborate more strategically with owners and GCs and to contribute to a more successful construction outcome. An experiencebased understanding of trades is incredibly valuable and contractors can be compensated proportionately for contributing this knowledge upstream. With the rules of a trade virtualized and integrated into a virtual twin of construction, specialized skills can scale.
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