Construction is a Manufacturing Process - Part 1

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Image courtesy of Guerdon Modular Buildings

Image courtesy of Guerdon Modular Buildings

In the manufacturing sector, “process selection” per Jacobs and Chase, authors of Operations and Supply Chain Management, refers to the “strategic decision of selecting which kind of production processes to use to produce a product or provide a service.”  The process is generally selected based on production volume which is a function of customization.  If you produce high margin, low volume product, manual assembly may be a good fit.  If you produce low margin, high volume product, a continuous assembly line is probably best.

Manufacturing process can be placed on a spectrum in order of production volume and customization:

  1. Continuous Process.  Highest yield, typically a commodity.

    1. Ex. Petroleum refinery, chemical processing, etc.

  2. Assembly line.  Work processes are arranged according to the progressive steps which the product is made.

    1. Ex.  High volume items where specialized process cannot be justified.

  3. Manufacturing cell.  Dedicated area where products that are similar in processing requirements are produced.

    1. Ex.  Metal fabrication, computer chip manufacturing, small assembly work.

  4. Workcenter/Job Shop.  Similar equipment and functions are grouped together.

    1. Ex. Small part quantity toy where stamping, sewing, and painting are performed separate from assembly.

  5. Project.  Lowest yield, mostly all custom product.   Manufacturing equipment is moved to the product rather than vice versa.

    1. Ex. Home, plant, building, bridge construction; movie shooting lots

When was the last time you thought of a construction project as a manufacturing process?  Probably never.  Why do we think that is the case?  And is it not right to think that way (why does it matter)?

Courtesy of GettyImages

Courtesy of GettyImages

I’ve been thinking a lot about these questions over the past year as I’ve floated in and out of multiple construction projects.  As a consulting engineer I perform project work.  We are hired for a defined task or tasks, we execute on that task, and we then move on.  And when I’m a team member of these projects, I’m party to the confusion, headaches, and wastefulness that so often accompanies construction.  So as a value-oriented individual, I can’t help but notice as a manufacturing process, we’re so far removed from typical manufacturing culture including all of the efficiencies they offer.

Think about what a “project” manufacturing process might qualify as – a standalone, custom/unique assembly of high quantities of components in a complex sequence – which is basically a building or facility.  If our “product” is a house or lab or office, the process to “assemble” (build) is no different than the process to “assemble” (produce) an automobile or can of soup or a gallon of gasoline.

I believe it, and so do some forward-thinking individuals at the Lean Construction Institute, but construction has been dogged by hardened behaviors resistant to change.  Anyone from the lowest level laborer to the project executive can point to areas of gross wastefulness in construction.  When we think about construction like Ford thinks about SUVs, Pepsi about soda, or Johnson & Johnson thinks about shampoo, you start to realize why WE SHOULD think this way (and why it matters)! Per LCI, “Construction labor efficiency and productivity has decreased, while all other non-farming labor efficiency has doubled or more since the 1960s. Currently, 70% of projects are over budget and delivered late. The industry still sees about 800 deaths and thousands of injuries per year. The industry is broken.”