Manufactured construction: Revisiting the construction-manufacturing relations

Abstract

Construction-manufacturing relations became imperative following the Industrial Revolution, and have been hotly debated over the past few decades. Three main schools of theory exist. They are: pro-active learning from manufacturing - construction is backwards; prudent to learning - construction is unique and different from manufacturing; and mutual learning - construction to learn improving quality and efficiency while manufacturing to learn improving effectiveness of dealing with complexity and uncertainty. The past decades have also seen a sweeping agenda of sustainability globally, with the UK government probably having made the most challenging commitments to carbon emissions reductions in general as well as in the built environment. The theory of construction-manufacturing relations is updated, with a focus on examining the business process and production strategies. It is important that construction and manufacturing not be considered as two different philosophies; rather a more interdisciplinary approach should be contemplated for offsite construction projects. A theoretical framework of construction-manufacturing relations is developed, which highlights the importance of a number of influencing factors including industry sectors, context, technology of manufactured construction, business process and activities, and business factors. Thoughts are provided on future research into manipulating the construction-manufacturing relations.