Platforms in industrialised house-building

Abstract: Demands for shorter lead times, customized buildings and high quality deliveries drive house-building firms to systematise work in their supply chains. A practice of reusing processes and technical solutions leads to the formation of platforms in industrialised house-building. Product platforms originate from industries employing a make-to-order strategy, where platforms are used to achieve efficient design and product development work. The house-building design phase, integrated in an engineer-to-order supply chain, has been identified as crucial for achieving an efficient production. In the design phase, design work combines platform predefinitions with project requirements. The aim of this thesis is to describe how house-building platforms are systematised, as well as propose a framework for the use and development of platforms over time.To expand the knowledge development and use of platforms in house-building design, case studies were conducted that collected data from interviews and observations as well as using archival data at two different companies. One was a Swedish industrialised house-building company, with many levels of platform predefinitions that use off-site production; the other was a Swedish company using several platforms employing industrialised methods for on-site production. The design work of over sixty building projects has been studied through following project managers, engineers and platform developers in their day-to-day work. The use in projects of predefinitions of functional requirements, components, processes and relationships has been compared and contrasted using platform and engineering design theories.The result of this research shows that, in an engineer-to-order production strategy, creative and systematic designs are combined. This combination is needed to create product uniqueness and thus it is important to understand and maintain the balance between commonality and distinctiveness within the platforms used in housebuilding projects. Continuously changing demands in construction hinder a fully predefined platform. Long cycle times in house-building demand a continuous flow of knowledge between platform and day-today work in projects. Hence, platform versions and product variants often become non-functional in an engineer-to-order supply chain, so methods to support the knowledge flow become necessary. The research findings show that design work, integrated into the supply chain of house-building, is a source of experience feedback for platformdevelopment.The conclusion is that a movement towards mass customization in house-building is possible using the product platform concept, if the platform is applied to projects using support methods with experience being continuously fed back to the platform from house-building projects. However, there is a risk that use of predefinition in platforms is made without considering the consequences. The reuse of predefined processes could limit innovation capability, increase the risk for imitation and organisational inertia. Too great a restriction of components in the house-building platform could limit the product offer and narrow the market segment. The study also shows that predefinitions might lead to an unbalanced focus on buildability instead of client satisfaction.