Recently modular construction has been emerging as a new technology replacing the conventional construction method. For modular construction, both production and maintenance control methods by the manufacture industry are added to that of the existing construction method, thus increasing productivity and decreasing the cost, which has been the major issue in the construction industry. Regardless, although the modular construction has many strengths, it rarely contributes to the development of the Korean construction industry.
This article suggests a direction for manufacturing optimization and a construction process for modular construction based on the understanding of modularity.
The fundamental modular construction method is composed of two steps:
1) Manufacturing process in the factory line based on manufacturing production method and 2) Assembling process on-site. A modular unit is manufactured through the combination of components with individual functions. Therefore, the assembly method and the component’s level of completion influences the construction process, assembly method in site and maintenance process. In other words, it is essential to consider the assembly method and the level of completion (called Modularity).
The modular unit is completed by assembling the components, which is based on modularity. This is why it is important to consider which level is the most efficient. In order to find the optimal point, the following modular unit production steps needs to be considered: 1) Manufacturing and Assembling in site and 2) Deconstruction and Maintenance. The main issues which should be considered at each step are suggested as the following:
1) Manufacturing and Assembling process: There are some bottle neck points in the manufacturing line due to various components being assembled in a single line. Therefore, it is necessary to group the components(modularity) and reduce the number of bottle neck points. However, if the level of completion is high, additional lifting equipment may be necessary.
2) Maintenance and Deconstruction: Modular construction has the features where the modular building could be deconstruct and maintain easily. However, if the level of modularity is high, the loss of deconstruction would decrease but the maintenance efficiency would decrease also. Thus the optimization plan would consider the deconstruction and maintenance.
Finally, when the optimization of the total process for modular construction is planned, the level of modularity is set based on 1) and 2) feedback process.