http://bit.ly/BWNewsUpdatesWhile the fields of design and architecture have been pushing ahead with Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), BIM and 3D models, the planning process hasn’t actually changed much since the 1940s and remains largely paper-based.
A clear and universally understood definition framework would help increase stakeholder awareness and confidence in adopting innovative construction methods and could help encourage a more structured and focused conversation across the industry at large..The minefield of different terms means there is a tendency to assume that the landscape is complicated but there really is a simple relationship between all these different elements and it starts with DfMA.. DfMA is a design approach.
The clue is in the name.“Design for Manufacture and Assembly” is a design approach.Conventional design either has a presumption towards conventional construction or is agnostic regarding the construction method.
Conversely, a DfMA design is developed to be constructed in a particular way..When designing for manufacture and assembly, the designer must find the best way to meet the client’s requirements by considering the most efficient way to manufacture elements of the building and the most efficient way to assemble them on site.
Manufacturing and assembly processes can be carried out in off-site or near-site factories and consolidation centres and also within the site itself.. DfMA means the designer needs to consider the construction methods that will be used from early in a project.
Furthermore, to construct a building that has been designed using DfMA the builder needs to understand the basis of the design and how it has informed the construction approach.Buyers can be assured that the products meet the specifications and will be reliable and consistent.
The choice of vendor will then be dependent on what a client values more, which could be: cost; location (to limit travel miles); overall carbon footprint; or the number of apprentices they take on, for instance..The ‘Defining the Need’ report is a fantastic first manifestation of the ‘harmonise, digitise and rationalise’ policy.
But the use of cross-sector data hints at even more powerful opportunities in the future, such as:.Longer term pipelines..
(Editor: Pro Kettles)