| 1. |
- Gerth, Robert, 1978-
(författare)
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The Role of Production Topology in Information Based Structuring of Organizations : The design of craft-based and industrialized construction firms
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Industrialization of construction is a business strategy to significantly improve competitiveness. However, the organization structure of the construction firms needs to support the new production system. The knowledge on why and how this business development can be accomplished is scarce, both within academia and in business practice. This research seeks to fill this knowledge gap.The purpose of organization structure and the production system have is to coordinate the firm’s processes and control the work performing resources. Information is one of the most fundamental dimensions for steering and controlling the work. The different information types are determined by the firm’s product customization strategy and the production system flexibility. Further, diverse information types are managed in different extent by the organizational steering mechanisms. Consequently, firms with dissimilar customization strategy or production flexibility should organizationally be designed differently in order to be efficient.The developed model identifies four generic production topologies: “engineer-to-order” (ETO), “manufacture-to-order” (MTO), “assembly-to-order” (ATO), and “make-standard-products” (MSP). The differences between the topologies can be related to the location of the “customer-order-decoupling-point” (CODP) in the product realization process; and to what extent the upstream and downstream processes continuously use stored information or process information to accomplish the work of each product order. The model predicts which organization structure mechanisms that should be used for which processes for each production topology. It is the specific configuration of the mechanisms that gives each production topology their organizational capability. The model has been validated by case studies in four organizations, each representing one of the four generic production topologies. Three cases considered housing and one studied truck manufacturing.It has been shown that the conventional housing firms have an ETO-production topology, while industrialized housing firms belonging to one of the others, i.e. MTO, ATO or MSP. The reason is that ETO-firms rely on crafts-based production to manage the work, while the other topologies base their steering mechanisms on industrial principles. These two types of production are fundamentally different, which also explain the need for different organization structures. The research complements previous knowledge and significantly increases the ability to predict, analyze and explain an organization’s design and behavior. The model can be used in practice to guide business development work and performance improvement programs.
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| 2. |
- Jimenez, Alexander, 1988-
(författare)
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Towards Understanding Productivity in On-Site Housebuilding
- 2021
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Global reports over the years indicate that productivity development in construction is poor if compared to other industries, even negative in some countries, calling for a change to increase productivity. However, the construction industry has a problem of defining, measuring and using productivity. Previous research suggest that productivity is a multifaceted term, which meaning depends on the purpose of addressing productivity, the context where one uses the term, the level of analysis (e.g. task, project or industry) or even the background of who addresses the term. The multifaceted meaning seems to have encouraged the development of multiple methods for measuring productivity in construction. The variety of understandings indicate that different aspects of productivity are accounted for by different people. Moreover, the construction productivity measures at different levels account for different things, and there is a lack of a clear connection between the levels of analysis. Subsequently, the multiple meanings and measures hamper how to understand construction productivity, what or how to measure and how to use the measures to improve overall productivity.This thesis furthers how housebuilding productivity can be understood by drawing on how the literature and on‐site housebuilding contractors address productivity concerning how it is defined, measured and used. An understanding of productivity that has a base in how productivity can be defined and measured, including how different performance measures can be applied to represent measures of productivity and then be used to improve productivity. The research questions of how productivity is understood, measured and used by Swedish housebuilding contractors are answered and synthesized to contribute with an enhanced understanding of construction productivity.Empirical data was collected through 17 semi‐structured interviews and four workshops. The interviews were held with practitioners ranging from site‐, to project‐, to business area managers from one small and four of Sweden’s largest contractors. The workshops were held with senior managers in charge of production development at the four large companies. Data was cross‐analyzed to identify commonalities and contrasting findings connected to how productivity is defined or understood to represent and include, how productivity is measured, and how productivity is used.The findings suggest that productivity in on‐site housebuilding production is about how efficiently the production system reaches its goal. That is, how efficiently the building is produced in conformance with the requirements to meet client values. Hence, productivity in housebuilding production integrates efficiency, effectiveness and many other factors that make the production system function better towards reaching its goal. Yet, what is included in, and thus what productivity represents, differs, caused by the choice of level of analysis (e.g. task, project or industry) and the length of the considered system or value chain (e.g. only production, or design, planning and production). The results also indicate that housebuilding productivity includes planning, measurement, control and reporting results. While separate direct productivity measures can be used in planning and for reporting results, many different indirect productivity measures are applied to enable for and control productivity during operations. These different measures represent different factors understood to influence productivity at different levels. However, the choice of measures vary, their use is unstructured and the measures usually stay undocumented.The results suggest that one measure of productivity is not enough to understand productivity of building production systems, it is rather through the combination of direct and indirect measures of productivity. Yet, there is a need to adopt a systems perspective to understand how to structure and connect the different measures from sub‐processes to processes and productivity, which this thesis suggests as a line of future research. Moreover, it is not enough to measure productivity to develop productivity. Systematic routines for measurements, review and action based on the measures must be developed and implemented.
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| 3. |
- Jonsson, Henric, 1983-
(författare)
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Production Strategy in Project Based Production within a House-Building Context
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A production strategy enables companies to effectively manage the different challenges that the production function face in a competitive environment. A production strategy helps a company to make operational and strategic decisions that follow a logical pattern and supports the corporate strategy and the competitive priorities of the company. When no strategy exists the decisions may be arbitrary and unpredictable leading to an under-achieving production system. Production strategy involves decisions that shape the long term capabilities of a producing company. For the traditional production industry there are a number of production strategy frameworks that facilitates the process of designing production systems. However, these frameworks typically leave project based production out of the scope or treat project based production as one type of production system, when in fact project based production systems can be multifaceted depending on product design and market requirements.This thesis focus on project based manufacturing in a house-building context. Houses can be produced by different types of production systems, and depending on how the production systems are designed they have strengths and weaknesses in different areas of competition. To be able to meet the increasing demand for residential houses, and improve performance in the house-building industry, the way houses are produced have to match different market requirements in a more effective and efficient way. To do this a production strategy has to exist. Typically there is a trade-off between productivity and flexibility, hence a production system designed to meet customer requirements concerning product design is probably not the best process choice if the customer thinks price and delivery time are the most important. A production strategy helps a company to make decisions so that the output of the production system meets customer requirements in the best possible way. Due to the fact that project based production is typically left out of the scope in traditional production strategy literature and that there is a lack of research concerning production strategy in a house-building context, the purpose of this research is:… to extend the production strategy body of knowledge concerning project based production in a house-building context.To fulfil the purpose the following four research questions are studied and answered:RQ1: What aspects can be useful in a classification matrix contrasting different production systems for house-building?RQ2: Which competitive priorities are important to measure when evaluating different production systems on a production strategy level in a house-building context, and how can they quantitatively be measured?RQ3: How does the characteristics of the production system, i.e. the process choice, affect information exchange in a house-building context?RQ4: How can a new production strategy be formulated and implemented in an industrialised house-building context and what challenges are important to consider in that process?To answer RQ1 a classification matrix was developed that classify production systems along two dimensions: a product dimension (degree of product standardisation) and a process dimension (degree of off-site assembly). The two dimensions are related, for example a high degree of standardisation should be matched with a high degree of off-site assembly and consequently a low degree of product standardisation should be matched with a low degree of off-suite assembly. A mismatch, e.g. high degree of off-site assembly and low degree of standardisation, typically leads to poor performance and should hence be avoided.To be able to see how different types of production systems perform in different areas of competition key performance indicators (KPIs) were developed. The KPIs presented in this research can be used to measure quality, delivery (speed and dependability), cost (level and dependability), and flexibility (volume and mix) at a production strategic level (RQ2).Furthermore, to answer RQ3, a production strategy perspective was taken on information exchange by relating information exchange to the design of the production system. The results indicate that employing different types of production systems leads to different approaches to information exchange. Employing a production systems using traditional production methods on-site and a low degree of product standardisation lead to a traditional approach to information exchange, e.g. project meetings, telephone and mail. Production systems employing some degree of off-site assembly have less complex and more stable supply chains and use ICT-solutions to a higher extent, which facilitates information exchange. The findings also indicate that a high degree of product standardisation facilitates the use of ICT-solutions such as ERP and BIM.RQ4 concerns the production strategy process, i.e. formulation and implementation. Failure in this processes can jeopardise the whole business. Based on a longitudinal case study of an industrialised house-builder a suggested production strategy process was developed, including both production strategy formulation and implementation. The study also identified context specific challenges that have to be considered in an industrialised house-building context, e.g. the complexity that comes with using two different production processes (off-site and on-site) in the same production system.The research is case based and a total number of eight different production systems have been studied. Data has been collected through interviews, observations, and review of company documents.
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| 4. |
- Vestin, Alexander
(författare)
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Smart manufacturing for the wooden single-family house industry
- 2020
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- To meet the demand of future building requirements, and to improve productivity and competitiveness, there is a need to modernize and revise the current practices in the wooden single-family house industry. In several other sectors, intensive work is being done to adapt to the anticipated fourth industrial revolution. The manufacturing industry has already begun its transformation with concepts such as smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0. So far, smart manufacturing has not been discussed to any significant extent for the wooden single-family house industry, even though it might be a way for this industry to improve productivity and competitiveness.The research presented in this thesis aims at increased knowledge about what smart manufacturing means for the wooden single-family house industry. This requires investigating what smart wooden house manufacturingis, what challenges that might be associated with it, and how smart wooden house manufacturing can be realized. At the core of this thesis is the conceptualization of smart wooden house manufacturing—when realized, it is expected to contribute to improve the competitiveness of the wooden single family house industry.The findings presented here are based on three Research Studies. Two studies were case studies within the wooden single-family house industry. The third study was a traditional literature review.The findings revealed two definitions and 26 components of smart wooden house manufacturing. At large, smart wooden house manufacturing emphasizes digital transformation with a focus on digital information flow, how to add information, information compilation, and information distribution between systems/programs and departments. Some of the challenges associated with smart wooden house manufacturing are, e.g. culture, competence and manual transfer of information between systems.The findings indicate similarities of smart wooden house manufacturing within certain components of industrialized house building and Industry 4.0, these components could enable the realization of smart wooden house manufacturing.
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| 5. |
- Wernicke, Brian
(författare)
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Diversity of Flow in Production Improvements in House Building
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Flow is a complex construct and has developed differently in different research fields. Some of the interpretations are included within this thesis and categorized in two main perspectives: (1) the individual flow perspective as defined in positive psychology and (2) the system flow perspective based on notations from supply chain management, lean production, construction management, and operations management. Both flow perspectives have at least one commonality which bases this thesis: to improve something towards a desirable condition. In positive psychology, that something is human well‐being and the system perspective focuses on entities that need to be combined to facilitate production. Both flow perspectives have been developed independently without clear consideration of each other, even though several theoretical sources indicate relevant relations between them. This thesis addresses that theoretical gap and aims to describe how system flows and individuals’ flow are related in initiatives intended to improve production in house building.The thesis is operationalized by a flow framework based on system flows and individuals’ flow. Within three different cases of improvement initiatives, qualitative data is analysed to exemplify how flow relations occur in the researched settings. Findings of quantitative patterns of traced flow relations exemplify flow relations and can inspire practitioners in assessing how the different flows are addressed in ongoing improvement initiatives and what other potential flows that could be addressed in future improvements. This thesis concludes that relations between flow on system level and flow on individual level can occur in improvement initiatives in house building production settings, thus exemplifying the ‘Diversity of Flow in Production Improvements in House Building’. Theoretically, this thesis contributes to the understanding of the flow concept in construction management, visualizes the diverse understanding of flow, and advocates that flow should not be treated as homogenous at any level.
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| 6. |
- Anders, Viking
(författare)
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Institutional complexity in Swedish built environment regulation : exploring the interface with industrialized house-building
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The industrialized house-building movement has emerged as aresponse to recurring criticism of the construction sector. It seeks toemulate management practices prevalent in manufacturing industries,including the use of standardized work processes and building systems.This approach does, however, make industrialized house-buildingcontractors susceptible to unpredictable variations. Swedish localplanning authorities have a legal and democratic mandate to regulatethe built environment within its borders and views variations betweendifferent municipalities as a desirable consequence of a functional localdemocratic system. Meanwhile, industrialized house-buildingcontractors have highlighted variations in regulation of the builtenvironment as obstructive to their intended methods of managing thebuilding process. The aim of this thesis is to increase understanding ofhow local planning authorities make interpretations when regulatingthe built environment and how those interpretations influenceindustrialized house-building contractors and to, within the ongoingresearch process, identify theoretical perspectives suitable for describingtensions in the interface between industrialized house-building andlocal planning authorities. The theoretical frame of reference for thisthesis consists of two major streams of organizational literature:organizational coordination, operationalized though the concept ofcoordination mechanisms, and neo-institutional theory, operationalizedthrough institutional logics and institutional complexity. Theoverarching research strategy is best described as a case study approachinvestigating cases of institutional complexity in regulation of theSwedish built environment. The design consists of one multi-casestudy relying on interviews with representatives of industrializedhouse-building contractors and local planning authorities and onesingle-case study investigating a longitudinal land development processusing a combination of interviews, direct observations and documentanalysis. Findings indicate that local planning authorities faceinstitutional complexity stemming from three semi-compatibleinstitutional logics that each prescribe different roles for planningpractitioners and expectations for their behaviour. As some planningpractitioners are more attuned to particular logics than others, it is difficult to predict, for each given situation, which logic will beactivated. Furthermore, findings indicate that institutional logics can beviewed as coordination mechanisms, thereby highlighting afundamental tension between the coordination preferences ofindustrialized house-building contractors and local planning authorities.This tension causes a lack of accountability, predictability and commonunderstanding resulting in an inability for industrialized house-buildingcontractors and local planning authorities to coordinate theircontributions in the planning and building process. The findings implythat industrialized house-building contractors and local planningauthorities should attempt to acknowledge each other’s participation inand contributions to the planning and building process. The findingsalso highlight the importance of interpretations for regulation of thebuilt environment, which implies that not all sector-wide problems canor need be solved through legislative action.
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| 7. |
- Gerth, Robert, 1978-
(författare)
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En företagsmodell för modernt industriellt byggande
- 2008
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Industrial housing is the strategy of the future for efficient housing. The strategy exploits the principles and work methods of production systems and is applied to the construction industry. Traditionally the construction sector considers production of one-of-a-kind products as de facto solutions. However, this strategy requires new paradigms, supporting methodologies and business models. The purpose of this thesis is to present and describe a business model that supports the strategy, which meet the project oriented market’s one-of-a-kind demands with customized multi-story houses. Industrial manufacturing of customized houses can be accomplished by industrial strategies, such as Mass Customization. The prerequisites are that the organizational properties, mentioned in the list below, have to be integrated and adjusted to the elementary principles of industrial production and Mass Customization. Fundamental philosophy of the Company Organizational Structure and Management Market and Business Process Product ModelProduction System Information and Communication Systems In this thesis an industrial approach was used to identify the fundamental characteristics in industrial manufacturing and Mass Customization, and its influence of the organizational properties for industrial housing. The foundations of industrial production are a standardized product structure, standardized processes, manual and machine operations, process oriented production, and controlled material flow. Mass Customization is a strategy to achieve customized but industrial produced products with the same efficiency as mass production. It is based on standardized product models, which can be configured and flexible production systems, in which process and resources can be reconfigured in a systematic way. On the basis of this a normative business model (The MC-House) was developed, empirical tested and validated through case studies. The truck manufacture, Scania CV AB, and the industrial housing entrepreneur, NCC Komponent AB, were investigated by interviews and company archives. The result showed that on organizational property level the business model was generic and valid for industrial manufacturing of discrete configured products. In what extent individual products could be configured and produced with a certain performance, require different designs within the organizational properties. The more individual configuration that could be managed, the more complex the executive management gets. To achieve an effective business the complexity has to be met by definition, systemizing, and integration on the corresponding organizational hierarchic level as the configuration is managed. When considered the fundamental characteristics of construction, buildings has to be assembled there it will be used, the result also showed that the production system for industrial housing should be divided in two. One stationary manufacturing system, the factory, and one mobile assemble system at the construction site. Another condition that has to be considered is that the generic product model should be able to meet the local requirements. Further the study indicated that the a industrial housing company is different from a traditional construction company, regarding the organizational structure, the market management, production approach, product model handling, business and project processes. Within an industrial housing company the activity is process oriented around the continuous production process. This mean that a house or a project cannot be considered as strictly unique, rather just another order which is made of standardized components, produced in the same process and with same recourses as previous and future other orders. In fact an industrial housing company has more in common with organizations of industrial manufacturing than with classical construction entrepreneurs organized for project oriented and hand craft production.
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