Lean modular design : value-based progress of industrialised housing

One of the core ideas of Lean Construction is that the process of designing and producing a construction product should progress continuously and create value for both the customer and the delivery team. The hypothesis in this paper is that modularisation has potential as a method for value management. The aim is to describe how modularisation, in a lean context, can be used as a tool to facilitate the management of internal and external values in industrialised housing. The paper will explore the theory of modularisation and its drivers and examine how the method can promote value management. Modularisation is then explored in practice, using empirical knowledge from the building service systems (HVAC, electricity, etc.) development process at five Swedish multi-storey timber housing producers. The analysis point out the importance of decomposing the modularisation process into a jointly performed industry phase where modules are designed, followed by a company internal product development process that complies to the modules. This paper concludes that it is not the product decomposition into modules that is of importance, rather the process that strives to balance internal and external values.Godkänd; 2008; 20080825 (marlen)Installationssamordnin