Design for Manufacturing & Assembly

(DfMA) as Direction Forward

 Concept of DfMA was driven by the need to produce a large
number of consistently high quality products very efficiently

Driven by the need to reduce reliance on labour and maintain

high quality products, preferably with shorter construction time
(but not at the expense of using more labour)
 Defining DfMA

DfMA

An approach to
Design

To achieve
Product and Process
Optimisation
 Defining DfMA
An approach to Design
focuses on

Ease of Manufacturing Ready-made Solutions

Reducing overall part production Utilising ready-made

by minimizing complexity of products/components or designs
manufacturing operations readily available in supply chain

Efficiency of Assembly
Reducing product assembly complexity by
minimizing number of assembly operations

Offsite Production
 DfMA Design Principles
Simplify design, reduce number of parts
Design for multi-use
Use standard components to drive predictability into project and reduce cost
Architect

Design for ease of assembly and handling

Understand how off-site components integrate into adjacent conventionally built structures
Mistake-proof product design (e.g. single way of assembly)
Engineer
Design for ease of manufacturing/fabrication
Contractor Manufacturer
Requires intimate understanding of how components are manufactured

Collaborative/Integrated design development

Multi-disciplinary – specialist and generalist skills
Colocation of design and build teams
Raise design knowledge and awareness in engineering teams

Leverage on technology and BIM-type platforms

Rely on automation
Digital engineering (DE) and BIM drives transparency to better expose lack of coordination
 Prefabrication Continuum
Integrated Fully
Component Components Integrated
Components
Structural

CLT
Precast Wall Hybrid Floor Unit

Architectural Integrated Precast

Component

Drywall
M&E PBU
Integrated Wall
System

PPVC

Flexible Sprinkler Integrated Prefab

Prefab Duct M&E Multi Trade Rack
Dropper
 Prefabrication Continuum
Integrated Fully
Component Components Integrated
Components
Manpower distribution in a typical
project Health & Safety
8%

M&E
15% - 30%
Structural
35% - 45%
Formwork Installation, Steel bar fixing, concrete
placement Architectural
25% - 35%
Wall, Tiling, Painting, Door, Window, Ceiling

Electrical system, Air conditioning system,

Plumbing system

Copyright © Building and Construction Authority

Cross-sector comparison
 Cross sector comparison (Summary)
Maritime Industry Automobile Industry
Combined individuals from different
Replace vendor-customer relationship
functional groups into an integrated product
with mutually beneficial partnerships
development team

Mergers; Horizontal & vertical integration Reduce no. of suppliers & involve them in
product development process
Shift operations abroad due to land &
labor constraints
Formed strategic alliance with foreign
carmakers
Marine Local Industry Upgrading Program
(Marine LIUP)
Development of Supplier Cost Reduction
Marine Technology Program (MTP) to Effort (SCORE) program
advance automation & productive new
processes
 Maritime Industry
(A Singapore Case Study)
 Evolution of Maritime Industry

Competitive
Low value added advantage based on
per employee

low cost


Labor-intensive
 PAST
Large proportion of
foreign workers


Staff poaching;
spiraling wages Slow
 mechanisation

 Evolution of Maritime Industry - Present

Critical mass of services

State-of-the-art
with strong and
infrastructure and
comprehensive
competence level
supporting industry

PRESENT
High degree of
Better perceived image
cooperation amongst
through image
industry members with
enhancement campaign
ASMI as catalyst
Intensely competitive
climate – good for
customers in terms of
pricing and service
availability
 Re-Engineering Re-Structuring

Leverage on Industry SOP for PHASE 1

technology (e.g. common
CAD/CAM, CNC shipyard
machines etc) operations
Computer-aided logistics Automation of welding
Marine
management system process
Technology 1 4
Program (MTP)
to advance
Improvement of Design of automation for
automation and
productive new
ventilation in confined marine/offshore
processes space structure installation
2 3

PHASE 2

Stagings and pipe

fabrication

Re-Positioning Regionalize
 Re-Engineering Re-Structuring

Leverage on Replace vendor-

Leverage on Industry SOP for customer
diverse range of
technology (e.g. common relationship
services by
CAD/CAM, CNC shipyard promoting with mutually
machines etc) operations greater synergy beneficial
partnerships
Marine
Technology
Program (MTP)
to advance
automation and
productive new
processes

Re-Positioning Regionalize
 Re-Engineering Re-Structuring

Leverage on Replace vendor-

Leverage on Industry SOP for customer
diverse range of
technology (e.g. common relationship
services by
CAD/CAM, CNC shipyard promoting with mutually
machines etc) operations greater synergy beneficial
partnerships
Marine
Technology
Program (MTP)Mutually Beneficial Traditional Transactional
to advance Partnerships Supplier Relationship
automation and
productive new
processes
Communicating demand
events and direction of
strategic plans
Sharing of information,
technical support and
business opportunities
Working together to
reduce costs and
Re-Positioning improve quality Regionalize
 Re-Engineering Re-Structuring

Leverage on Replace vendor-

Leverage on Industry SOP for customer
diverse range of
technology (e.g. common relationship
services by
CAD/CAM, CNC shipyard promoting with mutually
machines etc) operations greater synergy beneficial
partnerships
Marine
ASMI – closer
Technology Marine Local cooperation
Program (MTP) Industry between
to advance Upgrading shipyard and
automation and Program non-shipyard
productive new (Marine LIUP) members
processes

Skills training program >7,000 workers from

7 major shipyards for sub-contractor >50 marine sub-
work force contractors trained

Re-Positioning Regionalize
 Re-Engineering Re-Structuring

Leverage on Replace vendor-

Leverage on Industry SOP for customer
diverse range of
technology (e.g. common relationship
services by
CAD/CAM, CNC shipyard promoting with mutually
machines etc) operations
  greater synergy beneficial
partnerships 
Marine
ASMI – closer
Technology Marine Local cooperation
Program (MTP) Industry between
to advance Upgrading shipyard and
automation and Program non-shipyard
productive new (Marine LIUP)  members
processes

Mergers;
Horizontal and
vertical
Accepting jobs
with greater
Undertake R&D
Shift operations
abroad due to
integration

– niche products land and labor
engineering
and markets constraints
content

Re-Positioning Regionalize
 Automobile Industry
(A Look into Chrysler Corporation’s History)
 Evolution of Automobile Industry
PAST PRESENT

1950s 1960s
Mass production Increased outsourcing of component parts and
techniques and supplier
vertical integration
Competitive bidding practices for procurement.

Eroded suppliers
Institutionalized
Bred mutual distrust incentives and
adversarial
between automaker capabilities to improve
relationships with
and suppliers. product design and
suppliers
production process
 Evolution of Automobile Industry - Present
Good relationship with Trade off between
suppliers, who are responsible standardization and
for both design and flexibility to ensure
manufacture of a particular marketability of
component products

Suppliers selected based PRESENT

on track record and State-of-the-art
quality, not lowest cost infrastructure and
competence level

Supplier Cost Reduction Efforts

(SCORE) – formal process
committing automakers to
encourage, review and act on
suppliers’ ideas quickly and
fairly
 Re-Engineering Re-Structuring

Reduce number
Combined of suppliers and
Leaner
Just in time individuals from
production involve them in
inventory different functional
system to the product
control groups into an
reduce cost development
integrated product
development team

process

Development of ECI
Supplier Cost Improve
Reduction Effort relations with
(SCORE) suppliers
program

Formed strategic
Recognition Considerable Trust alliance with
of past Feedback performance foreign
performance from expectations carmakers
and track suppliers beyond the 
record contract

Expectation of
Recognition that
business
the suppliers’ must Cooperation
relationship Regionalize
make a profit
beyond contract
 Overseas Scanning

United Kingdom North America

Japan
 CHALLENGES
United Kingdom
BARRIERS
Higher capital cost, difficult to achieve economies of scale, difficult to freeze
design early on

HOUSING MARKET
90% of the housing market are from private

LOW ADOPTION
Only 1% of buildings adopt the Modern Methods of Construction approach (e.g.
PPVC)

TRANSIENT SUPPLY CHAIN RELATIONSHIPS

Transactional relationship, main contractor benefits at the expense of supplier
 INITIATIVES
United Kingdom

FUNDING
1.5 billion research fund to promote offsite construction, but there is no direct
monetary incentives for developers or builders

REGULATORY CHANGES
No major policy changes to drive support for MMC adoption

PROCUREMENT LEVERS
UK Government supports cost-led procurement, where integrated supply chains
are created via framework agreements
PROPOSED FOLLOW-UP
United Kingdom
1 LAING O’ROUKE
• Strong leadership in development of DfMA approach
• Pioneers of ‘offsite construction’ through modular solutions
• Extensive investment and research into integrating construction value chain

2 FOCUS AREAS
• Integration of lean manufacturing processes
• Application of DfMA to foster collaboration throughout the value chain
• Case study of LOR projects (e.g. Leadenhall Building)
 BACKGROUND
North America

DfMA IN PRODUCT DESIGN

Well-established technique for product optimization with significant cost
reduction when DfMA is implemented during concept phase (as 60-80% of
product cost will be fixed during this phase)

DfMA EQUIVALENT CONCEPTS

Whole Building Design, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), Lean Construction,
Value Engineering (VE)
 BACKGROUND
North America

INDUSTRY SUPPORT
Sophisticated offsite market supported by comprehensive supply chain with
strong industry support for modular building from housing, healthcare, low-rise
buildings to public buildings etc

CURRENT APPLICATIONS
Healthcare sector – highest use of prefabrication (approximately 50% of all
healthcare projects)
Higher Education (including dormitories)
Manufacturing Buildings
 CHALLENGES
North America

MINDSET
Lack of awareness and misconception on quality of prefabricated and modular
components (due to frequent association with temporary housing units in the
past)

INDUSTRY READINESS
Lack of skilled tradesmen as well as necessary knowledge on selecting the right
type of projects for modular construction

ELEVATED COSTS
Direct cost premium
- Key motivating factor for developers is the time-saving benefits for fast-track
projects or projects with tight timeline
 INITIATIVES
North America

LEVERAGE ON TECHNOLOGY
Utilizing technological solutions via BIM and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
as a catalyst to promote and drive early collaboration between designers,
builders and manufacturers

AWARENESS/KNOWLEDGE SHARING
Setting up of collaborative forums/online communities such as the AGC Lean
Construction Forum which is open to the public; such as Modular Building
Institute (MBI) which is the international non-profit trade association serving
modular construction with members from manufacturers, contractors and
suppliers.
 INITIATIVES
North America

EDUCATION
Development of specific programmes targeting different groups
Lean Construction Champion – foundation courses, examination, accreditation
Lean Executive Course – targeted at senior management
PROPOSED
FOLLOW UP AREAS
North America

KNOWLEDGE & COLLABORATION

• Look into institutes/companies like Modular Building Institute (MBI) and
Lean Construction Institute (LCI) to explore how the concept of DfMA has
been promoted and its adoption accelerated
 BACKGROUND
Japan

INDUSTRY CHARACTERISTICS
 World’s largest practitioner of manufactured construction; very matured market
 Multiple well-established, large companies e.g. SEKISUI Homes, Toyota Homes,
Sanyo Homes with strong brand images, supported by specialist sub-contractors
 5 major businesses supply almost 80% of the prefabricated home market, which
constitutes approximately 20% of the residential home market
 Relatively short redevelopment cycle (approximately 30 years)

CONSUMER PERCEPTION
 Prefabricated buildings/components are perceived as medium to high-end
products, partly due to intensive marketing and long warranty period
 Houses are viewed as depreciable/transient asset
 CHALLENGES
Japan

REGULATIONS
 Stringent requirements for new technologies
 Prefabricated housing manufacturers required to invest heavily in R&D to
ensure high levels of earthquake resistance.

MARKET DEMANDS
 High level of quality and flexibility in design
 Concerns about lifecycle costs generated
 INITIATIVES
Japan
PROCUREMENT STRATEGIES
Foster close connection btw. Prefab Housing Manuf. (PHM) & large conglomerates
 Manufacturers often retain shareholding interests in supply-chain partners/sub-
contractors  allows details on component choice and availability to be completed
before manufacturing and construction begins
 Benefits include minimised lead-in times, improved design flexibility

INVESTMENT IN R&D
Large PHM sets up their own R&D laboratories to develop their own industrialised
construction techniques
 Allows “mass-customisation” where consumers can directly provide inputs and
requirements at design stage
 New technologies resulting in-houses’ performances exceed the requirements by the
building code in Japan
 Increase the longevity of prefab housing
 INITIATIVES
Japan

JAPAN PREFAB CONSTRUCTION SUPPLIERS AND

MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION (JPA)
 Promote prefab architecture and construction
 Assist member companies to quickly adapt to government policies and
changes in the housing industry

HIGH COST-PERFORMANCE MARKETING STRATEGY

 PHM establish their own quality standards, which are higher than the
regulatory requirements
 PHM employs specially trained sales and design staff to market their ‘value-
added’ houses  PHM are highly reliable, houses are of superior quality and
performance
 Benefits and Advantages (Summary)
Reduced construction program on-site; Labor reduction
Just-In-Time
Labor hours only significantly reduced if highly skilled workers employed for off-site production

Enhanced quality and efficiency Reduced project cost

Automation, improved QC Reduced part count
Controlled factory environment Easier to produce and assemble

Increased safety
Reduce interface risksHighly mechanized precast factory
Support a stable and more highly skilled workforce, continuity factor

Risk minimization
Design more complete, better coordinated, less error prone, efficient dissemination to supply
chain

Reduced carbon footprint and wastage (sustainability) ICPH

 Challenges (Summary)
Misconception – everything has to be unique; standardisation
impedes creative designs, negative image of prefab
Perceived higher capital cost, complex interfacing, long lead-in time, delayed planning process

Challenging for clients to know how to evaluate and compare 1

integrated solution with another (beyond cost consideration)

Fragmented industry (resistant to innovation), lack of coordinated

effort to promote and advance more efficient processes
Elevated project costs until ecosystem is ready and EOS can be
achieved with increased uptake
New skills needed to effectively manage interface between
traditionally constructed elements and offsite elements

Not utilising available technology to the fullest capacity

 Local Stocktake

 Construction industry reliant on low cost labour

 Manpower and technology levels improving with

the 1st construction productivity roadmap

 Beginning to move towards DfMA

 Improved levels of prefabrication
 Initial adoption of game-changing technologies
 Integrated Construction & Precast Hubs (ICPHs)
 Local Stocktake – Barriers

 Mindset that new technologies are not as reliable

 Cost premium for new technologies and

construction methods
 Lack of upfront design intent

 Insufficient time during design phase to explore

alternative choices/technologies
 Lack of coordinated sequencing of construction
activities
 Proposed End-State
Industry

 Core of strong main contractors with

integrated supply value chain (e.g. prefab
arm, specialist sub-contractors etc.)

 Core of strong prefabricators

 capable of supplying wide range of prefab products
 Integrated supply value chain (e.g. specialist
subcontractors)

 R&D arms under both main contractors &

prefabricators
 Proposed End-State
Project
 On-site: Assembly works
 Design that minimizes number of parts/joints
 Usage of readily-available prefab components
 Laing O’Rourke 70% DfMA

 Most of construction works moved off-site

 Highly automated prefab facilities
 Readily-available BIM design objects

 Value chain integration

 Collaboration of project team through BIM during upfront
design phase

 Virtual Design & Construction Simulation

 Proposed End-State
Stakeholders

 Aware / understand benefits of DfMA

 Owner demand = primary driver for architects to include DfMA in
project design

 Understand benefits of DfMA to each stakeholder

 Educate & advise clients on the use of DfMA in project
Architects

 Specify DfMA in project design right from beginning

 Catalyst for use of DfMA

 Well-verse with availability of prefab/modular technologies &
Engineers
products

 Upfront scheduling & cost consideration (Include DfMA into pre-

construction planning & bids
Contractors

 Integrate supply chain

 Pursue applied R&D
 Proposed End-State
Stakeholders

 Upfront scheduling & cost consideration (Include DfMA into pre-

construction planning & bids
Contractors
 Integrate supply chain
 Pursue applied R&D

 Make DfMA an integral part of their business

 Build up experiences with prefabrication processes to remain
Specialist Subcon
competitive
 Form alliance / consortium with main contractor / prefabricator

 Schedule & cost optimisation

 Create BIM objects of prefabricated/modular elements
Prefabricator
 Integrate supply chain
 Pursue applied R&D (e.g. process optimisation, finetune design
details for ease of manufacturing, reduce components of parts)
 Proposed Strategies
Mindset Change

Increasing public acceptance of prefab technology and materials

Industry Public

Prefab ≠ Lower Quality Highlight other benefits e.g.

reduced dust/noise on-site,
shorted construction
duration etc which results in
less inconvenience
 Proposed Strategies
Mindset Change

Industry

1 Standardization can still achieve unique designs

2 If everything is always different, it will always be expensive and there
Pilotissues
will always be quality Projects
3 Recognise benefits and cost savings in the long run
Architect 4 Recognise the need to change the existing modus operandi

Business Case
 Open-minded Studieswho are convinced of DfMA
developers
principles/technologies
 Identify
 cost premium
Architects for DfMA
willing methods/technologies
to cross-collaborate, co-design with builders
Engineer  Determine payback
and prefabperiod to neutralise cost outlay and the
manufacturers
benefits that would be reaped thereafter
 Engineers
 Articulate willingthe
to stakeholders to raise design
benefits knowledge and awareness
of DfMA
 Proposed Strategies
Supply Chain Upgrading & Integration

Collectively raising sub-contractors’ capabilities

Upgrading Integration
Main contractors to take the lead in developing
relevant training programs (In collaboration with
government agencies and relevant associations)

Mentoring programs for sub-contractors (by main contractors)

 Proposed Strategies
Supply Chain Upgrading & Integration

Integration
Main Contractor

1 Encourage vertical integration

Structural
Sub-Contractor
2 Mutually-beneficial partnerships

M&E
Sharing of information,
Sub-Contractor

technical support and Communicating demand

business opportunities events and direction of
Architectural strategic plans
Sub-Contractor

Working together to
reduce cost and SCORE Programme
Prefabricator
improve quality
 Proposed Strategies
Industry Standardization and Specific Trade Focus

1 Standardization of specific elements e.g. column/pile

sizes (identify elements and features which are most
manpower-intensive on-site)
2 Development of online shared database (e.g. object
library for consultants and builders)
3 Identify and focus on trades that will yield high
manpower savings when adopting DfMA
 Proposed Strategies
Force upfront collaboration through a combined Buildability &
Constructability Index i.e. DfMA Index
Targets at Project Level

1 X% of components to be manufactured off-site

2 To reduce number of joints when designing components by Y%

 % reduction in on-site manpower

 Time savings compared to conventional construction
methods

Targets at Industry Level

1 Adoption rates for key technologies / prefabrication for different building types
to be Z%
 Proposed Strategies
Development & Expansion of DfMA Ecosystem

1 Procurement models conducive for early collaboration between

consultants, builders and prefabricators (including more time
given for developers to sell the units)

2 Government mandates to help drive initial demand and

Consultants
accelerate economies of scale

3 Partnerships with overseas DfMA professionals/practitioners to

build up knowledge and capabilities
Builders

4 Continue to drive technology adoption through

mandates/government funding in design (e.g. BIM), off-site
prefabrication (e.g. highly automatec ICPHs) and on-site
Prefabricators
mechanisation (e.g. robotic equipment)
 Proposed Strategies

1 Mindset Change

2 Supply Chain Upgrading & Integration

3 Industry Standardization and Specific Trade Focus

4 Force upfront collaboration through a combined Buildability

& Constructability Index i.e. DfMA Index

5 Development & Expansion of DfMA Ecosystem

Thank you