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Having easy access to long term pipeline (as advocated in the Construction Playbook) will of course help ensure there is less downtime.But being able to use down time to manufacture ‘short’ orders or contribute to a larger order (the consistent specifications making products from different suppliers fungible) will also help increase utilisation and productivity, reducing prices;.
It creates a more direct link between global organisations such as those listed above, and manufacturers.This is a link which rarely exists in construction, where there are typically numerous tiers between the client and manufacturers, introducing enormous economic ‘friction’ and transactional cost.Manufacturers are pre-qualified to relevant standards (such as ISO 9001, but also to specialist medical, aerospace and defence standards including ISO 13485, AS 9100, NADCAP and ITAR).
This would overcome concerns regarding the perceived risk of standardised components and product recall.In a Platform marketplace, manufacturers would have to demonstrate their CQP process, ensuring performance of components meets the precise brief established by the ‘spatial analysis’ work.
It allows for both simple, standard elements but also prototypes and more complex designs.
While the initial purpose of a digital marketplace for construction Platforms would be to propagate the use of standard components, it would certainly be useful to be able to make ‘specials’ to extend the functionality of the standard kit..It’s not really “anything to do with DfMA,” he says, or whether it's a panelised, or volumetric or Platform system.
“You're miles away from that if we don't get all of these other ecosystem elements in place to support it.”.Johnston recalls a bathroom pod project early in his own career, where the beautifully designed, millimetre-perfect pods had to be inserted into a traditionally built building.. Aiming for efficiency in such modular projects carries risk..
He says that far too much time was spent fixing the gaps between the manufactured and traditional parts.Whilst the insides of the pods were identical, the outside utility connections were different every single time.