Lindbäcks Bygg och BoKlok’s test bed project addresses two focus areas:
- Downstream information flow through the organisation in the form of planning, work instructions and standardised structures for the flow of information
- Upstream information flow with self-inspection, documentation and quality assurance
Test bed host: Lindbäcks Bygg and BoKlok
Test bed supervisors:
Anna Bergsten, Head of Digitalisation, Lindbäcks Bygg
Jerker Lessing, Head of R&D, BoKlok
Academic supervisor:
Gustav Jansson, Assoc. Prof. in Industrialised and Sustainable Construction, Luleå Technical University
Improving efficiency through industrialised construction
Industrialised construction with distinct material and component flows in factories has proved very efficient. It demonstrates efficiencies through standardised work and through joint quality efforts around a production line.
On-site assembly for industrial builders involves a project-based organisation in which the site design affects the planning as well as the logistics on the construction site. The organisation of work is adapted to resources and to the established project schedule. Synchronisation of the various flows on a construction site is essential to construction progress and quality assurance. Adjustments are made continuously due to the impact of, for example, the weather, delayed deliveries or resource deficits.
During the weekly breakdown of the planning into work stages, the site manager combines information flows from the project planning, material flows from the production and direct deliveries with the resources available for the project. Feedback on the work takes place after the construction project via manual documentation and compilation. At present, industrial builders are finding it difficult to take full advantage of line-oriented flow efficiency on construction sites and are experiencing challenges in adapting from project organisation to flow-oriented organisation.
Digital support for standardised work procedures
Within the focus area that addresses downstream information flow through the organisation in the form of planning, work instructions and standardised structures for the flow of information, applications and systems are evaluated to achieve standardised work procedures on the construction site by breaking down the process. The overarching questions at issue for two of the test bed projects are:
- How can standardised production processes be supported via digital structures on the construction site?
- Can a connected construction site provide relevant up-to-date information down to operational work for site managers, supervisors and craftsmen, and, if so, which structures should convey the information?
In order to obtain answers to these questions, different information structures are tested with different IT systems at five different construction sites. Development of new applications with game technology, app-based planning and follow-up tools as well as virtual reality instructions are some of the applications tested in the test bed project.
Digitally supported experience feedback and knowledge diffusion
Upstream experience feedback and quality assurance via documentation of self-inspections is something that must be established and adhered to under the Planning and Building Act (PBL). In this case, it is a challenge for industrialised builders to create traceability for completed self-inspections and for quality-related experience feedback.
The overarching question at issue that the two latter test bed projects are expected to answer is how structured experience feedback can be supported by means of digital systems on construction sites. To obtain an answer to this question, documentation of fire protection seals has been tested for a construction project using scanning with QR technology and automatic documentation for localisation, operators and work stages. In order to enable synchronisation of different flows on a construction site, seamless information flows between stakeholders and systems are required. For this reason, the combination of sensors for experience feedback and structures for information systems regarding self-inspection is tested in parallel to gain knowledge about experience feedback at system level within the test bed project.