Panel stacking, panel sequencing, and stack locating in residential construction: Lean approach

A current trend in residential construction is the use of prefabricated wall panels. Panels are manufactured at a factory, then arranged into stacks for transporting to the construction site, where they are assembled. Current approaches to planning panelized construction are focused on stacking and transport efficiency, with little consideration given to assembly. This results in excessive panel material handling during construction, increased construction lead time, and increased risk of worker overload and/or injury. This paper proposes a lean approach to panel stacking, panel sequencing, and stack locating, where panels within each stack form a continuous structure and are erected via continuous flow. The objectives are to minimize the quantity of stacks, panel material handling distance, and the work required to position and brace panels-panel interference is ignored. Few researchers have addressed this problem: a single algorithm has been reported, and this only works for certain building shapes and may provide infeasible solutions. The proposed approach and algorithm result in improved performance, have no shape restrictions, and always provide feasible solutions. Additionally, computational experiments show that the algorithm outperforms methods being employed in the construction industry today.