Framework for measuring industrialized construction maturity

Off-site construction has garnered attention in the construction industry due to the economic benefits resulting from the reduction in time of project delivery, the enhancement of quality control, and an increase in labor productivity. In general, off-site construction is defined as the process of producing prefabricated systems, building components, or building structures in a protected factory environment and then transporting them to the construction site for installation or assembly. Off-site construction is recognized as a solution to some of the complex challenges in the construction industry. It is anticipated that off-site construction will rapidly replace on-site construction activities in response to a shrinking construction workforce and inflating construction costs. Despite all of its advantages, off-site construction still faces immense resistance from both the industry and the market. Off-site construction is not technologically advanced and still relies heavily on labor-intensive processes. The slow integration of advanced technologies such as computer-aided construction, automation, standardization, and prefabrication is impeding the expected productivity growth in the construction industry. In this study, Industrialized Construction is introduced as an attempt to improve the adoption of technology by off-site construction and component assembly practices. The concept of Industrialized Construction revolves around the integration of emerging technologies into the design, manufacturing, the supply chain, and assembly practices of off-site construction to improve productivity and efficiency. The primary objective of this study is to identify the methods and techniques emerging in industrialized construction and evaluate their possible application. To promote adoption of modern off-site strategies, we recommend creating a maturity model for industrialized construction. Maturity models are considered benchmarks for assessing the strengths, weaknesses, and capabilities of a system. They enable the identification of criteria that need to be improved in consideration of their priorities and help decision makers to select the most convenient actions to be taken to move the system from its current level to a more mature one. The maturity model for industrialized construction will be built based on the information collected from industry experts with a diverse background in the field, together with information collected from academic articles, surveys, and interviews.