Improving construction takt production efficiency by using digitalization

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

URL

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Insinööritieteiden korkeakoulu | Master's thesis

Date

2020-05-18

Department

Major/Subject

Mcode

Degree programme

Master's Programme in Real Estate Economics (REC)

Language

en

Pages

69

Series

Abstract

The construction industry is one of the largest economies globally however, during the past decades construction production has only increased by 1% annually. With the actively growing urbanization, construction industry is looking for the methods to build faster and achieve a better production flow. Construction sites do generate a lot of data that could be used to boost the production but, this data is still being collected manually using spreadsheets and hand-written notes. In order to enhance productivity improvement and cost efficiency, manual data collection must be eliminated and digital technology and advanced automation should be infused into construction daily activities. The objective of this thesis was to develop standards for efficient digital data collection and to propose improvement ideas for applying the generated digital data in construction site management in construction company Fira Oy. The research was tackled with two methods: a literature review and a case study that included observations, examination of used digital tools and currently available data, and semi-structured interviews. The literature review provided a definition for good construction productivity, theoretical background of takt production and introduced the concept of digitalization in construction. The aim of the empirical research was to test applicability of takt production in residential project, identify data users, find available and missing data. Combining recent theory on takt production and digitalization in construction with outcomes of the case study, four essential behavioral changes were identified that can help to increase digitalization integration level at the construction site: creating clear common rules and instruction for all potential users of digital systems; providing intensive training for site management on digital tools, sufficient training of subcontractors; obliging subcontractors to takt plan following and digital tools usage through contracts; and establishing clear communication by organizing regular daily and weekly meetings. In addition, several technical development ideas were proposed. The outcomes of research were based on a single case study and therefore, further research is required to specify the results and test them. The research proved workability of takt production in residential projects and showed that digital tools can provide more accurate work tracking, possibility for efficient learning and continuous improvement through proper processing and analysis of collected data. Utilizing digital tools has become a prerequisite for the competitiveness in construction industry but only well planned implementation of digitalization can bring the success.

Description

Supervisor

Junnila, Seppo

Thesis advisor

Alhava, Otto

Keywords

digitalization, data in construction, digital tools, takt production

Other note

Citation