The Structure and Predefinition of the Industrialized Construction Value Chain

Industrialized construction means predefinition of products and processes. The level of predefinition is balanced against the level of needed flexibility to create the desired customer value. There is a range from no predefinition up to complete predefinition. This pattern can be repeated in different dimensions defining several decoupling points in the value chain. The aim of this paper is to map different situations of predefinition in design, supply, and production dimensions in order to understand the structure of industrialized construction value chains. A multiple case study was organized using secondary data collection from earlier work of the authors originally collected through interviews with key actors in industrialized construction companies in Sweden. The results show that long-term supplier agreements and cooperations are important to sustain industrialization of construction. A high degree of predefinition in design is a prerequisite to succeed in construction industrialization. However, there is no coupling between a high degree of predefinition in design and a high degree of mechanization and automation in production.