A Case Study of the Impact of Modular Manufacturing on a Hospital Expansion Project

Abstract

Today, Off-site Manufacturing (OSM) is considered to have the potential to be the main driver for improving productivity in the construction industry. In addition to reducing the dependence of operations on adverse weather conditions, OSM offers a solution to the shortage of skilled labour. This approach to construction is being reinvented through the use of new technologies, such as Building Information Modeling (BIM), Virtual Reality (VR) and Mobile Communication Technologies (MCT). For these reasons, it is beneficial for the construction industry to evaluate its practices and consider an effective adoption of OSM. In this context, the main objective of our research project is to study the effect of the OSM approach on the project realization mode. Moreover, to evaluate the effects of early stakeholder involvement and the impact of using collaborative platforms for sharing information and digital models on the successful adoption of OSM. Also, we would like to identify the challenges and find the main barriers faced by mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) contractors. The project is based on a case study that consists of building a 36-room hospital annex using the modular construction approach in the context of a COVID19 health emergency. The research reveals that the adoption of OSM with the use of BIM in a well managed mode would offer the construction industry a new collaborative paradigm that encourages the sharing of information and profits while ensuring an optimal outcome of the delivered product.