Easing the Construction of Bubble Deck System—A Value Engineering

Abstract

The bubble deck system is one of the innovations that has benefited the construction sector globally for several decades. The bubble deck slab had been designed and constructed with hollow plastic bubbles in the middle to eliminate the concrete that does not perform any structural function while reducing the slab’s self-weight. Value engineering is a technique used to examine how products and services function to provide users with the features they need at the lowest possible cost without compromising the necessary level of quality or performance, i.e., customer contentment. A product or service’s value is determined by how appropriate its performance and price are; according to this definition, value can be raised by either improving performance or reducing costs; however, if a product lacks either adequate performance or cost, it is seen to have little value, and therefore, the technical aspect that affects its performance and cost should be taken into account while identifying it. This paper uses value study process flow diagram as the main scheme of the entire procedure, with the function analysis system technique (FAST) application to identify the critical components that can be modified. Compared to the existing process, the innovative product results improve the ease of applicability of the bubble material, where a smooth transition from storage, delivery, and distribution is a significant challenge both to the manufacturers and builders. Future researchers may use this paper as a reference to look further into alternative value engineering techniques or equivalent materials.