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A problematic issue for new approaches to prefabricated timber construction is simply that there is insufficient productivity measurement data to assist estimation of resource usage, speed onsite and best practice. A lack of information potentially results in increased pricing behaviour which may slow the uptake of prefabricated construction. The purpose of this paper is to measure installation productivity onsite for prefabricated timber floor cassette panels and develop sufficient understanding of the process to suggest improved practices.

A time and motion approach, paired with time-lapse photography was used for detailed capture of prefabricated cassette flooring installation processes onsite. An emphasis was placed on work flow around crane cycles from three case study projects. Time and date stamping from 300 crane cycles was used to generate quantitative data and enable statistical analysis.

The authors show that crane cycle speed is correlated to productivity including gross and net crane time scenarios. The latter is refined further to differentiate uncontrolled outlying crane cycles from normally distributed data, representing a controlled work process. The results show that the installation productivity rates are between 69.38 and 123.49 m²/crane-hour, based on normally distributed crane cycle times. These rates were 10.8–26.1 per cent higher than the data set inclusive of outlier cycles. Large cassettes also proved to be more productive to place than small.

The contribution of this research is the focus on cranage as the lead resource and the key unit of measure driving installation productivity (in cassette flooring prefabricated construction), as distinct from past research that focuses on labour and craft-based studies. It provides a different perspective around mechanisation, for resourcing and planning of work flow. Crane cycles provide a relatively easy yet reliably repeatable means for predicting productivity. The time-lapse photographic analysis offers a high degree of detail, accuracy and objectivity not apparent in other productivity studies which serves to enable quantitative benchmarking with other projects.

Current understandings of innovation in construction portray it as linear, deterministic phenomena centered around novel objects and technologies deployed in sequentially-organized supply chains. This study aims to develop an enriched understanding of construction innovation as non-linear, socio-material and dynamic phenomena in complex networks by formulating a novel conceptual apparatus of complex adaptive supply networks (CASNs) expanded through actor-network theory (ANT) concepts.

This combined CASN/ANT apparatus is mobilized in the context of a qualitative case study involving a housing construction supply network in Australia making use of offsite manufacturing (OSM) techniques.

The study shows that innovative technologies such as novel OSM products can play an important though not necessarily deterministic role in the evolution of CASNs. The study also explicates the process by which the enrollment of non-human agents and the resulting CASN evolution are linked: innovative technologies shape human and non-human interactions in ways that redefine task delegation, role definition and schemas that are fundamental to the shape of CASNs.

Findings provide a compelling empirical basis for arguing that CASNs must be conceptualized as heterogeneous systems and that innovation in construction must be understood as non-linear, socio-material and dynamic, rather than linear and driven by technological determinism. The study also interrogates limiting notions of supply chains and supports the notion of alternative inter-organizational forms to understand construction project work.

The purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of the impact of mass timber construction methods on construction performance through the successful delivery of the first-of-a-kind tall wood building, Brock Commons Tallwood House (Tallwood House). This paper is one of a set of papers examining the project; companion papers describe innovations used during the mass timber design and construction processes.

A mixed-method, longitudinal case study approach was used in this research project to investigate and document the Tallwood House project. Quantitative data were collected to perform the following analysis: hook time, the variability of productivity and schedule reliability. Members of the research team observed construction progress, meetings and decision-making, conducted periodic interviews and reviewed project artifacts.

The research presented in this paper is the culmination of a longitudinal study aimed at studying the innovation process on a project where radical innovations of structural systems were developed. Prefabrication, combined with the use of a virtual design and construction (VDC) model for planning and fabrication and early collaboration with trades, construction managers and consultants, increased the labor productivity of the on-site erection of the mass timber structural components and envelope panels and expedited the construction schedule.

This paper details an in-depth investigation into the construction productivity for a unique building project and lessons learned. The case study chosen is the construction of Tallwood House at the University of British Columbia. Tallwood House was the tallest mass-timber hybrid building in the world at the time of its construction.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the current state of popular modern methods of construction (MMC) and pre-manufactured construction in the construction industry and propose a framework for future implications for practice and future research.

This technical paper is based on a narrative review of the extant literature on the subject. First, the Scopus search engine was used to retrieve relevant papers on MMC, offsite and pre-manufactured construction. Second, institutional literature such as reports by industry professional and trade bodies, literature from leading technology firms and contractors with experience of MMC were extracted. These two strands of literature were synthesised and a comprehensive discussion on the topic was provided.

Results show that journal publications on MMC and pre-manufactured construction have increased in the past decade. The paper found significant advances in the development of premanufactured and offsite construction approaches with many benefits. Offsite and pre-manufactured construction are viable and sustainable systems currently suitable for wider adoption as the mainstream construction method.

This technical paper based on an integrative review of relevant literature could have benefitted from interviews of professionals with experience of offsite and pre-manufacture techniques and from wider availability of current academic publications on the subject. Validation of the framework has not been undertaken.

Not much-published work has been undertaken on the current state of development globally and the viability of these construction approaches. This paper evaluates evidence from academic and industry sources to address this gap. A framework has been developed which can help the industry’s industrialisation drive.

The purpose of this study is to systematically analyse and synthesise the existing research published on offsite manufacturing/construction. The study aims to highlight and associate the core elements for adopting the offsite concept in different construction contexts. This ultimately facilitates the enhancement of the offsite uptake.

The research study was carried out through a systematic literature review (SLR). The SLR was conducted to identify and understand the existing themes in the offsite research landscape, evaluate contributions and compile knowledge, thereby identifying potential directions of future research. The grand electronic databases were explored to gather literature on the offsite concept, lean and agile principles and simulation. A total of 62 related articles published between 1992 and 2015 have been included in this study. The relevant literature was systematically analysed and synthesised to present the emerging offsite themes.

The descriptive and thematic analyses presented in this paper have identified related offsite research studies that have contributed to setting a firm foundation of the offsite concept in different construction contexts. Each of the 62 articles was examined for achieving the aim and objectives of this study, the method of data collection and coverage of offsite themes. The results of the analyses revealed that the articles mostly provide information on the offsite concept and its definitions (53 per cent) and offsite barriers and/or drivers (27 per cent). However, limited attention has been paid to the integration of lean and agile principles (13 per cent) and simulation (7 per cent) within the offsite concept, which are therefore more open to research within the offsite concept.

The literature review highlights the main themes and components of the offsite construction concept. This forms a solid basis and motivation for researchers and practitioners to build on to enhance the uptake of the offsite concept in different contexts. This study also presents a research roadmap within the offsite concept, along with a recommendation for further research to be conducted using the research framework proposed in this study. The framework could lead to validation of using simulation to integrate lean and agile principles within the offsite concept.

This paper presents a systematic review of the literature related to offsite construction in different contexts. The emerging components, that is, offsite definitions, drivers and/or barriers, lean and agile principles and simulation have been highlighted and discussed thematically. A research framework that enables pursuit of the integration of lean and agile principles offsite through the lens of simulation has been proposed. The framework is expected to open up new opportunities on the effectiveness of offsite development in different contexts.

MRS ANN DAVINSON has been appointed as Branch Librarian of the newly opened Barlby Branch of the East Riding County Library. Mrs Davinson has previously worked with Middlesbrough, Whitby and Widnes Public Libraries.

This study aims to develop a more inclusive working definition and a formalised classification system for offsite construction to enable common basis of evaluation and communication. Offsite manufacturing (OSM) is continuously getting recognised as a way to increase efficiency and boost productivity of the construction industry in many countries. However, the knowledge of OSM varies across different countries, construction practices and individual experts thus resulting into major misconceptions. The lack of consensus of what OSM is and what constitutes its methods creates a lot of misunderstanding across Architecture Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry professionals, therefore, inhibiting a global view and understanding for multicultural collaboration. Therefore, there is a need to revisit these issues with the aim to develop a deep understanding of the concepts and ascertain what is deemed inclusive or exclusive.

A state-of-the-art review and analysis of literature on OSM was conducted to observe trends in OSM definitions and classifications. The paper identifies gaps in existing methods and proposes a future direction.

Findings suggest that classifications are mostly aimed towards a particular purpose and existing classification system are not robust enough to cover all aspects. Therefore, there is need to extend these classification systems to be fit for various purposes.

This paper contributes to the body of literature on offsite concepts, definition and classification, and provides knowledge on the broader context on the fundamentals of OSM.

The most serious barrier to achieving a “forgiving building” is the cost of its special building systems. The library is increasingly becoming a “hi tech” and “smart” building. A sophisticated facility is required to support current collections and the emerging electronic and optical technologies that will occupy (and perhaps dominate) the future library. It is far less expensive to provide the capacity to support future components at the time of initial construction than to subsequently renovate a building to provide needed capacities at a later date. The real challenge for librarians is to convince those who fund library construction that the “forgiving building” is the least expensive alternative in the long run.

As the manufacturing activities in today's industries are getting more and more complex, it is required for the manufacturing firm to have a good shop floor production scheduling to plan and schedule their production orders. An accurate scheduling is essential to any manufacturing firm in order to be competitive in global market. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Two types of shop floors, job shop and cellular layout, were developed by using WITNESS simulation package. Consequently, the performance of forward scheduling and backward scheduling in both job shop and cellular layout was compared using simulation method, and the results were analyzed by using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Through analysis, the best scheduling approach and layout to be used by manufacturing firm in order to achieve the make-to-order (MTO) production and inventory strategy were reported.

The results from simulation show that backward scheduling in job shop layout has the lowest average throughput time, lowest lateness, and highest labour productivity than forward scheduling. While in cellular layout, forward scheduling has the lowest average throughput time, lowest lateness, and highest labour productivity than backward scheduling in all conditions. It shows that the performance of scheduling approach is different in each production layout.

Suitable scheduling approach is needed in manufacturing industry as to maximize production rate and optimize machine and process capability. This paper presents an empirical study about the assembly process of radio cassette player of one manufacturing industry in order to investigate the impact of variety of orders and different number of two workers on the performance of production scheduling approach. Forward scheduling and backward scheduling are used to schedule the production orders.

The Seminar on Library Interior Layout and Design organised by IFLA's Section on Library Buildings and Equipment, and attended by people from over twenty‐two countries, was held at Frederiksdal, Denmark, in June 1980. This present article neither reports on the Seminar's proceedings, as it is hoped to publish the papers in due course, nor describes fully the Danish public libraries seen, but rather uses the Seminar's theme and the library visits as a point of departure for considering some aspects of the interior layout—the landscape—of public libraries. Brief details of the new Danish public libraries visited are given in a table at the end of the article.