INTRODUCTION

CILECCTA and The EC call

NMP-2008-3.4-2 Industrialisation through new integrated construction processes

Technical content/scope:

Innovation is needed to support the transformation of a supply-driven sector into a sustainable knowledge based demand-driven sector fulfilling users and clients demands, together with the growing trend towards integrated construction teams and long-term supply chain collaboration. A challenge here is to re-engineer the construction process towards a manufacturing process integrating the entire supply and value chain, in order to transform a supply-driven sector into a sustainable demand-driven sector, one that is creative, flexible, innovative, user-oriented, performance and knowledge-based, which offers new business opportunities, integrated and yet built around site specificities and knowledge.

A challenge is especially to help an individual SMEs dominated sector to become a fully efficient knowledge-based added value network with integrated actors mastering their process, capitalizing knowledge and responsible thereof.

Topics:

In order to industrialise construction production processes we should focus first on the initial phases for capturing and formalising customer needs, transforming requirements into formal sustainable specifications along the value chain to offer configurable / customisable life cycle performance based solutions for new construction products and services. This could be done by FP7 Cooperation Work Programme: NMP Page 36 of 69 applying the most advanced high technology design/manufacturing methods into off-site construction production.

New industrial "nD" models, interoperable methods/tools for analysis, simulation, validation, optimisation of the use of resources, monitoring, visualisation, decision support systems re-using existing knowledge, procurement, configuration and logistics management of manufactured components in line with on-site WIP are likely to be developed.

Finally, rapid reliable on-site assembly methods using intelligent equipment, new materials and new manufactured components for mechanisation, quality control, monitoring, automation or robotisation of on-site construction.

Funding scheme:

Large-scale integrating collaborative projects.

Specific features:

In order to ensure industrial relevance and impact of the research effort, the active participation of industrial partners represents an added value to the activities and this will be reflected in the evaluation. The following specific requirements will also be reflected in the evaluation:
(i) in order to achieve the targeted industrial impact, the active participation of SMEs is required;
(ii) for appropriate dissemination and exploitation of project results, the proposals should also include actions for demonstrating the operation of the new integrated process chain in practise.

Expected impact:

The ultimate goal must be resource efficiency (including energy) both in the building phase and in operation. More specifically the targets are: More than 50% of customised construction products are producible industrially; 0% rework and unused materials due to a poor management;

Construction sector offers safe and attractive high-technology work places;

Sites, construction machinery and mobile staff are 100% connectable to corporate information networks; 100% of manufactured construction products are offered on the EU wide open market.