If industrialization is the aim integrate the supply chain. Helena Lidelöw Head of Engineering Lindbäcks Bygg AB, Sweden

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1 If industrialization is the aim integrate the supply chain Helena Lidelöw Head of Engineering Lindbäcks Bygg AB, Sweden

2 Industrialized production of multi-family housing Sales / project development Design < 32 weeks Factory production 4 weeks Transport miles Assembly 4 weeks Completion 6 months Walls- floor- ceiling Elements assembled Assembly of volumes Completion of volumes

3 105 # of man hours/volume # of minutes takt time in factory # of hours a volume sits on the factory floor # of million $ investment in new factory 56 6 # of months as WIP # of miles each volume is transported # of buildings per year # of units assembled on site in a week # of units per building # of employees 494

4 The car industry is our inspiration Single piece flow with preset takt time in two factories Work teams of 7-12 persons organized around tasks who perform and improve work Measure Safety, Quality, Delivery, Economy, and Medarbetarskap on a daily basis 15 building sites with preset assembly takt on a daily basis Current actions to remove work from the assembly line to the supply chain

5 Challenges with balancing work Finding the balance between factory and building site is in our decision support method where is it most safe, fastest, and cheapest with the right quality to install an item? Building services pose a special challenge since some of them are surrounded by regulations and special training to complete the task. Two larger challenges were identified: - Plumbers, electricians, ventilation technicians, tilers etc need to comply to the common goal of obtaining a takt time. This was impossible to negotiate under a union contract where workers are paid more if they work faster. Therefore, we switched unions and hired workers with the right skills. - There is no time to do intricate work with running services if the takt time is 55 minutes (one volumetric element leaves the factory every 55 min). Therefore, several work tasks concerning services rely on kitting.

6 Bathroom pod in glass fibre composite Precision cast glass-fibre composite sheets, 10 yards long, are cut into wall and floor elements at Podcomp, our supplier. Elements are glued into a moisture and waterproof shell structure, similar to a boat hull Tiling, ventilation ducts, and electrical wiring are preinstalled before arriving at Lindbäcks factory The solution and production system is organised to deliver on a 30 minute takt time Foto: Maria Fäldt

7 Design thinking The building is broken down into volume and flat elements Production happens in two steps: first inside the factory, then on the building site Everything is labelled and sorted according to the production sequence Balconies, bathroom floors, roof trusses and bathroom pods are prefabricated by suppliers we focus on assembly

8 Kitting is a natural part of our building system When producing floors, the plumbing system is kitted before assembly in the floor. The holes in the adjoining beams are precut on a kitting station, the beams placed in assembly sequence and delivered to the floor framing station.

9 Kitting is a natural part of our building system This process is under scrutiny at the moment: where is it best to do work? If quality and pace is OK in the framing station should we stop kitting? This is what is happening in the auto industry right now. Factories are so efficient that they are faster and cheaper than their suppliers.

10 Technology is known, methods are different The same procedure is applied to vertical shafts, where we also supply the materials needed to complete the installation on site. Plumbing is run in the floors and connected in a vertical shaft. Electrical wiring and ventilation is run in or below the ceiling and connected in the vertical shaft. The methods to install and connect the services are captured in standard operation sheets. The factory has around 400 SOS.

11 Technology is known, methods are different

12 Technology is known, methods are different

13 The story of power failure We have been working for several years to develop pre-assembled electrical wiring (we wanted a spider placed on the module roof). This has been a challenge due to restrictions on workers who cannot install electrical systems without being certified. Furthermore, our governmental body Elsäkerhetsverket, is giving us a challenge since prefabrication is not in their daily vocabulary. When we started looking at the takt time, though, we discovered that the work is not really on the critical path, thus not a bottleneck. However, we have large associated costs since we hire workers from outside as well as buy materials through a sub-contractor. Therefore, our new approach is to identify work tasks that can be done by us to relieve us from cost. We are currently looking into wireless push buttons without batteries. These have been around for some time. We need to look into the need for ensuring signal strength in all our applications before moving forward.

14 Take aways Avoid sub-optimisation e.g. moving work from one station to another, unless there are benefits on the takt time Use a calculation method to estimate cost that takes into account the flow gains, not only the material and work costs Be open to balance work with your supply chain colleagues through estimations that optimise the system as a whole if it is better that you do the work yourself, do it.

15 Thank you! Helena Lidelöw, Luleå University of Technology and Lindbäcks Bygg, Sweden