New Methods of Construction

Offsite methods in the UK became popular after World War I when many citizens needed to rebuild their houses, but the country was affected by labour and materials shortages. Although this technique was faster and cheaper, till World War II, only 5% of homes were built using offsite manufacturing. The market is slowly changing and starts to appreciate all the benefits that come with offsite construction and offsite manufacturing.

The Benefits of Using Offsite Manufacturing:

Challenges for New Construction Methods

• The false, negative image
  Because new methods of construction in the UK started from a housing problem, many people still associate this methodology with cheap bungalows and questionable quality. Luckily, the image is slowly changing in the UK but also in other parts of the world. For example, in Sweden, at least 45% of new housing is produced using some form of offsite methods! The more companies decide on using offsite methods of construction - the more those methods are popular and desirable.
• Regulations­
  Until recently, local state government and the banking systems had laws and procedures that were not up to date with the offsite construction, what had been preventing this market from growth. However, the WPI Economics’ report in 2017 suggested that offsite investments significantly helped in the UK’s economic growth. Moreover, the government stated that they would invest in supporting the modernization of the sector into more offsite techniques. It was a huge step towards change in the industry.
• Risks
  All construction projects in the industry are connected with risks (health and safety included). They may concern various things like materials, deadlines or procedures. That’s why many companies hesitate to invest in new construction methods, seeing them as potentially risky. Luckily, this mindset is slowly changing and now modular and offsite construction are even expected to be one of the trends that will shape the construction industry in the 20s.
• Project management
  Managing different processes that require various actions, workforce and materials, may look like an impossible task. If you want to use traditional methods of project management, it will surely be hard to control. However, nowadays we can count on innovative solutions and professional project management software that allow you to oversee and manage all parts of your production process. Using tools such as cloud-based management systems is a smart move to improve your company’s performance..

What’s your opinion on offsite manufacturing and offsite construction methods? We believe that it’s time for the manufacturing industry to use this opportunity and invest in new methods of construction that will bring endless benefits long-term. The construction industry is a second least digitalized industry, and this can be one of the possibilities to change that!