Submitted by Sarah Fell on Wed, 25/11/2020 - 15:57

What’s standing in the way of offsite manufacturing? For decades, the construction sector has been hailing it as the next big thing but we have yet to see it really taking off. Why is that, when the technologies and processes already exist? Dr Zakaria Dakhli believes it is due to a fundamental incompatibility between business models and it is only when this has been fully understood that the long-awaited transformation can take place.

Leaders in the sector recognise the gulf between their working practices and those of manufacturers, with their optimised supply chains and use of machine learning and automation to drive efficiency and productivity. Surely, by adopting these ways of working to manufacture buildings offsite, it would be possible for the construction industry to do exactly the same?

Dahkli suggests that it is the economics of the construction industry which are getting in the way.