Sweden is the world leader in industrial construction – New Technology

Bathroom manufacturer party is not alone in using industrial methods in the construction industry. But so far built most houses with traditional methods in place.

     The finished bathroom modules from Parts factory in Kalix arrive here for the construction of Clarion Hotel Sense in Luleå. But out on construction sites have not come as far in using industrial methods. Photo: Tomas Bergman
     

     Jerker Lessing

     Lars Stehn

Industrial construction has the potential to reduce costs, short construction times and increase the quality of the built environment. Yet it is only between 20 and 40 percent of housing that are made with elements of industrial methods, according to an assessment by the LTU. The rest of the construction is done with traditional methods, on the site of the new house.

Real Manufacturers stand out, however. This is where the experts that 80-90 percent of the construction is done using industrial methods.

Lars Stehn, a professor at Luleå University, sees three reasons for to industrial construction has not had an impact on the broader front: that the Swedish construction market is too small, that clients are unaware of the requirements that they can ask for drive development, and that the dominant companies are too high and thus finds it difficult to control the about.

– The company is entirely industrialized is medium. For the major is too difficult, says Lars Stehn.

Jerker Lessing, a doctoral student at Lund University and a consultant on Tyréns, think construction industry’s tradition of orienting themselves around the project also plays a big role.

– A project is unique in its design, the technical solutions chosen is in large parts unique to the building, the team that draws put together unique to the project and team that will build the house are also added together unique. Overall, there will be many levels of uniqueness, it has made industrial development difficult.

Nevertheless, several initiatives were taken to increase the degree of industrialization in the construction industry in recent years. The most spectacular venture accounted for NCC, which built a factory in Hallstahammar to deliver ready-made elements to the construction sites. The floors would be equipped with parquet flooring and walls with wallpaper. But the effort was thwarted, and the factory was closed in spring 2008.

Since then, some companies, such as Peab, Skanska, continued to invest in prefabrication in varying degrees in the factory, while, for example, JM has tried to take control of work processes by issuing standardized guidelines for various operations.

A few companies, such as timber producers Lindbäcks Construction and Moelven ByggModul, has managed to combine both prefabrication factory and standardized work processes.

Lars Stehn believes that it is primarily the clients that need to change the setting of industrial construction will have a greater impact in Sweden. If they realize that they can save money in reduced maintenance in the future by encouraging a move towards quality assured mass production, he believes that a major change would occur.

Jerker Lessing believes that construction companies must focus their attention overseas to gain access to larger markets.

– There is a very high potential to exploit the advantage we have in Sweden now. We have invested a lot in research and development and has a wide knowledge advantage, he says.

In the current state, Sweden is the country that, along with Japan, the most advanced industrial construction.

– In Japan, it is basically just small houses manufactured by industrial methods. So the more the housing market, we have made more progress in Sweden. And we have come a long way in our view to look at manufacturing as an industrial production system that has to live over time. There, I mean that we are leading in the world, says Jerker Lessing.