An article published late November in UK title Construction News contends that the UK government’s adoption of Design for Manufacture and Assembly DfMA in its role as a client “will have a lasting impact on the sector.”Indications in the UK Budget show key government departments will adopt DfMA by 2019.
BIM, already widely adopted in the UK, was already showing major benefits according to the article, but was in fact a first step, intended to enable a range of wider initiatives including DfMA.
“Having developed the capability to create highly coordinated, data-rich digital versions of assets, it seems sensible to use this powerful engine to drive a more advanced form of construction,” said Construction News opinion writer Jaimie Johnston. “Accordingly, DfMA starts to look not only increasingly attractive and achieveable, but perhaps even inevitable.
”The adoption of DfMA would also play into a future scenario in which assets leverage machine learning and AI applied to the big data they gather. Benefits would include the continual improvement and optimised configuration of standardised components to create “the highest performing and most flexible assets.
”DfMA could also, it was hoped, alter the skills paradigm, resulting in an industry comprised of “operatives trained in specific tasks.”
In terms of supply chain, by aggregating its spend, the government would create “a pipeline to provide long term pull to give the industry confidence to invest.” The article also concluded that DfMA would influence other areas of the Budget, such as the GBP 44 billion allocated to housing, resulting in cost optimisation and quicker, more efficient builds.■
