The housing industry faces challenges in product data management, resulting in negative effects on productivity, efficiency, and quality. The purpose of the study presented in this paper is to elaborate on requirements and functions of a support system to mitigate challenges with product data management in the wooden single-family house industry. As a support system, a pilot product lifecycle management (PLM) system was developed with functions to fulfill the requirements. The support system was installed and tested in a real-world setting, a wooden single-family house company, Company T. The paper contributes with the insights that a PLM system for industrialized house building can be developed, fulfilling the requirements in this specific industry. The functions developed were perceived to have value and could, for Company T, mitigate their challenges with product data management. The support system facilitate integration between the pilot PLM system, the building information modeling tool and the enterprise resource planning system at Company T. Based on the study carried out, the paper concludes that a PLM system is feasible, and that it might be a way to mitigate challenges with product data management in the wooden single-family house industry.

Industrialized house building (IHB) needs to improve efficiency and reduce costs to be able to meet the demand of future building requirements. The discrete manufacturing industry has already begun its transformation with concepts such as Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing. The focus of these concepts is on systems integration and utilizing different design principles and technologies to improve productivity and competitiveness. So far, smart manufacturing has not been discussed to any significant extent in the context of the IHB industry, even though it might be a way for this industry to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

The purpose of this thesis is to support smart manufacturing realization in the IHB industry through improved systems integration capability. The objective is to develop a support system that helps to mitigate current product data management challenges in the IHB industry. The research presented here followed the design research methodology (DRM), and three research studies were conducted within the IHB industry, specifically within the context of the wooden single-family house industry.

The findings emphasized that integrated information and communication technology (ICT) tools are a precondition for realizing smart manufacturing in IHB. A pilot product lifecycle management (PLM) system was developed as a support system to mitigate the challenges encountered in product data management. The support system was developed based on five requirements (integrate product data between ICT tools, extract product data to purchasing items, adaptable to the product realization process, organize product data in different views, and trace revisions on building information modeling (BIM) projects and BIM families) and six functions (extract and interpret product data from the BIM project, property mapping, revision management, different types of document structures, from document structure to item structure, and complete bill of materials). The pilot PLM system was perceived to have value and could, for the case company, mitigate their challenges with product data management and facilitate improved systems integration. Furthermore, 18 enablers for PLM implementation in IHB were identified and categorized into implementing organization, PLM implementation process, PLM system selection and development, and development of product data for PLM.

In this paper, focus is on information management in the wooden single-family house industry i.e., one segment of the construction industry. So far, there is lack of research that investigates possible paths for information management in the wooden single-family house industry. The purpose of this paper is to overcome this limitation, and to increase the knowledge on how to mitigate the challenges of information management in the wooden single-family house industry. Two research questions were formulated: RQ1 What are the challenges with information management in the wooden single-family house industry? RQ2 What are the potentials of traditional BIM, BIM for OFC, and PLM to respectively mitigate the information management challenges? The results presented in this paper are based on a case study at a wooden single-family house company and a literature review on information management. In total, eight empirical information management challenges were identified at the case company, categorized into technology-related, process-related, or people-related challenges. Based on the analysis, it was concluded that a PLM-system has larger potential to mitigate the information management challenges in the wooden single-family house industry than traditional BIM and BIM for OFC. This paper contributes with insights on challenges of information management in the wooden single-family house industry and the potentials of traditional BIM, BIM for OFC, and PLM to mitigate these challenges. The results from this paper can support managers in the house building industry with understanding the potentials of traditional BIM, BIM for OFC and PLM for specific information challenges and facilitate decision making on what actions to take to improve their information management.

I det här projektet har problembilden med informationsflöden kartlagts för två företag inom småhusindustrin, Trivselhus och Eksjöhus. Tillsammans med PLM-utvecklarna YaPlm har en pilot av ett PLM-system utvecklats för att kunna hantera den problembild som kartlagts.

Problembilden är att det finns mer eller mindre specialiserade men isolerade system som används i processen. Det ger upphov till många källor av produktinformation och manuell överföring. Problembilden medför konsekvenser som; tidskrävande, resurskrävande, och kvalitetsproblematisk administration. Projektet har tagit fram en generell pilot av ett PLM-system som fungerar mot ett centralt sådant problematiskt system, kallat Revit®. Med funktionerna i piloten kan projektet konstatera att ett PLM-system kan användas och hur det kan användas, givet de förutsättningar som råder för småhusindustrin, för att behandla en del av de utmaningarna som finns med systemintegration. PLM-system har potential att öka effektiviteten av informationsflödena hos företag i småhusindustrin.

Purpose: The meaning of Industry 4.0 has started to be outlined for the construction industry, but there is still limited knowledge on the implications for the single-family wooden house building industry. The purpose of this paper is to expand the understanding of what the fourth industrial revolution implies for the single-family wooden house industry. The paper contributes with practitioners’ view of the content and meaning of a smart single-family wooden house factory.

Design/methodology/approach: An exploratory multiple case study was carried out at two Swedish single-family wooden house builders, combined with a traditional literature review.

Findings: As a result of a multiple case studies, the content and meaning of a smart single-family wooden house factory was elaborated on. In total, 15 components of a smart single-family wooden house factory were identified, of which 8 corresponded to the components of Industry 4.0 as described in other sectors.

Research limitations/implications: The study can be expanded to also include multi-family wooden house builders and other branches of the offsite wooden building industry.

Practical implications: Managers in the house-building industry who want to improve and strive for a smart single-family wooden house factory can learn from this study, get an insight of what other companies consider as important and how it relates to Industry 4.0.

Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is a first attempt to understand what Industry 4.0 mean and how it can be accomplished for the single-family wooden house offsite manufacturing industry.

Despite that a decade has passed since the Industry 4.0-era began, there is still limited knowledge about the implications for the wooden single-family house industry. The purpose of this paper is to identify components of smart manufacturing that captures what companies in the wooden single-family house industry need to consider meeting the expected and future demands related to the fourth industrial revolution. The results presented is based on two case studies, revealing seven components. The industry is in the beginning of its implementation phase and is mainly striving for connectivity through integration of ICTs.

A fourth industrial revolution is prophesied, and there is a potential for the industrialized world to proactively adapt suitable practices. Despite the large interest from both industry and academia, a drawback with the vast literature on initiatives that tap into the fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0 and alike, is the fuzziness when it comes to terminology and content. The terms are mixed up, and sometimes used interchangeable and the constituent parts are not fully described. The purpose of this paper is to present the content of initiatives related to the fourth industrial revolution in a structured manner. This is expected to support understanding for the content of the fourth industrial revolution and thereby facilitate the transformation. The results presented in this paper is based on a traditional literature review. In total 13 relevant review papers were identified. The identified papers were analyzed, and a framework was developed including technologies and design principles. In total, eleven technologies and twelve design principles were identified for Industry 4.0. The most frequently occurring technologies were Cyber physical systems, Internet of Things, and Big data. The most frequently occurring design principles were Smart factory, Service orientation and Sustainability and resource efficiency. A categorization of the content into technologies and design principles clarify and structures the content of Industry 4.0. The developed framework can support academics in identifying, describing, and selecting Industry 4.0 scenarios for further investigations. For practitioners, the framework can give a basic understanding and some guidance in their implementation journey of Industry 4.0.

To meet the demand of future building requirements, and to improve productivity and competitiveness, there is a need to modernize and revise the current practices in the wooden single-family house industry. In several other sectors, intensive work is being done to adapt to the anticipated fourth industrial revolution. The manufacturing industry has already begun its transformation with concepts such as smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0. So far, smart manufacturing has not been discussed to any significant extent for the wooden single-family house industry, even though it might be a way for this industry to improve productivity and competitiveness.

The research presented in this thesis aims at increased knowledge about what smart manufacturing means for the wooden single-family house industry. This requires investigating what smart wooden house manufacturingis, what challenges that might be associated with it, and how smart wooden house manufacturing can be realized. At the core of this thesis is the conceptualization of smart wooden house manufacturing—when realized, it is expected to contribute to improve the competitiveness of the wooden single family house industry.

The findings presented here are based on three Research Studies. Two studies were case studies within the wooden single-family house industry. The third study was a traditional literature review.

The findings revealed two definitions and 26 components of smart wooden house manufacturing. At large, smart wooden house manufacturing emphasizes digital transformation with a focus on digital information flow, how to add information, information compilation, and information distribution between systems/programs and departments. Some of the challenges associated with smart wooden house manufacturing are, e.g. culture, competence and manual transfer of information between systems.

The findings indicate similarities of smart wooden house manufacturing within certain components of industrialized house building and Industry 4.0, these components could enable the realization of smart wooden house manufacturing.

För att möta efterfrågan på framtida byggkrav och för att förbättra produktiviteten och konkurrenskraften finns det ett behov av att modernisera och revidera nuvarande tillvägagångssätt inom träsmåhusindustrin. I flera andra sektorer arbetas det intensivt med att anpassa sig till den förväntade fjärde industriella revolutionen. Tillverkningsindustrin har redan påbörjat sin omvandling med koncept som smart manufacturing och Industry 4.0. Hittills har smart manufacturing inte diskuterats i någon större utsträckning för träsmåhusindustrin, även om det kan vara ett sätt för denna industri att förbättra produktiviteten och konkurrenskraften.

Forskningen som presenteras i denna avhandling syftar till ökad kunskap om vad smart manufacturing innebär för träsmåhusindustrin. Detta kräver undersökning av vad smart trähustillverkning är, vilka utmaningar som kan vara förknippade med det och hur smart trähustillverkning kan realiseras. Kärnan i denna uppsats är begreppsframställningen av smart trähustillverkning—när det realiserats förväntas det bidra till att förbättra konkurrenskraften för träsmåhusindustrin.

Resultaten som presenteras här är baserat på tre forskningsstudier. Två studier var fallstudier inom träsmåhusindustrin. Den tredje studien var en traditionell litteraturstudie.

Resultaten avslöjade två definitioner och 26 komponenter av smart träshustillverkning. Sammanfattningsvis betonar smart trähustillverkning digital transformation med fokus på digitalt informationsflöde, hur man lägger till information, sammanställning av information och informationsfördelning mellan system / program och avdelningar. Några av utmaningarna associerade med smart trähustillverkning är t.ex. kultur, kompetens och manuell överföring av information mellan system.

Resultaten indikerar likheter mellan smart träshustillverkning inom vissa komponenter av industriellt husbyggande och Industry 4.0, dessa komponenter skulle kunna möjliggöra realiseringen av smart trähustillverkning.

Swedish house building companies currently face many challenges in terms of fluctuating market demand, need for flexible product offering, non-uniform governmental regulations, high costs, and long lead times. These challenges affect both internal and external efficiency of companies. Product platforms have been used for more than a decade in this industry to improve both internal and external efficiency. However, the industry is still criticized for its inefficient and costly process. Smart manufacturing has emerged as means to improve the efficiency of internal processes and the question is if and how smart manufacturing can complement and support product platforms in industrialized house building. The aim of this study is to explore the potential of smart manufacturing to complement and support product platforms in theory and practice in the context of industrialized house building. A literature review and a multiple case study were chosen to fulfill the study objective. In total fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted in two timber house building companies. The data was analyzed within and across cases using four platform assets for categorization: components, processes, knowledge and relationships. The results show that the smart manufacturing technologies are in both theory and practice mainly supporting the process platform asset through developing vertical and horizontal IT systems integration, definition and digitalization of flexible building systems, and transferring explicit drafting and engineering knowledge into parametric modelling tools.