AGILE MANUFACTURING IN THE CLADDING INDUSTRY

Much research has concentrated on understanding the supply chain process and inter-company relationships in order to develop standardised methods for controlling and managing the facade procurement procedure. This paper concentrates on analysing potential gaps in the supply chain process related to developing and managing cost plans related to the facade sector in UK construction industry. The methodology presented in this research will be based on developing an agile manufacturing system that will be implemented in stages to cope with the continuously changing demands of the facade design, particularly related to an aesthetically demanding project. The different stages that will be discussed in this paper are summarised under technology implementation and integration, knowledge management, and finally an integrated agile system. The main aim of the system is to allow the architect, the manufacturer and the installer to achieve a cost effective balance between the aesthetics, the performance, product manufacture and the buildability of the facade, PSP Ltd. will be used as an example to demonstrate the implementation and techniques that will be discussed in this paper.