Smart or not? perspectives on digital fabrication and digital construction

Digital fabrication and digital construction have been revolutionizing the construction supply chain through the ability to integrate information flows to address the bespoke nature of construction projects and the complexity of construction processes. Stakeholders have however questioned whether and exactly how implementing digital technologies would enable smart workflows over the construction supply chain to bridge upstream and downstream information gaps. This book chapter systematically illustrates the implementation framework of digital fabrication and digital construction to help guide stakeholders in managing data and material flows efficiently and ultimately help reduce rework and improve project quality. Two relevant case studies are presented to demonstrate the potential of digital fabrication and digital construction, respectively: (i) the clerestory steel structure project with a bespoke roof structure located on the West Coast of the United States and (ii) the prefabricated office building project with a complex design of prefabricated concrete columns located in Zurich Switzerland. Both case studies show that the key to successfully implementing information integration is that fabrication-related and interface information, such as the integrated schedules, should be fed into the design development for manufacturing and assembly so that rework and waste can be substantially reduced.