Construction is often defined as a project-oriented industry that develops complex one-of-a-kind products using an engineer-to-order (ETO) design process. The technical solutions that are developed in specific projects often have integral product architectures that are difficult to re-use in continuous improvement processes. The ETO process also means that very few components can be produced before being ordered, which is necessary for creating economies of scale in production. In contrast, Modify-To-Order (MTO) Configure-To-Order (CTO) or Select variant-To-Order (STO) design processes based on theories of mass customization reuse technical solutions from earlier projects to varying degrees. However, many researchers argue that results and theories from the manufacturing industry cannot be used in the contexts of construction because each construction project has different functional requirements and local site conditions whose interaction mandates the creation of unique end products that cannot be modularized as is done in manufacturing industries. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate how mass customization principles could be utilized in the design of construction products, especially how the adoption of platform architectures and configurators could support the reuse of technical solutions between projects. Several case studies of projects using different specification levels (MTO, CTO and STO) were conducted to test theories of mass customization in the context of construction. The results obtained show that when working at the MTO and CTO specification levels, platform architectures should be based on modules that can be developed incrementally. STO products can be developed with integral product architectures, but if the needs of customers in the target market segment change this presents a risk of ad-hoc end product customization that will adversely affect the production system downstream in the value chain. For all studied specification levels, it is important to determine whether the target market volume is sufficient to justify the cost of developing a product platform. The introduction of design modules in modular platform architectures enables the development and use of configurators in ETO construction design processes. Such tools allow MTO platforms to be customized using a mixture of traditional ETO design and the configuration of predefined modules. Configuration tools for module customization at the MTO and CTO levels must therefore be integrated with the traditional design tools used in construction. The configuration of modular platform architectures also facilitates the effective use of information and its transfer between domains. As the use of pre-defined modules in the product specification process increases, the need to involve multiple design disciplines decreases. At the STO level, the design work can be reduced to such an extent that customization can be achieved using web-based configurators.Overall, the results presented in this thesis indicate that the Products in Product mass customization concept introduced by Erixon (1998) can be implemented at multiple specification levels in the traditional design of construction products. By introducing the new design module category into the platform architecture, predefined construction product platforms can be integrated with the traditional ETO design process and developed incrementally. / Construction is often defined as a project oriented industry developing complex one-of-a-kind products in an engineer-to-order (ETO) driven process by temporary organizations. That is resulting in a fragmented design process with loose connection between different disciplines. Many studies indicate that the early stages of product development is critical for product constructability, but technical solutions that are developed in specific projects lead to integral product architectures that are difficult to re-use in a continuous improvement process. The ETO process also means that very few components can be produced before ordering, a prerequisite for creating economies of scale in production. By changing the product realization process to "modify- to-Order" (MTO), "configure- to-order" (CTO) or "select variant" (STP), which is based on the theories of mass customization, technical solutions can be reused between the specific projects. However, several researchers in the construction industry proclaim that the contexts of construction industry cannot be compared with other industries and products. The variation of interacting functional requirements creates unique end products that cannot be separated in similar way as in the manufacturing industry. Arguments are based on the uniqueness of the end products that is analysed with regards to the highest level in the product architecture, which is why a more nuanced view is required.Mass Customisation can be described as an approach to combine economies of scale from mass production with increased customization for the end customer. To successfully achieve this, the generic product architecture need to be based on a modular architecture with clear separation between functional requirements (FR) and design parameters ( DP) and well-specified interfaces between the modules. Selected market segment affects the demand for product customization relatively the order point and thus affects its product realization process; MTO, CTO and STP, whereupon the selected specification level also affects the generic product architecture with its product platform and how the customization can be done. The purpose of this thesis is to describe whether and how mass customization can be used in the construction industry by describing the relationships between product architectures and the specification levels.Several case studies in the specification levels MTO, CTO and STP have been made based on theory of mass customization. The case studies have been performed in a deductive approach where theories have been tested in real cases and validated through experiments. Results from the cases have improved the understanding in this area and been used in following case studies, why the thesis as a whole can be described as abduction.Research results shows that in the MTO and CTO specification level, product platforms should be based on modules that can be developed incrementally. STP products can be developed with integral product architecture, but if changes in the customer segment occur there is great risk that production will be affected negatively. In all studied specification levels, it is important to understand the market segment volumes to justify the development costs. Introduction of "Design variant module" for modular systems means that configurators for subsystems can be developed. Customization of MTO platforms then consists of a mixture of traditional design and configuration of modules. But to accomplish this, the link between ICT tools in the MTO and CTO process needs to be connected with traditional ICT tools in the construction industry. However, using modular product architectures in the design greatly reduce the information exchange between disciplines. If STP products are developed customization can be done using a web interface.In conclusion, if using the "Products in Product" concept (Erixon, 1998) it is possible to implement theories from mass customization in construction. It is also seen that modular product architecture creates opportunities to repair information chains and minimizes the exchange of information between different disciplines, enabling the use of ICT tools developed in other industries. By introducing a new module category to the existing theory, namely "Design variant module", the traditional design process (ETO) can be coupled with predefined product platforms and develop incrementally. / Godkänd; 2014; 20140416 (patjen); Nedanstående person kommer att disputera för avläggande av teknologie doktorsexamen. Namn: Patrik Jensen Ämne: Byggproduktion/Construction Engineering Avhandling: Configuration of Platform Architectures in Construction Opponent: Professor Lars Hvam, Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark Ordförande: Professor Thomas Olofsson, Avd för byggkonstruktion- och produktion, Institutionen för samhällsbyggnad och naturresurser, Luleå tekniska universitet Tid: Tisdag den 17 juni 2014, kl 13.00 Plats: F1031, Luleå tekniska universitet

Le secteur automobile est aujourd’hui face au paradoxe de la personnalisation de masse. La diversité de produits finis est en augmentation perpétuelle du fait de la croissance de la personnalisation offerte au client. La diversité de composants à laquelle doivent faire faces les Chaînes Logistiques résulte de cette diversité de produits finis à fabriquer. Même si le coût de la diversité reste difficilement mesurable, cette diversité à un impact majeur sur la performance économique des entreprises de production. Dans le secteur automobile, une grande partie de ces coûts sont induits par le nombre très important de contraintes entre composants. De façon opérationnelle, ces contraintes rendent difficile la définition de nomenclature. Dans cette thèse, nous étudions une nouvelle façon de représenter la diversité. Aussi, pour limiter l’inflation de la diversité de composants à gérer, les fabricants doivent améliorer sans cesse leurs processus de conception et de production. L’usage d’une architecture modulaire des produits doit permettre de simplifier ces contraintes et donc la diversité de composants. Le succès de la mise en place d’une telle architecture dépend d’un certain nombre de conditions que nous étudions aussi dans cette thèse. Enfin, parce que la diversité de composants peut aussi résulter d’une vision locale des enjeux de diversité en phase de conception, cette thèse propose aussi une méthode de standardisation des modules et de leurs composants invisibles du client, basée sur une vision économique globale. / Nowadays, the automotive sector faces the mass customization paradox. The end-product diversity is constantly increasing as the customer can customize more and more product features. The component variety that Supply Chains must deal with, results from the end-product variety to make. Though variety cost is hard to measure, variety has a great impact on the economic performance of today's manufacturers. In the automotive sector, a large portion of these costs are due to the great amount of constraints between components. On an operational point of view, these constraints lead to difficulties in the establishment of Bills of Materials. In this thesis, we define a new approach that describes the variety within Bills of Materials. In addition, in order to limit the inflation of component variety to manage, companies should improve continuously their design and manufacturing processes. The use of a modular architecture should allow to reduce the number of constraints between components and as a consequence, to reduce the component variety. The success of the application of such architecture depends on some prerequisites that we also focus on in this thesis. Finally, as component variety might result also from local interests in design phases, this thesis proposes also a model that aims at standardizing both modules and their components that is based on a global economic perspective.

According to production process theory, customization is directly related to cost and inversely related to volume, efficiency, and productivity. However, customers generally desire products that are individually tailored to their wants and needs. For this reason, as residential contractors grow, they struggle to meet customers' demands for flexibility. This struggle to increase customization is not unique to the construction industry and many other industries have studied this problem in depth. While the inverse relationship between customization and cost is generally true, mass customization can enable increased customization with limited or no increased cost. The residential construction process employs many mass customization enabling principles, including modularity and product family design. However, the preconstruction process fails to employ these same principles. The purpose of this study was to explore how mass customization principles can simplify customization in the residential preconstruction process. Two rounds of interviews were conducted with residential construction industry preconstruction experts. Using their input, a process for implementing mass customization was developed. The results demonstrate that implementing mass customization principles can greatly simplify the purchasing, estimating, and option pricing processes for residential contractors. However, mass customization also significantly affects company structure, cost control strategies, trade relationships, and leanness. This research is enlightening to residential contractors struggling to manage customization. It also provides direction for software developers targeting the residential construction processes.

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In this work, we address a variety of problems with applications to `ethanol production from biomass', `agile manufacturing' and `mass customization' domains. Our motivation stems from the potential use of biomass as an alternative to non-renewable fuels, the prevalence of `flexible manufacturing systems', and the popularity of `mass customization' in today's highly competitive markets. Production scheduling and design and optimization of logistics network mark the underlying topics of our work. In particular, we address three problems, Biomass Logistics Problem, Hybrid Flow Shop Scheduling Problem, and Stochastic Demand Assembly Job Scheduling Problem. The Biomass Logistics Problem is a strategic cost analysis for setup and operation of a biomass supply chain network that is aimed at the production of ethanol from switchgrass. We discuss the structural components and operations for such a network. We incorporate real-life GIS data of a geographical region in a model that captures this problem. Consequently, we develop and demonstrate the effectiveness of a `Nested Benders' based algorithm for an efficient solution to this problem. The Hybrid Flow Shop Scheduling Problem concerns with production scheduling of a lot over a two-stage hybrid flow shop configuration of machines, and is often encountered in `flexible manufacturing systems'. We incorporate the use of `lot-streaming' in order to minimize the makespan value. Although a general case of this problem is NP-hard, we develop a pseudo-polynomial time algorithm for a special case of this problem when the sublot sizes are treated to be continuous. The case of discrete sublot sizes is also discussed for which we develop a branch-and-bound-based method and experimentally demonstrate its effectiveness in obtaining a near-optimal solution. The Stochastic Demand Assembly Job Scheduling Problem deals with the scheduling of a set of products in a production setting where manufacturers seek to fulfill multiple objectives such as `economy of scale' together with achieving the flexibility to produce a variety of products for their customers while minimizing delivery lead times. We design a novel methodology that is geared towards these objectives and propose a Lagrangian relaxation-based algorithm for efficient computation. / Doctor of Philosophy / In this work, we organize our research efforts in three broad areas - Biomass Supply Chain, Hybrid Flow Shop, and Assembly Job Shop, which are separate in terms of their application but connected by scheduling and logistics as the underlying functions. For each of them, we formulate the problem statement and identify the challenges and opportunities from the viewpoint of mathematical decision making. We use some of the well known results from the theory of optimization and linear algebra to design effective algorithms in solving these specific problems within a reasonable time limit. Even though the emphasis is on conducting an algorithmic analysis of the proposed solution methods and in solving the problems analytically, we strive to capture all the relevant and practical features of the problems during formulation of each of the problem statement, thereby maintaining their applicability. The Biomass Supply Chain pertains to the production of fuel grade ethanol from naturally occurring biomass in the form of switchgrass. Such a system requires establishment of a supply chain and logistics network that connects the production fields at its source, the intermediate points for temporary storage of the biomass, and bio-energy plant and refinery at its end for conversion of the cellulosic content in the biomass to crude oil and ethanol, respectively. We define the components and operations necessary for functioning of such a supply chain. The Biomass Logistics Problem that we address is a strategic cost analysis for setup and operation of such a biomass supply chain network. We focus our attention to a region in South Central Virginia and use the detailed geographic map data to obtain land use pattern in the region. We conduct survey of existing literature to obtain various transportation related cost factors and costs associated with the use of equipment. Our ultimate aim here is to understand the feasibility of running a biomass supply chain in the region of interest from an economic standpoint. As such, we represent the Biomass Logistics Problem with a cost-based optimization model and solve it in a series of smaller problems. A Hybrid Flow Shop (HFS) is a configuration of machines that is often encountered in the flexible manufacturing systems, wherein a particular station of machines can execute processing of jobs/tasks simultaneously. In our work, we approach a specific type of HFS, with a single machine at the first stage and multiple identical machines at the second stage. A batch or lot of jobs/items is considered for scheduling over such an HFS. Depending upon the area of application, such a batch is either allowed to be split into continuous sections or restricted to be split in discrete sizes only. The objective is to minimize the completion time of the last job on its assigned machine at the second stage. We call this problem, Hybrid Flow Shop Scheduling Problem, which is known to be a hard problem in literature. We aim to derive the results which will reduce the complexity of this problem, and develop both exact as well as heuristic methods in order to obtain near-optimal solution to this problem. An Assembly Job Shop is a variant of the classical Job Shop which considers scheduling a set of assembly operations over a set of assembly machines. Each operation can only be started once all the other operations in its precedence relationship are completed. Assembly Job Shop are at the core of some of the highly competitive manufacturing facilities that are principled on the philosophy of Mass Customization. Assuming an inherent nature of demand uncertainty, this philosophy aims to achieve ‘economy of scale’ together with flexibility to produce a variety of products for the customers while minimizing the delivery lead times simultaneously. We incorporate some of these challenges in a concise framework of production scheduling and call this problem as Stochastic Demand Assembly Job Scheduling Problem. We design a novel methodology that is geared towards achieving the set objectives and propose an effective algorithm for efficient computation.

Complete garment knitting technology is a method of producing knitted products, generally fashion garments, ready-made directly in the knitting machine without additional operations such as cutting and sewing. This makes it possible to manufacture a knitted fashion garment with fewer processes then with conventional production methods. In the fashion business customer demand is always changing due to fashion trends, so to be able to manufacture and deliver products rapidly is important. Mass customisation is a customer co-design process of products and services that tries to meets the needs of an individual customer’s demand for certain product features. In the fashion business this means that the customer can order a garment with a customised style, colour, size, and other personal preferences. The principal objective of this dissertation was to examine if and how complete garment technology can be applied to the customisation of knitted fashion products. It was pursued through several independent studies in knitting technology, mass customisation, and fashion logistics against a theoretical frame of reference in these areas. The papers in this thesis present various examples of how knitted fashion garments can be customised and integrated into fashion retailing concepts. The starting point of the research was the Knit-on-Demand research project conducted at the Swedish School of Textiles in collaboration with a knitting manufacturing and retailing company. The aim was to develop a shop concept built on the complete garment technology where a garment could be customised, produced, and delivered as quickly as possible. This initial idea failed due to the expense of investing in complete garment knitting technology, and so other avenues of research had to be found. The Knit-on-Demand project continued, using a business model similar to the complete garment concept but with the retail store and the production unit situated in different locations. The overall research question addressed in this thesis is: How can complete garment knitting technology be applied in a retail concept for customised garments? This question is then divided in two problems: What are the fashion logistics effects of combining complete garment technology and mass customisation? How does the co-design process function in the customisation of knitted fashion garments?The following is a qualitative study based on five research articles applying different research methodologies: case studies, simulations, and interviews. The empirical context is the area of mass customisation of fashion products and knitting technology, more specifically called complete garment knitting production technology. No prior studies describing mass customisation of complete garment knitting technology in combination with fashion logistics were found in the literature. The main contribution of this study is the demonstration that complete garment knitting technology can be applied in the customisation of fashion products. It also illustrates the importance of the co-design process between the company and the customer through which a knitted garment can be customised, produced, and delivered to the customer in three to five hours. The process of co-design and manufacture of a customised complete fashion product is examined, and the advantages and disadvantages associated with customisation of knitted garments are identified and described.

Current global business competition has resulted in significant challenges for manufacturing and production sectors focused on shorter product lifecyc1es, more diverse and customized products as well as cost pressures from competitors and customers. To remain competitive, manufacturers, particularly in automotive industry, require the next generation of manufacturing paradigms supporting flexible and reconfigurable production systems that allow quick system changeovers for various types of products. In addition, closer integration of shop floor and business systems is required as indicated by the research efforts in investigating "Agile and Collaborative Manufacturing Systems" in supporting the production unit throughout the manufacturing lifecycles. The integration of a business enterprise with its shop-floor and lifecycle supply partners is currently only achieved through complex proprietary solutions due to differences in technology, particularly between automation and business systems. The situation is further complicated by the diverse types of automation control devices employed. Recently, the emerging technology of Service Oriented Architecture's (SOA's) and Web Services (WS) has been demonstrated and proved successful in linking business applications. The adoption of this Web Services approach at the automation level, that would enable a seamless integration of business enterprise and a shop-floor system, is an active research topic within the automotive domain. If successful, reconfigurable automation systems formed by a network of collaborative autonomous and open control platform in distributed, loosely coupled manufacturing environment can be realized through a unifying platform of WS interfaces for devices communication. The adoption of SOA- Web Services on embedded automation devices can be achieved employing Device Profile for Web Services (DPWS) protocols which encapsulate device control functionality as provided services (e.g. device I/O operation, device state notification, device discovery) and business application interfaces into physical control components of machining automation. This novel approach supports the possibility of integrating pervasive enterprise applications through unifying Web Services interfaces and neutral Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) message communication between control systems and business applications over standard Ethernet-Local Area Networks (LAN's). In addition, the re-configurability of the automation system is enhanced via the utilisation of Web Services throughout an automated control, build, installation, test, maintenance and reuse system lifecycle via device self-discovery provided by the DPWS protocol.

This study analyzed participants in an online professional development and certification program can to see if they could predict the learning value of individual distance education tools. The Texas Center for Educational Technology (TCET) funded by the Texas Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF) designed the Technology Applications Certification Program (TACP). In the TACP, students are offered four graduate level classes which, when combined, meet the standards for the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) Technology Applications certification. The four courses that comprise the TACP are Computers in Education, Introduction to the Internet, Multimedia in Technology Applications, and Introduction to Video Technologies. The first course started in January 2002 with approximately 706 participants in 40 cohorts across the state of Texas. The TACP combines two different worlds of technology training. Half of the coursework was completed through asynchronous content and discussions, while the remaining classes were hands-on classes in local district computer labs. These face-to-face meetings enabled learners to get hands-on training with direct assistance. Between the online and face-to-face segments, a variety of learning tools were introduced to the participants. Participants were surveyed through the online Snapshot Survey in January and again in September.

A capacidade de customização de produtos é considerada atualmente um fator de competitividade muito importante para a sobrevivência das empresas. A interferência dos clientes na concepção e na fabricação dos produtos está cada vez mais intensa. Dentre as várias estratégias de customização, a tipologia de produção Engineer to Order (ETO), na qual o cliente é envolvido nas fases de design e desenvolvimento do produto, é considerada a mais complexa e ineficiente. Embora o número de organizações classificadas como ETO seja bastante elevado e os problemas associados a esta tipologia sejam bem conhecidos, não existem registros consolidados na literatura sobre qual é a melhor abordagem de gestão das cadeias produtivas destes ambientes. Além disso, as práticas de gestão sugeridas por alguns pesquisadores consideram a tipologia ETO um sistema homogêneo, no qual todas as empresas recebem as mesmas abordagens. No entanto, dentro do universo ETO existem empresas com diferentes tipos de customização. Algumas empresas fabricam produtos completamente novos, desenvolvidos para clientes específicos. Outras empresas fornecem produtos com estrutura híbrida, na qual alguns componentes são padronizados e outros são customizados. A grande diferença entre os sistemas produtivos ETO exige que cada ambiente receba uma abordagem específica para o seu modelo de negócio. Com o intuito de preencher esta lacuna, o presente trabalho propõe uma classificação da tipologia ETO com recomendações das melhores práticas de manufatura para cada subtipologia ETO definida. A classificação proposta foi baseada em estudos de caso com implementações de projetos de melhoria em diferentes ambientes ETO. / The ability of customizing products is considered a very important competitive factor for the survival of nowadays companies. The power of customers influence on products conception and manufacturing is increasing. Among the various customization strategies, the Engineer to Order (ETO) production typology, in which customers are involved at product design and development stages, is considered the most complex and inefficient. Although there are many organizations classified as ETO and the problems associated with this typology are very known, there is a lack of agreement in literature about the best practices for the value chain management of these environments. Furthermore, the practices suggested by some researchers consider the ETO typology as a homogeneous system where all the companies receive the same approach. However, the companies of the ETO universe show different customization approaches. Some companies produce products completely new and designed for specific customers. Other companies provide products with a hybrid structure which is formed by standardized and customized components. The big difference found between all kinds of ETO production systems implies that specific approaches have to be applied for each business model. In order to fill this gap, this work offers a classification for the ETO typology with some recommendations of the best manufacturing practices for each ETO sub typology defined. The proposed classification was based on cases of improvement projects implemented in different ETO environments.

A capacidade de customização de produtos é considerada atualmente um fator de competitividade muito importante para a sobrevivência das empresas. A interferência dos clientes na concepção e na fabricação dos produtos está cada vez mais intensa. Dentre as várias estratégias de customização, a tipologia de produção Engineer to Order (ETO), na qual o cliente é envolvido nas fases de design e desenvolvimento do produto, é considerada a mais complexa e ineficiente. Embora o número de organizações classificadas como ETO seja bastante elevado e os problemas associados a esta tipologia sejam bem conhecidos, não existem registros consolidados na literatura sobre qual é a melhor abordagem de gestão das cadeias produtivas destes ambientes. Além disso, as práticas de gestão sugeridas por alguns pesquisadores consideram a tipologia ETO um sistema homogêneo, no qual todas as empresas recebem as mesmas abordagens. No entanto, dentro do universo ETO existem empresas com diferentes tipos de customização. Algumas empresas fabricam produtos completamente novos, desenvolvidos para clientes específicos. Outras empresas fornecem produtos com estrutura híbrida, na qual alguns componentes são padronizados e outros são customizados. A grande diferença entre os sistemas produtivos ETO exige que cada ambiente receba uma abordagem específica para o seu modelo de negócio. Com o intuito de preencher esta lacuna, o presente trabalho propõe uma classificação da tipologia ETO com recomendações das melhores práticas de manufatura para cada subtipologia ETO definida. A classificação proposta foi baseada em estudos de caso com implementações de projetos de melhoria em diferentes ambientes ETO. / The ability of customizing products is considered a very important competitive factor for the survival of nowadays companies. The power of customers influence on products conception and manufacturing is increasing. Among the various customization strategies, the Engineer to Order (ETO) production typology, in which customers are involved at product design and development stages, is considered the most complex and inefficient. Although there are many organizations classified as ETO and the problems associated with this typology are very known, there is a lack of agreement in literature about the best practices for the value chain management of these environments. Furthermore, the practices suggested by some researchers consider the ETO typology as a homogeneous system where all the companies receive the same approach. However, the companies of the ETO universe show different customization approaches. Some companies produce products completely new and designed for specific customers. Other companies provide products with a hybrid structure which is formed by standardized and customized components. The big difference found between all kinds of ETO production systems implies that specific approaches have to be applied for each business model. In order to fill this gap, this work offers a classification for the ETO typology with some recommendations of the best manufacturing practices for each ETO sub typology defined. The proposed classification was based on cases of improvement projects implemented in different ETO environments.