Fusion of Product and Automate-Replicative Production in Construction

Traditionally we design, engineer and manage the product and production in construction separately. In biology or natural systems both are combined. The following paper will give an introduction to the notion of fusion of the construction as process and building as product phase. Advanced manufacturing concepts such as Konrad Zuse’s “Self-Replicating Systems”, had been partially implemented in Japans “Ghost Factories” and Taichi Ohno’s Toyota Production Systems (TPS), all being predecessors of today’s upcoming cognitive and responsive automated manufacturing systems. Further, the application of these systems in industrialized building and construction industry will be examined as the shift towards industrialized fabrication of more and more complex, customized and even user co-created unique products is of particular relevance for building industry demanding by its’ nature for individual and unique outcomes. Recent concepts of Japanese building manufacturers even aim at making production not only responsive but also closed-loop through remanufacturing, recycling and re-customization of building modules. This again leads to the idea of “Self-Replicating Systems”, envisioned by K. Zuse already in 1957.