Study on the Storage and Transportation Optimization of Pre-Fabrication Factory

Within the scope of construction supply chain, various uncertainties arising in the processing procedure lead to difficulties and impracticality in structural planning. As a result, consistency in individual job function and standardization of components of the production process, which is also known as "industrialized construction," become the major topic for discussion in the last few years. In order to achieve this objective, prefabrication production adopts the production method used by factory, so as to reduce numerous uncertainties arising during the processing procedure. It also attempts to standardize as many components as possible during the design stage. Under such a production environment, the production speed would be surely increased. However, contractors have to face the discrepancies between the site installation priorities and the factory production priorities. Subsequently, the issue of adopting a quality storage and transportation mechanism to act as a buffer within these processes becomes an important and prominent topic of concern. This study considers the behavioral pattern of the storage and transportation of the prefabrication factory, and then constructs an optimized pattern of prefabrication storage and transportation. Firstly, it proposes a concept of storage zoning to undergo the storage and allocation of every component. It would also consider the storage spaces available in the prefabrication factory, storage area outside the factory and jobsite, as well as the transport relationship among these storage areas. Considering the cost issue, usage cost of respective storage sites and the cost of component transportation would be the primary objectives of planning. Under such circumstances, and together with the strategic application of storage classification and allocation, the influence of different storage zoning strategies towards the whole transportation process is assessed, ensuring the best construction planning for the decision maker.