Nature of Construction Technology

10.6601/FCTI.2007.1(1).1

Andrew S. Chang；Kuan-Pei Lee

Construction technology ； production system ； unit production ； mass production ； continuous process ； automation ； technical change

營建科技與資訊論壇

1卷1期（2007 / 02 / 01）

1 - 12

英文

Construction management studies address mostly the phenomena of construction problems. Few studies explore the nature of construction technology or production systems.Technologies in manufacturing are classified into unit, mass and continuous process productions and their characteristics are examined. Construction fabrications and activities are contrasted to classify construction technology as unit production. Furthermore, technical change is studied and limitations to the change of construction technology are proposed.Although the efficiency of construction technology as unit production is low, it has many advantages such as flexibility and zero stocks. The appearance of new production systems will not replace the old unit production. Although the final construction products could not be standardized entirely, we can standardize their components, and rethink their assembling and integrating methods to increase production efficiency.