Companies have worked out a way to survive in this way.

Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) has long been part of our philosophy and it is exciting to see an increasing focus on DfMA in the construction industry around the world.My recent article.

“Construction Platforms for Asia: Thoughts on the DfMA Journey in Asia-Pacific”.discussed some recent developments in my region but the interest in using DfMA on construction projects to drive benefits related to cost and programme, quality, productivity, health and safety and sustainability is growing worldwide.. As DfMA grows from a niche topic into a mainstream conversation in the construction industry, more and more government and private sector stakeholders are getting involved developing strategies and finding opportunities.However, there is a fundamental challenge hindering newcomers to DfMA and MMC – understanding what these terms actually mean.. Confusion is a barrier to change: talking about Modern Methods of Construction.

The DfMA landscape is littered with acronyms, abbreviations and terminology that is often poorly defined and even more poorly understood.Terms such as DfMA, MMC, Offsite construction, Prefab, PPVC, MiC and many more are often used interchangeably resulting in great confusion not only for newcomers but also established players in the industry..

I believe the lack of clarity around nomenclature in the DfMA landscape has become a major barrier to change.

A clear and universally understood definition framework would help increase stakeholder awareness and confidence in adopting innovative construction methods and could help encourage a more structured and focused conversation across the industry at large..The benefits of a seamless end-to-end digital planning process will be many and wide-reaching.

Removing the planning bottleneck: there has been significant progress in digitisation for design and construction, but planning, which sits in the middle, is lagging behind and causing delays.The UK has huge construction requirements in multiple sectors – the planning process should be an enabler, not a barrier..

Considering how much impact planning has on our lives, it is not as present or discoverable as many other aspects of contemporary living.The laminated notices on lamp posts which inform the public of local planning applications can easily be missed or ignored, and are often hard to understand.