A Cost Evaluation Model for IoT-enabled Prefabricated Construction Supply Chain Management

Abstract:

Prefabricated construction is prevalent in Hong Kong due to the cost control and limitation of the area. Traditional construction budget control focuses on the process of on-site construction. However, the total prefabricated construction cost is more related with the cooperation of prefabricated construction supply chain management. As a key construction component, prefab is transported from the manufacturer to the on-site construction and occupies a large proportion of construction cost. The high quality and on-time delivery of prefab will save costs and promote the construction process. The degree of close collaboration in the supply chain impacts cost performance that includes direct and indirect factors. These construction data are collected from the Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled system under the Building Information Modelling (BIM) system. The data of the prefabricated construction supply chain hardly reflects the relationship between construction cost influential factors. This paper proposes a cost evaluation model to distinguish the key cost factors by applying system dynamics. Simulation results indicate that prefabricated construction cost is mainly influenced by government promotion degree (GPD), working pressure from on-site construction (WPOSC), prefab quality (PQ), load-bearing capacity per vehicle (LBPV), and mold quality (MQ). This model provides the contractor and government with suggestions for better budget control.