Toward construction 4.0: A blockchain-enabled cyber-physical platform for prefabricated construction supply chain

ABSTRACT

Construction 4.0 is the fourth industrial revolution in the construction industry dominated by smart manufacturing. It aims to transform the traditional construction industry into the industrialization of construction. In the process of transformation and development, prefabricated construction has been widely used to reduce costs and improve efficiency while assuring quality. However, the prefabricated construction supply chain is facing challenges, such as low efficient coordination, less trust, and information island among relative stakeholders. Preliminary research has been conducted addressing these challenges, and we consider introducing a unique blockchain-enabled cyber-physical platform to obtain a preferable solution. This research will go through the following steps, firstly, to analyze the detailed workflow of the prefabricated supply chain, as well as its system requirements. Secondly, to proposed and design a unified four-layer blockchain architecture to develop, integrate, and extend this technology in prefabricated construction. Thirdly, to translate the operational workflow into smart contract to provide a trusted mechanism for cross-enterprise construction collaborations. Finally, to incorporate related stakeholders based on the system configuration of the blockchain-based platform, and to achieve real-time prefab components tracking and tracing, also information will be transmitted and shared simultaneously.