There is growing recognition today that prefabrication represents an opportunity to transform the construction industry. By moving from onsite construction to industrialized construction, projects can benefit from improved safety, productivity and predictability.

When we picture prefabrication in action, we often visualize whole modules of apartments or hotel rooms manufactured at scale and slotted into place in the span of several hours — and this purported image can make widespread adoption seem a long way off.

In actuality, one group of subcontractors is already leading the way in prefabrication, virtually behind the scenes: mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) subcontractors, who have been scaling their prefabrication capabilities faster than most other stakeholders in the construction ecosystem.

现在该认识到MEP分包商的成就了，并帮助其他分包商，总承包商，设计师和所有者遵循他们的领导者进入工业化建筑的世界。

Innovation Behind the Wall

Over the last twenty years, MEP subcontractors have evolved and invested in prefabrication processes and facilities. These subcontractors are realizing benefits, and a quiet revolution is cementing both single-trade and multi-trade prefabrication as established standard practice.

最近的一项研究表明新利luck，三分之二的总承包商和四分之三的分包商具有面向MEP的多贸易组件的经验。在大部分价值在于MEP交易的项目中，这种趋势最为突出，例如医疗18luck官网保健，数据中心，工业和制造业。这些项目中MEP的美元价值以及设计的复杂性使这些项目成为预制和工业18luck官网化建筑的最佳候选者。

Because Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) principles that enable prefabrication in the design process aren’t always enabled by architects and engineers, subcontractors have retained the majority of the value from implementing prefabrication as means and methods. Faith Technologies, for example, now offers a catalog of electrical assemblies, while Crown House in the UK has productized its mechanical offerings.

现在这些议员分包商(turned manufacturers) and others continue to pursue industrialized construction trends, investing in technologies like automation and robotics to further optimize production — and continue to subtly drive innovation in the industry.

Following in the Super-Subs’ Footsteps

MEP subcontractors — especially the ones who have integrated multi-trade and applied manufacturing techniques — have proved out the significant promises and advantages that DfMA and prefabrication offer for owners and the design, construction and manufacturing industries at-large. Manufacturing in a controlled environment away from the site can increase productivity, overcome labor shortages and increase the predictability of the cost and schedule. Clients benefit from certainty, which in many cases is more valuable than savings. Meanwhile, subcontractors have long-standing and mutually-beneficial relationships with contractors — unlike a newly formed prefabrication product manufacturer, which may have limited history and fewer relationships in the industry.

至关重要的是,预制使分包商to be product-led, rather than project-centric. The manufacturing business model involves optimizing the production of components over time, rather than continually adjusting to meet the needs of a single project. Subcontractors can spread capital investments across multiple projects and use data to continually refine their products and process.

每个贸易的分包商都应考虑采用预制，而不是等待制造专家将方法应用于建筑部门。分包商的优势是已经了解该行业并与所有者，建筑​​师和总承包商建立了可信赖的关系。

MEP分包商已经领导了。现在，其他交易也有机会受益。

Another category of subcontractors embracing industrialized construction is those focused on structural assemblies, such as light-gauge timber framing systems and precast concrete. There are significant opportunities for these firms as they deliver chassis for other prefabricated assemblies and modules.

The Road to Industrialized Construction

Designers and contractors looking to adopt DfMA and prefabrication can draw useful lessons from the experiences of MEP subcontractors and what they have already achieved.

Embrace the Manufacturing Mindset

最重要的起点是将“以项目为中心”的心态转变为“产品主导”商业模式。分包商历来将其针对单个项目的预制服务调整了，创建了自定义的一次性，只能提供有限的收益。18luck官网但是，通过采用产品为主导的方法，最成功的公司将创建一组明确定义，管理并最终优化的标准预制产品。

For example, prefabricated products may include multi-trade distribution racks or risers, electrical or mechanical plant rooms and medical headwalls. Stay with your optimal product designs and resist the urge to customize every time. If you do find yourself consistently customizing, you might not have the correct product, or you may not be explaining how the ease of manufacturing (the “dfm” of DfMA) adds value to your standard product. A good indicator is if your standard product is optimized with your production process, resulting in lower costs and shorter lead times.

Establish Closer Collaboration

Adopting prefabrication also changes how subcontractors collaborate with the stakeholders of the design, build, and operate ecosystem. Prefabrication needs to be enabled at project conception and remain the focus throughout the design, procurement and building processes. Best case scenario: learning has been incorporated before a project exists at the enterprise level of participating companies and driven by owners who understand expectations and collaborate to remove risk with their partners.

In addition to developing the prefabrication strategy based on product, itself, it’s important for subcontractors to outline how others need to design and assemble these elements by educating them on the specific DfMA principles for each element. Element-specific DfMA is a particular set of instructions that apply to one type of element and include the proprietary rules of each manufacturer because, at this point in time, there are few standards. They outline the design choices that need to be made for ease of manufacturing and ease of assembly for the prefabricated element.

与客户，设计师和总承包商互动对于确保预制能够发挥其项目潜力至关重要。首次使用预制元素时，总承包商可以陷入订购高度定制产品的陷阱 - 这可能比具有相似性能的标准预制零件要贵得多，并且基于生产方法和供应链合作伙伴，支持制造设施。

Collaborating early on can avoid these kinds of errors and help clients, designers and contractors to identify the prefabricated elements that are the best fit for the project. Utilizing digital technology and building information modeling connected to a construction platform helps subcontractors to communicate and share information throughout the project lifecycle. Information sharing and transparency, from the creation of design through to operations is more transparent using collaboration platforms.

The Importance of Optimization

Finally, the early adopters of prefabrication have also highlighted the importance of optimization. Once a product is defined, engage in a continual process of improvement, including investing in new manufacturing technologies like automation and robotics fabricators that are able to draw on data for analysis. This analysis enables future certainty of cost, schedules and quality using these prefabricated elements in the future.

It’s important to remember that industrialized construction isn’t just moving to a controlled off-site environment; it’s also about applying manufacturing techniques. With ongoing improvements to the fabrication process, product portfolio and workflows, subcontractors can deliver on the full potential of prefabrication — benefiting themselves, and the rest of the industry, in the process.

The Unsung Heroes of Prefabrication

Subcontractors in the mechanical, engineering and plumbing trades have quietly driven significant transformation in construction. And although much of this innovation sits “behind the wall,” these trailblazers have already proven that embracing prefabrication can not only deliver benefits for everyone in the construction lifecycle, but also generate value and increased profit for their own companies.

Subcontractors should look to embrace prefabrication, as they can benefit from greater predictability, productivity and profitability as a result. MEP subcontractors have shown us the way. Now it’s time for others to start their own journey.

艾米·马克斯（Amy Marks）是Autodesk的工业化建筑和福音派负责人。此前，她曾是预制创业公司Xsite模块化的首席执行官和创始人，她就新加坡政府就工业化建筑提供了建议。