Applying a DFMA Approach in the Redesign of Steel Bracket - a Case Study in Post and Beam System

Design for manufacturing and assembly (DfMA) has gained increased attention in the construction industry as the process has been industrialized and shifting towards a combination of factory prefabrication and assembly on site. The aim of this study is two-fold. Firstly, to apply the DfMA approach in the redesign of a steel bracket from a post and beam building system to simplify the design for reducing the cost and improving manufacturability. Secondly, to experimentally evaluate the mechanical properties of the redesigned bracket for implementation. An experimental case study has been conducted in a multistorey post and beam building system. The empirical data were collected from five semi-structured interviews and two workshops. The result shows that the DfMA approach has the potential to improve the manufacturability and cost of building components in Industrialized house building (IHB) and is comparable to lean design. Moreover, the proposed steel bracket offers satisfactory load-bearing capacities and shows an improvement with a reduction of cost by 15%, lead time by 50%, and material efficiency by 25%. DFMA can be used as a promising approach for aligning the design phases of IHB with the production and assembly by improving cross-functional collaboration.