All published articles of this journal are available on ScienceDirect.

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Using a Configuration System to Design Toilets and Place Installation Shafts

The Open Construction and Building Technology Journal 15 Nov 2013 RESEARCH ARTICLE DOI: 10.2174/1874836801307010158

Abstract

The aim of this research is to discover how configuration systems can support a product’s design process when a high degree of variation is required and a very open or endless space exists for possible configurations. The article is based on an industrial case involving a firm that wishes to offer a bathroom configurator to architects. The aim of the configurator is to help architects design a bathroom according to relevent requirements and norms. In offering the configurator, the firm aims to enable a design that can be coordinated with a prefabricated installation shaft sold by the firm, and also to create customer leads. Four scenarios are developed for how design can be supported by four different types of configuration technologies. The four scenarios are evaluated in relation to a number of functional and technical requirements. The scenarios indicate that a good and varied range of opportunities exist for using configuration systems in the construction industry. They also show that it can be done without fundamentally changing the present process.

Keywords: Configuration, expert systems, prefabrication, regulations, handicapped persons, installation, sanitary engineering, shafts.
Fulltext HTML PDF
1800
1801
1802
1803
1804