UC Berkeley

This paper presents a characterization of heavy civil engineering in the context of lean construction and Industry 4.0. Production characteristics of earthworks are compared with those of multi-story construction. The paper focuses on the equipment use of specialty foundation contractors and shows the variety in variability encountered in the Kelly pile drilling process, as described by industry experts. The authors identify seven sources of variability that affect production performance, classify each one by type, and then describe technologies to harness them. The paper critically examines design considerations in a production system that highly depends on equipment and highlights that advances in implementation of Industry 4.0 will demand ongoing effort in reconfiguring such systems.