Barriers to Successful Adoption of Design for Manufacture and Assembly in Nigeria

Abstract

Shelter, since time immemorial, has been and will continue to be a vital basic human need. Notably, the need for shelter will continue to increase following increase in world population. However, the current traditional construction methods deployed in the construction of properties are slow as well as experiences cost over-run despite being expensive at take-off. Furthermore, current construction methods do not strengthen the government, private or Public-Private Partnership’s efforts in combating housing deficits due to Nigeria’s rising population. This paper thus proposes to examine the causes of low Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) adoption in Nigeria. Literature relating to Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) and its adoption were sourced through Google Scholar and Scopus using key search words such as adoption, Design for Manufacture and Assembly, Offsite Construction and Prefab Constructions and names of key authors on the subject. Literature search was limited to between 2000 to 2021. The key factors identified in the literature were utilized in developing the questionnaire. A pilot survey was used to test the questionnaire before it was administered to relevant key players in the Nigerian construction industry for responses. It emerged that most building designers are unwilling to embracing the idea of DfMA due to the resources in terms of cost and time required to train for its application. There are numerous other factors that have mitigated the institutionalization of the approach. A viable solution to this issue of building designers not wanting to re-train is to deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning to automatically generate DfMA concept designs that the building designers can subsequently upgrade into a complete design. Also, awareness of DfMA should be raised among players in the building industry. Finally, government policies should be deployed to create an enabling environment for DfMA construction approach to thrive.