Technical

Skanska’s ‘flying factories’ take off in Slough

Story for CM? Get in touch via email: [email protected]

Comments

  1. This is very impressive though I imagine with limitations as you quite rightly pointed out in your article regarding availability of space, local workforce and rental values.
    There is obviously also costs and time involved in adapting the rented work space and then of course the packing up and decommissioning at the end of the rental term.
    This however would be more impressive if in fact they literally had a “flying” factory.
    A modular factory unit so that they could adopt the Modcell’s model and literally setup in a farm or open space.

  2. “Flying factories” are a brilliant idea, and there is a way to bring even greater efficiencies to this approach, by dropping the factory in to the construction site itself. Where there is space – and an integral floor system means that it doesn’t have to be a flat, perfected sided space (as rare as hens teeth surely on a construction site) – a temporary structure can bring even greater cost savings to the ‘flying factory’ approach. The margins achieved from having that clean, safe, secure space actually on site and under your own control – less transport, less time, smaller project staff, shared security etc.- can make the difference to profit margins where every incremental improvement in time and first-round build quality will be felt. De Boer’s temporary commercial structures are incredibly robust and flexible and can be adapted perfectly to the modular, controlled construction approach which has been showcased by Skanska and Laing O’Rourke.

Comments are closed.

Latest articles in Technical