Industrialization of construction as a stage of improvement of quality

Abstract

El Mercado de la construcción se caracteriza por una diversidad natural que obedece a la variedad de los individuos. Es, por tanto, un mercado heterogéneo con cambios constantes a lo largo del tiempo, en el que las empresas pueden optar por especializ-arse en un solo producto o, por el contrario, proponer diferentes productos personali-zados. Hace unos años no era factible pensar en la incorporación del sector de la construcción en la industria, entendiendo como tal la realización de productos seriados o la producción en cadena. Hoy en día la tendencia es todo lo contrario, la construcción viene de la mano de la industrialización, que no es solo aplicada a los materiales o sistemas de construcción, sino también al proceso edificatorio completo. La indutrialización facilita además la organización, planificación y programación de un proceso constructivo. La organización, porque los acopios, medios auxiliares y escom-bros se reducen, resultando la obra más ordenada y segura; la planificación, porque se reducen las mediciones, los tiempos, la mano de obra dentro de la obra, materiales, alquileres, etc; y la programación, porque se mejora en los rendimientos, el seguimiento de obra e incluso el control económico. Todo ello hace, por tanto, que la industrialización de la construcción sea la protagonista de un aumento de la calidad, pues no solo ayuda a la integración de todas las fases y su control, sino que también es partícipe del desarrollo de nuevos productos y sistemas que suponen una mejora continua en el proceso edificatorio. ----------ABSTRACT---------- The construction market is characterized by a natural diversity that obeys the variety of individuals. It is, therefore, a heterogeneous market with constant changes over time, in which companies can choose to specialize in a single product or, on the contrary, propose different personalized products [1]. A few years ago it was not feasible to think about the incorporation of the construction sector in the industry, understanding as such the realization of serial products or chain production. Nowadays the trend is the opposite, construction comes hand in hand with industrialization, which is not only applied to materials or construction systems, but also to the entire building process. This trend, already very advanced in the United States, is becoming important in Spain. The industrialized building allows personalization, constructive speed, efficiency and a significant increase in QUALITY due to the strict controls to which the manufacturing processes in the industrial plant are subject. In this sense, Feigenbaum indicated in his work Total Quality Control the importance of the involvement of all the actors involved in a process to obtain QUALITY, based on offering the best service and price for clients [2, 3]. In construction, this translates into an integration of the different phases that compose it (Project Phase and Construction Phase) that, in general, are not coordinated within the same Quality System. The industrialization also facilitates the organization, planning and programming of a constructive process. The organization, because the supplies, auxiliary resources and wasteare reduced, resulting in the most orderly and safe work; the planning, because the measurements, the times, the labor inside thework, materials, rents, etc are also reduced; and the programming, because it improves in the yields, the follow-up of work and even the economic control [4, 5]. All this makes, therefore, that the industrialization of construction is the protagonist of an increase in quality, as it not only helpsthe integration of all phases and their control, but also participates in the development of new products and systems that suppose a continuous improvement in the building process