CATEGORIZATION OF CONSTRUCTION TASKS FOR ROBOTICS USING LEAN VS VALUE-ADDED EFFECTIVENESS FRAMEWORK

Robotics and automation are still considered a novelty in the U.S. construction industry, as compared to manufacturing, despite its proven advantages for production. Due to the continuing advancement of technology needed, there are limited applications of robotics in construction to date. To better identify the potential tasks that would benefit from the use of robotics on construction sites, we consider methods for assessing the craft labor tasks that occur in construction. In this paper, we decompose construction tasks of an observed activity of installation of stone veneer system and compared two systems of categorizing the construction tasks based on value added assessment and lean (waste) assessment of tasks. The analysis compares the two categorization systems using a matrix which highlights consistency in the alignment of value adding tasks, such as final placement, as well as ineffective tasks with type two muda, but discrepancies emerge regarding the idea of contributory tasks related to logistical support of construction activities. The focus of the discussion is derived from the intersection of contributory tasks with type one muda tasks. The contributory tasks offer an opportunity to reduce the use of craft labor for wasteful tasks elimination by leveraging automation and robotics.