Rethinking offsite manufacturing for disaster resilience

This chapter focuses on the challenges of disaster management in relation to offsite manufacturing practices and explores offsite manufacturing (OSM) principles with disaster management practice. The process is often referred to using a plethora of terms, including: offsite production, offsite fabrication, OSM, offsite construction, pre-assembly and prefabrication. The fundamental rationale behind the review was that OSM could be used to deliver construction productivity improvements; given that the industry has long been criticised for poor productivity. Reflecting back on the issue of disaster management and OSM, it seems that there are some interesting parallels to unpick. The use of OSM enabled the use of cost engineering to achieve cost reductions and greater effectiveness; including: learning efficiencies, technological innovation, multinational partnering, engaging in-house build management. The concept of OSM was introduced as a potential vehicle for delivering a new approach to disaster management – particularly through the three phases of ‘Preparedness’, ‘Response’, and ‘Recovery’.