Abstract
Building industry is one of the less efficient industries today, and the productivity gap with other industries is growing faster. In the last years, several improvements in process efficiency have been made focusing on production and installation processes only. In order to improve the efficiency of design and engineering processes as well, the scientific community agrees that the most fruitful strategy should be Front-End Design (FED). Nevertheless, effective techniques and tools are missing. As soon as innovative automated manufacturing processes (such as 3D concrete printing, advanced CNC machinery, etc.) will be widely available, may the Parametric and the Generative Design techniques facilitate FED? May these techniques increase the efficiency of design and engineering processes with effective results on the entire supply-chain system?
This paper will point out the first results of a research that investigates benefits and criticisms of these techniques by a case study analysis in the glued-laminated-timber industry. Starting from an analysis of ordinary engineering and production processes in the glued-laminated-timber industry, a possible solution through freeform-parametric-generative algorithms will be introduced. Finally, the results will be discussed focusing on effective facilitations of FED strategy, on benefits and criticisms for manufacturers and potential clients.