INDUS4BUILDER | Industrialising the construction sector for greater flexibility and sustainability

More agile prefabrication through digital technologies

INDUS4BUILDER addresses a major challenge: the housing crisis in Wallonia. The project explores how prefabrication can contribute to delivering more affordable, sustainable and customised housing solutions. It focuses on integrating advanced digital technologies (XR, robotics, IoT and AI) to modernise the construction sector and strengthen the competitiveness of SME’s.
 

Target group

This project primarily targets:

•  Manufacturers of prefabricated modules and elements in wood, concrete and metal
• Construction companies
• Providers of robotics, XR, IoT and UX design solutions
• Industrial engineering consultancies

Context

Current prefabrication methods in the construction sector, whether (semi-)automated or manual, present clear limitations but also significant opportunities for innovation. (Semi-)automated processes are often inflexible and primarily designed for standardised production. As a result, they struggle to meet the growing demand for customisation from architects, developers and end users. This rigidity leads to additional costs, slows down innovation and complicates the integration of new technologies on construction sites. Manual processes offer greater flexibility, but are increasingly constrained by the shortage of qualified labour. 

At the same time, the adoption of digital technologies in the construction sector remains limited, particularly  among SMEs. Key barriers include limited awareness of available technologies, the lack of concrete demonstrators, skills gaps and uncertainty regarding return on investment. 

INDUS4BUILDER aims to remove these barriers through concrete use cases that demonstrate how customised industrialisation can combine flexibility, profitability, quality and user satisfaction.
 

Objectives & results

INDUS4BUILDER seeks to transform current prefabrication practices in the construction sector by introducing greater flexibility, customisation and technological innovation. Key objectives include:

• Increase the agility of prefabrication processes to meet growing demand for customisation
• Test the technical and economic feasibility of digital solutions applied to construction (XR, robotics and IoT)
• Develop test environments that simulate realistic industrial scenarios
• Design an Agile UX methodology tailored to prefabrication, facilitating technology adoption by operators

Expected results:

• 3 selected and modelled use cases
• Operational test environments
• A sector-specific Agile UX methodology
• Concrete recommendations for industrial integration
• Integration of results into the Buildwise “Construction 4.0” demonstrator
• UX and sustainability indicators made available to companies
   

Approach

The project is structured around 5 work packages:

1. Prefabrication needs analysis: market research, company interviews and trend mapping
2. Selection of use cases: identification of 3 representative cases across different levels of technological maturity
3. Product & process optimisation: development of adaptation scenarios for modules and assembly processes
4. Development of test environments: testing in a controlled setting using Buildwise equipment (CNC, robots and IoT)
5. Agile UX methodology: prototyping and validation of XR tools for operators, user data collection, UX and sustainability assessment

Funding

• Funding agency: Walloon Region (Win4Collective)
• Project type: R&D – CRA
   

External links

• Project partners: Buildwise (project lead), Sirris (R&D partner, responsible for optimisation & test environments), UCLouvain - MiiL (partner for UX, XR and user testing)
• Industrial partners: Chimsco, ImaxPro, MIC, Moviin, Solredo, TS Construct, AgiNTech, Jotunn, etc.