, a non-profit organisation focused on action for climate and prosperity, on a major initiative: Repurposing Coal.

This means DfMA can be much more collaborative than conventional design, bringing the designer and builder closer together to pursue a common goal..There are many different methods of constructing a building.

In addition to conventional methods, alternatives have been developed that deploy prefabrication, pre-assembly, design standardisation and/or automation to some degree and these are collectively referred to as Modern Methods of Construction (MMC)..Exploring the MMC toolkit: from offsite construction to PPVC and beyond.MMC is the collective term for the innovative construction methods that can be deployed by the DfMA designer.

MMC can be considered as the DfMA designer’s “toolkit”.The DfMA designer finds the most suitable innovations in the MMC toolkit (or develops new innovations) to meet a project’s unique challenges..

There are many construction innovations that can be considered MMC.

The UK’s Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) recently established a Joint Industry Working Group on MMC which proposed the following categorisation: 3D primary structural systems, 2D primary structural systems, Non-system components, Additive Manufacturing, Assemblies and sub-assemblies, Material and Product Innovations and Site Process Innovations.This addresses one of the concerns that is often raised about Platforms and modern methods of construction more generally – the spectre of ‘cookie cutter’ buildings and identical assets.

Manufacturers can spend less time on the ‘bulk’ components and focus their efforts on the ‘project specific’ parts, and spend more time with customers understanding their individual needs.This is analogous with use of configurators and Platforms – designers can put more effort into the project specific and value-adding design and less into the documentation of the ‘chassis’.. Can we do this?

What should our digital marketplace look like?.Other sectors have grasped the opportunities and challenges faced by e-commerce in different ways and with different levels of success, but it’s now an unavoidable feature of daily life for most businesses and individuals.