Design-to-Manufacturing Integration for Prefabricated Timber Construction in Australia: A Systematic Review and Conceptual Framework Linking BIM, CAD/CAM and CNC Workflows
Jul 2026· Sustainability· Vol 18, pp. 6790· 0 citations
Abstract
The growing adoption of prefabricated timber construction in Australia has highlighted persistent difficulties in integrating digital workflows between architectural design, structural engineering, and manufacturing. Although Building Information Modelling (BIM), Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing (CAD/CAM), and Computer Numerical Control (CNC) technologies are increasingly used, fragmented software environments, inconsistent data exchange, and limited early manufacturer involvement continue to cause information loss, manual rework, and design-to-manufacturing workflow gaps. This study provides a PRISMA-informed structured review of design-to-manufacturing integration in prefabricated timber construction, focusing on workflow stages, software ecosystems, interoperability issues, and manufacturer-ready data requirements. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, 588 records from ScienceDirect and Web of Science were screened, resulting in 60 peer-reviewed studies. These were supplemented by 32 practice-based technical sources, including industry reports, software manuals, user guides, CNC/machinery manuals, and interface documents. The review maps current workflows for timber frames, trusses, and mass timber components, identifying recurring challenges such as fragmented responsibilities, insufficient data detail, incompatible software, repeated remodelling, and weak design-production continuity. Based on these findings, the paper proposes a conceptual digital integration framework emphasising early collaboration, shared parametric logic, and clearer manufacturer-ready data to support more reliable, resource-efficient, and sustainable design-to-manufacturing workflows in Australian prefabricated timber construction.
Additive manufacturing (AM) is applied in sustainable architecture and Construction 4.0 because it can support design flexibility, mass customization, material efficiency, and reduced reliance on conventional formwork. Prior reviews often addressed either construction applications or broader digital transformation, leaving the intersection of AM, construction sustainability, digital technologies, and lifecycle performance underexplored. This study conducts a systematic and bibliometric review of literature retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science covering the period from January 2016 to January 2026. The review protocol followed SPAR-4-SLR principles and PRISMA 2020 guidelines, with 58 records retained for analysis. Bibliometric and thematic analyses identified a marked rise in publication activity after 2021 with four major research themes: material development and innovation, digital fabrication and process control, lifecycle assessment and circularity, and digital integration and project implementation. Construction 4.0 technologies, including BIM, digital twins, automation, and robotics, were the most frequently represented digital enablers. The review further identifies future research opportunities and outlines a proposed conceptual pathway toward Construction 5.0. This pathway connects materials, robotics, lifecycle performance, and human-centered priorities as a future research agenda. Overall, this study contributes to a more integrated understanding of how AM can advance sustainable, digitally enabled, and human-centered construction practice.
Accurate fabrication documentation and material quantity estimation are critical for the successful execution of industrial steel building projects. Conventional quantity estimation methods based on two-dimensional drawings and manual calculations frequently underestimate secondary structural members, connection components, and fabrication accessories, resulting in discrepancies between design and actual construction requirements. This study evaluates an integrated digital engineering workflow for structural design, fabrication documentation, and quantity estimation of an industrial steel warehouse by integrating structural analysis with Tekla Structures-based detailing and fabrication modeling. A pre-engineered industrial warehouse measuring 23.4 m × 9.4 m with an eave height of 5.5 m was selected as the case study. Structural analysis and member design were performed using STAAD.Pro CONNECT Edition under dead, live, wind, and seismic loading in accordance with IS 875 (Parts 1-3): 2015, IS 1893 (Part 1): 2016, and AISC 360-16 (Allowable Strength Design). The finalized structural members were subsequently developed into a detailed three-dimensional fabrication model using Tekla Structures 2024, incorporating primary and secondary framing members, bracing systems, connection assemblies, bolts, and other fabrication components. Fabrication drawings, erection drawings, assembly drawings, and material quantity reports were generated directly from the coordinated BIM model and compared with conventional manual quantity estimation. The integrated workflow produced a total estimated steel quantity of 12,960.92 kg, whereas conventional estimation yielded 11,930 kg. This represents an increase of 1,030.92 kg (8.64%) compared with conventional manual estimation due to the inclusion of secondary framing members, connection plates, foundation bolts, fasteners, cladding accessories, and other components that are commonly omitted or simplified in manual quantity take-offs. The integrated workflow also improved consistency between structural analysis, detailing, and fabrication documentation by reducing manual data transfer and minimizing coordination errors. These findings demonstrate that the integration of structural analysis with Tekla Structures-based detailing provides more comprehensive quantity estimation, enhances fabrication documentation, and improves coordination throughout the design-to-fabrication process. Although the investigation is based on a single industrial warehouse case study, the proposed workflow provides a practical and reproducible framework for improving documentation quality and material estimation in industrial steel construction projects.
Civil additive manufacturing represents a specialized subset of additive manufacturing technologies operating at the construction scale and governed by distinct material, process, and regulatory constraints. This study presents a taxonomy-driven narrative-conceptual review of Civil AM using peer-reviewed literature alongside select gray literature, including institutional reports, industry white papers, and documented construction demonstrations. Through comparative discussion of construction-scale materials, printing techniques, and deployment strategies, this article assesses conditional benefits and limitations of Civil AM relative to conventional construction practices, with emphasis on scalability, cost efficiency, sustainability, and structural performance. This review highlights the absence of AM-specific construction standards as a critical barrier to industrial adoption and regulatory approval, complicating safety assessment and life-cycle evaluation of 3D-printed structures. By integrating technological developments with performance considerations, life-cycle perspectives, and standardization challenges, this study provides a structured foundation for evaluating construction methods and outlines future research directions necessary for scalable, automated, and code-compliant construction.
The results indicate that the proposed MBSE-oriented digital thread improves design consistency, reduces manual data re-entry, and strengthens traceability from requirements to manufacturing and assembly.
Xiang Guo, Yongyi Yang, Wei Liu et al.· Metals· 0 citations
To enhance constructability in building information modeling (BIM)-enabled off-site construction (OSC) projects, integrating manufacturing, logistics, assembly, and installation demands into the architectural design stage early on is crucial. Design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA) offers a structured framework to achieve this, but often is constrained by its generality and lack of practical guidance for early design. This disconnect leads to design and manufacturing misalignments and missed optimization opportunities. To address this challenge, this study proposes a DfMA-incorporating parametric design approach that translates DfMA principles into explicit DfMA-specific design information and constraints, enabling their integration into BIM-enabled parametric modeling. Through a design science research (DSR) methodology, a DfMA-incorporating parametric design framework was developed. The framework employs a component-centric analysis perspective to organize ten categories of design information and constraints into three hierarchical levels—substance, intersection, and composition. A parametric workflow was implemented with Revit version 25.0.2.419, Dynamo version 3.0.3, and Python version 3.13.13 to automatically read, harmonize, and apply these parameters to optimize and update the building information models. This approach was validated in a small-scale OSC scenario, in which the optimization process optimized 24 BIM parameters related to DfMA-specific design information and constraints. The optimization results emphasize DfMA principles, including standardized and modular design and standardized connector configurations. The optimization primarily targets parameters related to typical component dimensions, component materials, and typical connector dimensions. This approach enhances constructability by embedding DfMA principles into BIM-enabled design and parametric modeling, and a BIM plug-in was developed to automate parameter optimization and support more-informed design decisions.
Chenghaoyu Wu, Jianing Luo, Ying Hong et al.· Journal of construction engi...· 0 citations
Advanced design, engineering, and manufacturing tools linked through a common digital workflow are enabling a new approach to timber construction based on parametric, component-based systems that preserve data coherence across disciplines. This is especially important for bespoke timber structures, where fragmented exchange-file workflows often separate geometric design, structural verification, fabrication, and assembly. This paper presents a new structural system as a double-curved box-beam diagrid timber wall assembled through a robotically fabricated, self-locating wood-to-wood cross-lap grammar that can be mapped onto complex curved surfaces. Assembly intent is encoded directly into the parts through embedded positional constraints, enabling measurement-free erection and reducing tolerance stacking. A co-located computer-aided design, engineering, and manufacturing workflow is implemented to reduce drift between analyzed, fabricated, and assembled states. Validation through a 1:1 prototype includes 116 structural web elements, 624 cross-lap joints, and 200 non-structural flanges assembled in 4 hours using nominal zero-gap joints. Fabrication results show 78% average sheet utilization from 2.0 m × 4.0 m stock, with joint openings within ±0.5 to 1.0 mm of nominal. The study demonstrates a reproducible pathway for engineering-integrated design for manufacture and assembly of complex timber structures.
Aryan Rezaei Rad, A. Meyboom, Nicholas Hoban· Frontiers in Built Environme...· 0 citations
