In our last post we covered the barriers of entry regarding IBS construction in Malaysia. However, every problem must have a solution and so, in this article we are going to list down the ways that the IBS (Industrialised Building System) can thrive in our country.

Again, all research points are obtained from a research paper called The adoption of Industrialised Building System (IBS) published by The International Association for Automation and Robotics in Construction.

The Way Forward for IBS (Industrialised Building System) Construction

1. Raising sustainability awareness – With IBS construction allowing for better control of the production environment, this leads to minimization of construction waste. Additionally, IBS tends to use more energy efficient building material and offer a safer and more stable work environment. Thus, increasing the awareness for sustainable building processes will help to move IBS forward.
2. More skilled workers – There needs to be more training for the mass construction workforce, especially for locals. This allows them to upgrade their skills and be involved in the IBS construction industry. The governing body for this sector will need to conduct a study to identify the skill gaps in the IBS sector, for example: design, installation and project management skills, and create a comprehensive and systemic training programme to address this.
3. Government-led programmes – A vendor development model, something like what was done for the development of our National car could help this industry thrive. The selected vendor can be provided training, seed capital, components design, and selected private sector consultant to start up production factories. Of course, they will have to ensure that the company is first capable to produce a product of consistent quality and have the achievement of structural capacity, fire rating and other requirements.
4. Elevation of the industry – Manufactures and all players of current IBS sectors need to put quality and value at the heart of their IBS practises. Also, with clients in private sectors being more demanding in terms of aesthetic design, there needs to be the ability to customise buildings to a higher degree. Also, the industry needs to increase the reliance on automation and robotics to reduce the dependency on foreign labour.
5. International benchmark – Malaysian IBS contractors need to benchmark their technologies, lessons learnt and best practises from other countries where IBS construction has seen some form of success. These include countries like Finland, Sweden, Japan, Germany and Singapore that have already used IBS to modernise and improve the industry.