Implications of Construction Robots for On-site Lean Construction: an In-depth Case Study

The construction sector plays a crucial role in the global economy. At the same time, it is constantly facing enormous economic, social, and environmental challenges. Lean construction practices, ever since their emergence, have continued to bring many benefits to the construction industry. Studies showed that construction robots as an emerging technology have the potential to improve lean construction particularly around off-site construction, but the implications of robots for on-site lean construction have been rarely discussed. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the implications of single-task construction robots for on-site lean construction on the micro, meso, and macro levels based on an in-depth case study in Singapore. The results show that construction robots can provide many lean construction-related positive implications for on-site lean construction in economic, social, and environmental aspects, indicating that construction robots together with their compatible operating environment and optimized work processes can be a meaningful and powerful tool for on-site lean construction practices. Furthermore, this study provides the first empirical evidence of the benefits of adopting construction robots in Singapore’s construction industry. Various key stakeholders in the construction industry can benefit from the analysis framework in this study at various levels when implementing on-site construction robots.