Construction is characterized by engineer-to-order (ETO) production, high variability, and fragmented information flows, which challenge the implementation of data-driven production planning systems. This study investigates how autonomous and semi-autonomous data collection technologies can support continuous, data-driven replanning in construction in line with advanced planning and scheduling (APS) principles. An embedded single case study was conducted on a large renovation and new-build project in Sweden, comprising three use cases involving an unmanned ground vehicle and a helmet-mounted 360° camera. The technologies were evaluated with respect to their ability to capture site data and support planning-related tasks such as progress monitoring, site utilization planning, and workplace safety inspections. The findings show that autonomous and semi-autonomous data collection is technically feasible and can enhance situational awareness and planning support; however, integration between data capture, interpretation, and planning systems remains limited. Most collected data require human mediation, and fully automated feedback loops for continuous planning are not yet achievable with off-the-shelf solutions. The study is relevant to production planning research by empirically examining how APS principles can be adapted to ETO construction contexts and by identifying key technological, organizational, and data-related constraints. The results indicate that near-term value lies in semi-automated workflows that augment human decision-making rather than fully autonomous planning, providing a foundation for more resource-efficient and adaptive production systems.

Digital transformation in construction is often hindered by fragmented innovation processes and building project-centric technology trials. This study investigates how construction firms can configure and coordinate organizational capabilities to scale digital innovations from isolated Proof of Concept (POC) tests to firm-wide transformation. Drawing on innovation ecosystem theory, construction management, technology and innovation management on innovation uptake, the article presents findings from a qualitative case study of a sensor-based POC in a Swedish building project. Data were collected through eight in-depth interviews and 26 h of participant observation. The analysis identifies four interconnected sets of capabilities across ecosystem, project, and firm interfaces that support scaling, including configurations for value creation, alignment of value propositions, digital maturity, and cross-project learning for value capture. The study contributes to construction management literature by introducing a model of analysis for ecosystem-driven transformation and highlighting the role of digital brokers in aligning actors and accelerating capability-enhanced scale-up. Practical implications include the need for strategic coordination, cross-project learning, and capability configuration across organizational interfaces to overcome structural barriers to digitalization. 

Introduction: Despite growing recognition of engineered wood products as a critical enabler of low-carbon and circular construction, the diffusion of cross laminated timber (CLT) remains comparatively slow relative to its technical maturity and sustainability potential. This suggests that timber adoption is shaped not only as a design challenge but also by firms’ capabilities, collaborative practices, and the broader conditions under which innovations are developed and commercialized. Such conditions include organize renewal, manage interdependencies, allocate responsibilities, and align around shared value propositions across projects. This study explores how dynamic capabilities, understood as situated practices embedded in recurring cross-project interactions, may enable co-innovation in CLT-based new-build and renovation across projects within the contextual boundary of emerging innovation ecosystems (IE).

Methods: Drawing on an exploratory case study of Swedish CLT-based construction, the empirical material consists of transcribed interviews, focus groups and observation notes representing and contextualizing activities indicative of dynamic capabilities among collaborating firms. Thematic analysis was applied for developing activities into capabilities.

Results: Activities were developed into three levels: project-specific value proposition reconfiguration and resource coordination (Level 1, operational capabilities), joint development and technology implementation (Level 2, dynamic capabilities), and knowledge exchange and actor alignment (Level 3, dynamic capabilities). Capability development occurred through iterative adaptations, informal coordination, and relational negotiations rather than fixed or rule based processes, making it emergent and context-dependent.

Discussion: These findings show that IE structures may create conditions that facilitate collaborative adaptation and learning, potentially supporting innovation beyond individual projects. By foregrounding co-innovation at the firm level, the study shows how these dynamic capabilities can create conditions for scaling CLT adoption beyond isolated projects, supporting broader timber uptake and sustainability ambitions.

Construction projects are organized in loosely coupled systems, where fragmentation and weak cross-project continuity hinder learning and innovation. Standardization has been promoted as a remedy to these systemic disconnects, yet it embodies a fundamental duality: it can act both as a driver and a barrier to innovation. This study examines how standardization can function as a cross-project connector in construction through the combined lenses of loose coupling and connectivity. Drawing on a two-year participatory case study of Building Services Engineering (BSE) in a large Swedish construction contractor, we identify how organizational and contextual conditions shape three interrelated dimensions of connectivity: contested, fragile, and unpredictable. The findings demonstrate that standardization operates as a negotiated connector rather than a fixed coordination mechanism. It simultaneously enables repeatability and adaptation, while also constraining systemic learning. The inherent tension between stability and flexibility reveals how standardization’s dual role both enables and limits innovation across projects. We argue that realizing its potential for connectivity and innovation requires continuous maintenance of linkages over time, positioning standardization not as a static technical instrument, but as an evolving organizational practice embedded in the dynamics of connectivity.

Introduction: 

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) has been recognized as a low-carbon alternative in construction. However, realizing its full potential requires systemic innovation that extends beyond individual projects. Such innovation can be organized through inter-firm collaborations, such as innovation ecosystems which enable co-innovation across multiple building projects.

Methods: 

A longitudinal case study was conducted to examine the development of the organizing of an IE in CLT-based construction over 13 years. Qualitative data from semi-structured interviews, observations, and documents were compiled into a visual map of events and synthesized through temporal bracketing to delineate IE lifecycle phases.

Results: 

Four IE lifecycle phases were identified: birth, expansion, leadership, and transformation. In the early stages, actors shared resources and investment risks through collaborative arrangements and innovative project contracts. As the IE matured, the focus shifted toward tighter organizational control and consolidation through vertical integration of suppliers.

Discussion: 

The study contributes to IE lifecycle theory by showing how IEs evolve through distinct organizing configurations over time and may gradually transform into partially vertically integrated supply-chain structures as technologies and value propositions mature. Methodologically, the study demonstrates how temporal bracketing can be applied to longitudinal IE research to identify shifts in co-innovation, value creation, and organizing across different lifecycle phases. Practically and from a policy perspective, the findings highlight how structured inter-firm collaboration, innovative project contracts, and supportive policy conditions can facilitate risk-mitigated co-innovation and the systemic development of CLT-based construction solutions.

Construction sites remain a sparse source of digital information, even though up-to-date knowledge of site conditions underpin planning, progress control, and safety. This paper contributes a field-grounded roadmap toward frequent robotic digitalization of construction sites. It shifts attention from robotic capture capability to the capture-to-consumption chain required for operational use and treats organizational consumption as the primary driver of digitalization frequency. The roadmap is presented as a hypothesis rather than a validated finding and is grounded in a longitudinal embedded single-case study of a large, multi-year renovation project in Sweden. The study included weekly inspections during periods over two years using a quadruped uncrewed ground vehicle (UGV), comparison sprints with helmet-mounted capture, and a test of BIM-anchored digital site utilization plan (SUP) revision. No operational frequency target was aimed for or achieved. Instead, the study aimed to identify capabilities and constraints that must be addressed and tested to enable such operation. In particular, the paper proposes the SUP as a bidirectional interface that both receives robot-derived revisions and provides machine-readable routes, constraints, and reporting requirements for robotic operation.

‘Fragmentation’ is a word often used to characterize the construction industry. Fragmentation can adversely impact project outcomes, hinder the adoption of innovative technologies, and obstruct the transition toward sustainable practices. It has also been viewed as a cause of significant changes in the architect’s profession. Yet no research has studied fragmentation from a profession-perspective, specifically a profession with early participation in building projects. With interpretative methods and drawing from sociological concepts, we aim to understand how architects perceive their professional role, and analyze this alongside fragmentation to answer the question: how are architects coping with the effects of fragmentation? The study consists of 23 focus group sessions, where architects constituted the core and other actors participated occasionally, and five deep interviews with architects. Our first contribution shows how architects are coping with fragmentation through a dynamic social process, making small adjustments in role adaptation to maintain their professional identity, and how this way of coping with fragmentation can actually contribute to continuous fragmentation. Secondly, our study challenges earlier suggested solutions for handling fragmentation by showing how they simply cause fragmentation earlier in the design phase. The implications of ‘design fragmentation’ for the professional architect and the outcome of a building project are discussed.

Autonoma metoder för uppföljning och styrning av byggprojekt utvecklas snabbt, men utmaningar kvarstår, särskilt i pågående projekt där färdiga lösningar saknas. Robotbaserade system (automatiska) och smarta hjälmar (halvautomatiska) har testats för att möta behov av framkomlighet och föränderliga arbetsmiljöer. Det är svårt att avgöra vilka teknologier som passar bäst, och hantering av strukturerad samt ostrukturerad data är en utmaning. Fortsatta tester krävs för att anpassa lösningarna till byggarbetsplatsernas behov och säkerställa sömlös dataöverföring. För att fullt utnyttja potentialen krävs bättre integration mellan teknik och arbetsprocesser samt systematiska implementeringsstrategier.

While innovation ecosystems have been proven effective for driving innovation in high-tech industries, their application in construction with cross laminated timber (CLT) products have received limited attention, with most studies adopting a broad perspective on ecosystems, encompassing the entire supply network around individual building projects. This study explores niche innovation ecosystems within the context of construction with CLT products. Data from 15 CLT-based building projects in mid Sweden were collected through observations and interviews and analysed using a method combining existing theory on innovation ecosystem structure with social network analysis. Innovation ecosystem structure was identified within five of the projects, encompassing two unique ecosystems. These ecosystems feature interorganisational links and actor-level expected value capture in two dimensions: value creation within the standard contractual framework of the projects and the innovation ecosystem superimposed on these projects. The novel method bridges the gap between innovation ecosystem research and CLT practices. The findings reveal that niche innovation ecosystems interact with CLT-based building projects through collaborative efforts across multiple projects and partners. These ecosystems feature alignment links that indicate both intra – and inter-project interdependencies, potentially driving innovation in construction. Role extensions within these ecosystems highlight the complexity and adaptability required in the construction industry.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand if and how industrialized house building (IHB) could support productivity developments for housebuilding on project and industry levels. The take is that fragmentation of construction is one explanation for the lack of productivity growth, and that IHB could be an integrating method of overcoming horizontal and vertical fragmentation.

Design/methodology/approach: Singe-factor productivity measures are calculated based on data reported by IHB companies and compared to official produced and published research data. The survey covers the years 2013–2020 for IHB companies building multi-storey houses in timber. Generalization is sought through descriptive statistics by contrasting the data samples to the used means to control vertical and horizontal fragmentation formulated as three theoretical propositions.

Findings: According to the results, IHB in timber is on average more productive than conventional housebuilding at the company level, project level, in absolute and in growth terms over the eight-year period. On the company level, the labour productivity was on average 10% higher for IHB compared to general construction and positioned between general construction and general manufacturing. On the project level, IHB displayed an average cost productivity growth of 19% for an employed prefabrication degree of about 45%.

Originality/value: Empirical evidence is presented quantifying so far perceived advantages of IHB. By providing analysis of actual cost and project data derived from IHB companies, the article quantifies previous research that IHB is not only about prefabrication. The observed positive productivity growth in relation to the employed prefabrication degree indicates that off-site production is not a sufficient mean for reaching high productivity and productivity growth. Instead, the capabilities to integrate the operative logic of conventional housebuilding together with logic of IHB platform development and use is a probable explanation of the observed positive productivity growth.