Proceedings of the 6 th Asia-Pacific Structural Engineering and Construction Conference (APSEC 2006), 5 – 6 September 2006, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia C-87 SIMULATION OF INDUSTRIALISED BUILDING SYSTEM COMPONENTS PRODUCTION Abdul Kadir Marsono 1 , Masine Md. Tap 2 , Ng Soon Ching 3 & Ahmad Mahir Makhtar 4 1 & 4 Assoc. Prof., PhD., Department of Structure and Materials, Faculty of Civil Engineering, UTM. 3 Postgraduate, MSc Construction Management, Faculty of Civil Engineering, UTM. 2 Lecturer, PhD., Department of Production and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, UTM. Abstract: The construction of IBS building should starts with the production of the IBS components and the production process is the main activity concerned in the IBS production plant. Having an optimum production line to manufacture the required IBS elements within targeted time and limited number of reusable steel mould is very important. In this study, workstation organization method has been adopted in the production of IBS component of beam and column. Witness 2001 simulation software has been used to model and simulate the most optimum production line set up. Here, two production lines set up have been proposed to complete the production of IBS beam and column between two and three months time with limited number of reusable steel mould to supply for the construction of medium size single storey IBS housing project ranging from 100 to 300 units. A contingency production line set up which able to complete the production of required IBS components within a month time with increased number of reusable steel mould has also been proposed. Number of resources such as workstation, tool, storage area and labour has been determined from the proposal. The proposed production line can be applied in the planning and cost estimating of IBS production plant set up. Keywords : Industrialised Building System (IBS), IBS Production Line, Manufacturing. INTRODUCTION Industrialised Building System (IBS) is not new in the Malaysian construction industry, particularly the usage of steel structures and precast concrete for the construction of bridges, drains and other infrastructure projects. IBS that enables off-site prefabricated components manufactured at factories enable cost saving and quality improvement through construction standardization and reduction of labour intensity. On top of that, minimal wastage, less site material, a cleaner and neater environment as well as superior quality controlled may lead to lower total construction costs. The heart of IBS construction starts with the production of the components by the precaster. In fact, it is a high-risk investment for the precaster to venture in producing IBS components due to large capital precast plant set up cost and the instability of construction demand. Hence, the precast concrete industry is very challenging as the precasters compete among themselves for business opportunities, technology and quality in production and market reputation. They have to maintain a good reputation in the market by fulfilling the requirements and specifications set by the client in terms of cost, quality, time and consultation. Therefore, a highly structured planning and operation system is required to manage the production of IBS components in order to optimize the profit and productivity as well as to survive in the global market.