The Long Tail and Innovation of New Construction Practices: Learning Points from Two Case Studies

This chapter juxtaposes two initiatives that tried to rethink the construction business within NCC – the NCC Komplett™ and the German platform for house building. It is found that both initiatives, more or less articulated, have applied a mass customization strategy – in line with the fundamental ideas of ManuBuild. However, their point of departure has been different. While the NCC Komplett™ worked with a high degree of manufacturing off-site (90%), the German platform is all in-situ based. The official results of the initiatives have been completely different. The German platform has created a unique competitive position for NCC in Germany – resulting in dramatically improved revenues and an offset for organic growth. In contrast, the NCC Komplett™ was discontinued due to uncontrollable costs. The paper concludes that “manufacturing” not by default is the only solution to the improvement of the construction industry. The German case shows how a very committed implementation of a platform – which optimises customer value and production cost – can give substantial benefits. Furthermore, it is found that radical innovation initiatives poses a high risk of failure.