Salford University will this month launch a new masters degree in offsite construction for managers already working in the industry.

The university says its MSc in Advanced Manufacturing in Construction is one of the first of its kind in the world.

Designed for middle- and top-level managers, the programme can be completed full-time, part-time or by distance learning via the Internet.

Manufacturing in construction, where components are assembled in a factory and transported to site for assembly, has been hailed for more than a decade in the UK and elsewhere as the answer to waste, delay and poor safety in construction.

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The technique received official approval by the UK government and has been promoted by industry reform bodies such as the Movement for Innovation and Constructing Excellence, but take-up has been slow.

In 2004, according to researchers at Loughborough University in the UK, the total output in the modular and portable buildings market amounted to about 0.6% of total UK construction output.

The programme was developed with help from European Union funded research consortium called ManuBuild which has members from both the industrial and academic communities. It will be launched officially on 26 November.

(CD)