This paper studies the relationship between Lean paradigms and the Physical Internet (PI). Lean thinking is a philosophy that allows one to obtain the right amount of the right items in the right place at the right time; it seeks to minimize waste and is flexible to change. In fact, applying Lean not only helps to reduce costs, but it also adds value and improves results across the supply chain. By using a value stream map, we can map the process from the supply chain to the customer, while trying not to add value activities. Such activities include excessive production, overstorage, waiting times poorly adjusted to needs, defects and rejects that require reprocessing, and, finally, unnecessary transport and movements. Storage, waiting times, and unnecessary transport and movements are at the core of the PI. A value stream map can also help to identify empty transport and unnecessary CO₂ emissions. This study analyzes value stream mapping as a tool that can enable the objectives of the different Alliance for Logistics Innovation through Collaboration (ALICE) roadmaps for logistics innovation to be achieved, and can also allow PI principles to be reached on the established dates.

The increasing industrialization of construction requires design strategies that reconcile productive repeatability with architectural customization, functional differentiation and material reproducibility. This study proposes a manufacturing-oriented parametric design framework for customizable surface components in industrialized construction. Geometry is treated as an active design variable capable of supporting hypotheses related to drainage, texture, porosity, friction, light filtering and material efficiency. The methodology links biomimetic abstraction, parametric modelling and material transfer through indirect additive manufacturing, mould fabrication and mineral-based replication. Rather than validating a specific functional performance, the study experimentally assesses a mould-based replication workflow in which customization is defined as controlled variation within a constrained design space. A modular component with a stable perimeter and parametrizable textured surface was developed, followed by the production of an additively manufactured master, a negative mould and replicas made from technical plaster and fine mineral mortar as construction-grade surrogate materials. These materials enabled the evaluation of mould filling, demoulding, defect transfer and surface-detail preservation before introducing ceramic drying and firing. The results confirm the feasibility of the proposed workflow and identify manufacturability, demoulding, dimensional deviation, material selection and application-specific validation as critical design constraints.