We spend a lot of time in factory-built housing talking about what goes inside a home. Better kitchens. More efficient heating systems. Floor plans that somehow squeeze another bathroom into a space where most of us would struggle to park a lawn mower. Meanwhile, underneath that home sits a structural
The Army’s interest in faster, more affordable construction could open doors for an industry ready to show what it can do. Every once in a while, a construction story comes along that makes me put down my coffee and think, “Now, this could lead somewhere.” The Army’s growing interest in
The starter home disappeared not because of one bad decision. It resulted from a thousand logical decisions that, over time, led to one unintended outcome. We priced the first-time buyer right out of the system. Bigger Became Better… and More Profitable Over the past few decades, new homes kept getting
The Grande Arbor pairs a new construction approach with a floor plan built around the realities of families sharing a home. I have spent enough years watching factory-built housing evolve to know that the most interesting changes aren’t always the ones you notice walking through the front door. Sometimes, the
An article by Bill Murray I am a huge college football fan. I also played college football and later coached the game at the pee wee and high school levels. After spending more than four decades managing manufacturing operations, I suppose it’s inevitable that I occasionally look at business through
For years, the offsite construction industry has talked about automation as though every factory would eventually resemble an automobile plant. Robots would frame walls, install windows, apply adhesives, move materials, and complete repetitive tasks while a smaller number of highly trained employees monitored the production line. That vision has proven
Everybody dreams of doing something different from what they do today. Everybody. Some dream about starting a business, inventing a better product or solving a problem everyone else has learned to tolerate. In offsite construction, those dreams often begin with a belief that there must be a faster, better, and
A developer once came to me with what seemed like a straightforward assignment. He wanted to build a project using modular construction and needed help finding the right manufacturer. I had spent most of my career in offsite manufacturing, so finding and evaluating manufacturers was familiar territory. I began the
Yesterday, I wrote about creating a daily resilience plan to help an offsite factory spot financial and operational problems before they become a crisis. That plan depends on monitoring cash, backlog, receivables, margins, labor efficiency, and other internal warning signs. But an offsite company can be financially stable today and
Waiting until the last minute to address an offsite construction company’s financial problems is nothing new. Owners and boards often sit back and watch conditions deteriorate because they are unsure what to do. Orders decline, cash becomes tight, suppliers begin calling, and the backlog that once looked reassuring turns out
Sometimes the idea of selling a business doesn’t begin with the owner at all. An M&A firm makes an unexpected call. A potential buyer expresses interest. A competitor sells. Suddenly, something that had always been somewhere off in the distance becomes a real possibility. Often, though, that outside event simply
I have often wondered why offsite construction companies hire consultants, advisors, and marketers who have little or no experience in offsite construction, yet hesitate when someone with decades of industry experience walks through the door. It is one of the strangest contradictions in our industry. Owners and executives will tell
I’m still amazed by a group of highly intelligent people’s ability to collectively make an incredibly stupid decision. Individually, these people may be successful entrepreneurs, engineers, architects, developers, attorneys, technology executives, or investors. They have impressive résumés, successful careers, and enough business experience to know that starting any manufacturing company
Every so often, a factory announcement comes along that makes me stop and read it twice. Cavco Industries’ decision to build a 616,000-square-foot manufactured and modular home factory in El Mirage, Arizona, was one of those announcements. This isn’t an expansion added to the back of an existing plant, nor
The first article in the “In the Beginning” series from Offsite Innovators There are moments in every industry’s history when someone proposes an idea so unconventional that most people dismiss it before it has a chance to prove itself. Looking back years later, those same ideas often seem obvious, even
Innovation has never had an easy time finding acceptance in construction. In fact, many of the ideas we now take for granted were once dismissed as impractical, unnecessary, or simply impossible. Sometimes the resistance comes because a product is unfamiliar. Sometimes it comes because changing long-established methods makes people uncomfortable.
Several weeks ago I had an opportunity to learn about a panelized start-up in Durango, CO. I was immediately struck by their innovative approach to maximizing sustainability through the use of readily available underharvested Ponderosa Pine. Timber Age and their use of cross-laminated timber (CLT) which is composed of sustainable
Walk into almost any offsite factory and ask who’s really in charge of operations, finance, or long-term strategy, and you’ll usually get a confident answer followed by a quiet reality check. The titles are there, the responsibilities are assigned, but the experience behind them is often still developing. That’s not
Photo – Autovol
Fourth in a series on improving the Bottom Line by 1% and more (For a list of all the articles, go to the end) I’ve talked to more than a few factory owners over the years who all say the same thing in slightly different ways. Sales are steady. Backlogs look decent.
Every month in the offsite construction world, I hear about another promising new idea. Someone has developed an app that will streamline scheduling, a machine that promises faster panel production, or a digital tool that claims to simplify design coordination between factories and builders. The process almost always starts the
The View From My Windshield For years, I’ve driven past empty malls, dark office towers, and logistics buildings that look like they’re waiting for something to happen. In many cities, they sit quietly on valuable land while local leaders hold meetings about the housing shortage. It’s almost surreal. On one
Ribal Zebian
I often hear about someone—or some company—that has a new idea to improve, restart, or outright fix a problem in construction. Every time I hear that word, new, I can’t help but smile. Not because I’m cynical (well, not entirely), but because “new” has become one of the most overused
We spend a lot of time in factory-built housing talking about what goes inside a home. Better kitchens. More efficient heating systems. Floor plans that
The Army’s interest in faster, more affordable construction could open doors for an industry ready to show what it can do. Every once in a
The starter home disappeared not because of one bad decision. It resulted from a thousand logical decisions that, over time, led to one unintended outcome.
The Grande Arbor pairs a new construction approach with a floor plan built around the realities of families sharing a home. I have spent enough
An article by Bill Murray I am a huge college football fan. I also played college football and later coached the game at the pee
For years, the offsite construction industry has talked about automation as though every factory would eventually resemble an automobile plant. Robots would frame walls, install
Everybody dreams of doing something different from what they do today. Everybody. Some dream about starting a business, inventing a better product or solving a
A developer once came to me with what seemed like a straightforward assignment. He wanted to build a project using modular construction and needed help
Yesterday, I wrote about creating a daily resilience plan to help an offsite factory spot financial and operational problems before they become a crisis. That
Waiting until the last minute to address an offsite construction company’s financial problems is nothing new. Owners and boards often sit back and watch conditions
Sometimes the idea of selling a business doesn’t begin with the owner at all. An M&A firm makes an unexpected call. A potential buyer expresses
I have often wondered why offsite construction companies hire consultants, advisors, and marketers who have little or no experience in offsite construction, yet hesitate when
Watching my 14-year-old grandson — a Gen Alpha kid who somehow squeezes four lifetimes into one — has completely changed the way I look at
Why climate-smart design is the next big shift for modular and tract builders For decades, homebuilding has followed a simple pattern: design the house, then
What would really happen if you ask your entire team how they’d restart your offsite construction company from scratch — and then tell them you’re
After thirty years of walking into a modular factory, I ask myself the same question: Is this place truly a small business, or is it
The hum of saws, the clatter of hammers, and the laughter of young voices filled the Whitbeck Construction Education Center in Gansevoort, New York this
Imagine this: 42 sleek, modern micro‑homes quietly springing up in East Chattanooga—affordable, sustainable, and community‑centered. Welcome to Valentina Estates, the first project of its kind in
When you finish your morning espresso, the last thing on your mind is what happens to those spent coffee grounds. Most of us assume they
When rising sea levels and intensifying hurricanes threaten to wash away our coastal dreams, Seasafe Homes stands as a powerful beacon of innovation. Based in
In a quiet corner of Durham, North Carolina, a small team of engineers is quietly working on something that could reshape the future of homebuilding.
In the words of Peter Drucker, “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence—it is to act with yesterday’s logic.” Never has
The construction industry often resists change, but one startup is proving that with vision, engineering, and perseverance, the system can be reimagined—quite literally. San Leandro-based
CertainTeed stands out as a pioneer, especially with its innovative ONE PRECISION ASSEMBLIES™ (OPA™) system. This cutting-edge approach to building is redefining efficiency, quality, and