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 anyone who listens that offsite construction is different from conventional construction. They will explain that designing, approving, manufacturing, transporting, setting, and finishing a building requires an entirely different way of thinking. Then, when they need help, some of those same leaders hire someone who has never worked inside that process.
There is nothing inherently wrong with bringing in an outsider. Fresh thinking can be valuable. Specialists in finance, technology, marketing, human resources, and organizational development can introduce ideas that an industry veteran might overlook. But fresh eyes and uninformed eyes are not the same thing.
An advisor who does not understand offsite construction may offer advice that sounds excellent in a conference room but falls apart the moment it reaches engineering, purchasing, or the production floor.
Experienced People Ask Uncomfortable Questions
One reason experienced offsite professionals may be avoided is that they recognize problems quickly. They have seen factories struggle with poor estimating, engineering backlogs, inadequate working capital, unprofitable projects, labor shortages, dealer conflicts, transportation problems, delayed sets, warranty claims, and customers who change specifications after production begins.
They know that a full production schedule does not necessarily mean the company is profitable. They understand that increasing sales can make a cash-flow problem worse. They also know that a factory can look busy right up until the day it runs out of money.
That experience leads them to ask questions owners may not want to answer.
Can the factory produce what the sales team is promising? Is the company making money on every module, or simply generating revenue? Are deposits being used to build the customer’s project or to pay yesterday’s overdue bills? Who controls change orders? How long does a project remain in engineering before it reaches production? What happens when manufacturing is complete but the site is not ready?
Those questions are not nearly as exciting as a presentation about rapid growth, artificial intelligence, lead generation, cultural transformation, or brand awareness. They are, however, the questions that can keep a company alive.
Outsiders Often Bring a More Attractive Story
Consultants and marketers from outside the industry sometimes arrive with a message leadership wants to hear. They promise more leads, a stronger brand, better systems, rapid expansion, or entry into new markets. Their presentation may be polished, their terminology impressive, and their projections encouraging.
The experienced offsite advisor is more likely to say, “Before we increase sales, let’s determine whether your engineering department and factory can handle the work.”
That response can sound negative to an owner who wants growth. In reality, it may be the most optimistic advice anyone could give. Growth without operational readiness does not solve problems. It multiplies them.
Marketing is a good example. A marketing firm may produce beautiful materials and generate qualified prospects, but what happens if the sales team makes promises the factory cannot keep? What happens if the company markets a product that has not been fully engineered, approved, priced, or tested in production?
More leads will not correct an operational weakness. They may simply expose it faster.
Industry Experience Reduces the Owner’s Control of the Narrative
There may also be a psychological reason experienced people are sometimes kept at a distance. It is easier to explain a factory’s problems to someone who has never managed one.
An inexperienced consultant may accept the explanation that the company only needs more sales. Someone who has operated in the industry may discover that the real problem is estimating, scheduling, purchasing, productivity, project selection, or cash management.
The outsider hears the story leadership tells. The experienced advisor compares that story with what is happening inside the business.
That does not always make the experienced advisor popular. He or she may challenge a favorite project, question an unrealistic forecast, or point out that the company is accepting work it cannot profitably produce. They may also recognize that a problem blamed on employees actually began with ownership or senior management.
Experience reduces the owner’s ability to control the narrative, and that can be uncomfortable.
Experienced Advisors Are More Likely to Say No
Cost is undoubtedly another factor. Experienced professionals may charge more than someone trying to enter the offsite market. But the larger difference may be their willingness to establish boundaries.
Someone who understands the industry is more likely to refuse an assignment with unrealistic expectations. They may decline to endorse a questionable business plan, promise an impossible turnaround, or support a factory startup that has not demonstrated sufficient demand or working capital.
Less-experienced consultants may be more willing to accept the owner’s assumptions because they do not yet recognize the warning signs. They can produce the requested report, campaign, or strategy without realizing that the underlying business is not ready to execute it.
The lowest consulting fee can become extremely expensive when the recommendations lead a company in the wrong direction.
The Best Answer May Be a Combination
This is not an argument that every advisor must have spent 30 years managing a modular factory. Outside expertise has an important place in offsite construction. Our industry needs new technology, better financial controls, stronger marketing, improved recruitment, modern software, and ideas borrowed from other forms of manufacturing.
But outside specialists should usually be paired with people who understand how offsite construction actually works. A financial consultant should know why cash moves differently through a factory-built project. A marketer should understand the relationship between sales volume and production capacity. A technology advisor should recognize that software cannot repair a broken operating process by itself.
The outside specialist may know the tool. The offsite veteran knows where—and whether—it can be used.
Offsite construction companies do not have to choose between fresh ideas and industry experience. The strongest advisory team can provide both. Problems arise when unfamiliarity is mistaken for objectivity and polished presentations are valued more highly than practical knowledge.
Gary’s Observation
Offsite companies rarely get into serious trouble because nobody offered them an impressive new idea. They get into trouble because nobody in the room had enough industry experience—or enough independence—to challenge an unrealistic one.
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Hiring an experienced offsite advisor may make an owner uncomfortable. But sometimes that discomfort is exactly what the company is paying for.
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