In the building industry generally and industrialized construction specifically, the utilization of data has become increasingly pivotal. This trend parallels the data-driven advancements seen in Formula 1, where precision, speed, and strategic insights derived from data have revolutionized the...

Builders have been testing the viability of floor trusses, and they are now considering the results. Many of them switched from I-joists only because they were forced to do so. Either they couldn’t get them, or they didn’t want to pay double the price. Yet today, as they are seeing...

Is offsite construction just a fad or is it going to become the new normal for the construction industry? Is it an untapped market for manufacturers and suppliers? If your business is selling building materials, does it even matter whether you sell to offsite facilities or companies that...

Can you spot the Lumber PickLine in the satellite image? Contrary to the myth that it will “take up too much space,” a lumber PickLine can actually save space by utilizing existing truck lanes and by following existing forklift flow. For example, this outside PickLine has ample 35 ft...

I am, or was, an off-site construction manufacturing turnaround guy. I believe in Lean and 6-Sigma in concept, but I also know that implementing them within a company is hard. Not allowing people to slip back into their old ways is even harder. Many programs go by the wayside once management...

The term “MMC” may be heard more and more regularly these days, but what does it mean? Simply described, modern methods of construction centers around off-site construction practices, some of which may be innovative, allowing for mass production in a factory setting. As a...

A new truss plant owner faced a daunting challenge: local home builders wouldn’t use trusses and apartment builders were driving tough bargains. The owner’s partner, Charlie Barns, 250 miles north in Dallas, couldn’t have understood since he was cranking out hundreds of trusses...

As the lumber commodity remains exponentially higher than the previous 5 years, we all question the sanity behind the market. We also ask ourselves: how can we remain competitive within our own markets? Lumber optimization begins at the forestry level, managing the plantations for 40 years or...

In the Design, Make, Build (DMB) approach to construction, we’ve focused on the importance of collaboration. By bringing together the component manufacturers (CMs) and trades with the designers and architects early in the Design phase, they can provide feedback on what is possible around...

If you Google images of “automated production lines,” the results are filled with pictures of robot arms and conveyor lines. What you won’t see – people. Why? Because in automated production lines, humans tend to touch the work in progress as little as possible. Why?...