Three midcentury forces converged to form the truss business we know today. First came the deluge of demand for affordable housing after World War II. Then came the prefabbers who addressed that need with trusses. And finally came the connector that made trusses into a blockbuster...

We are fortunate to work in this great industry and to have many ways to give back to our communities. We were given a reminder of that on April 8, 2025, at a very important dedication. We felt the excitement as we entered the crowded shell of what will become the Langetree Community Center...

Unions opposed it, builders dismissed it, but the American homebuyer would embrace prefabricated housing as soon as they could afford it. Despite fierce opposition, the government made it a reality by allowing FHA financing on prefabricated homes with loans of $6,000 or less. In announcing this...

What’s inside your home today, and what will be on top of your house in the future, was or will have been handled by Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs). These are the small under-riding robots that carry all sorts of items from point A to B in plants or warehouses, eliminating manual...

Even though 500,000 prefab homes were built for World War II, builders were not committed to the prefabrication approach. But why not? These homes should have served as an entré to the future use of components by the hundreds of builders who constructed government housing in hundreds of...

A contract hauler drives in on a six-lane roadway, stops at predetermined locations, receives a full load of lumber and building supplies, and then heads out to a nearby jobsite. That driver has just passed through a warehouse that mimics the efficiency and abundant stocks of an Amazon.com...

While Sears had stolen the spotlight on precut technology, their lesser-known rival, Aladdin Homes, helped usher in prefabrication, but not initially. For many years, Aladdin fought the concept of pre-assembling parts of homes in their factory, asserting that their precut packages took...

As discussed in this issue’s article, Growth and Accolades for Component Manufacturing,” Carolina Structural Systems (CSS) has been celebrated for its latest expansion plans in Virginia. As announced, CSS is investing at least $5.5 million to establish a new manufacturing...

As we start 2025, we have surpassed the 125th year of offsite wall technology, so it seems fitting to return to the beginning and describe its early progression. Surprisingly, this includes the Ready-Frame® technology that is currently being marketed by Builders FirstSource, as well as the...

In 1990, when Dickie Vail traveled from his shuttered Virginia plant to his job interview in Burlington, NC, he didn’t have much going for him. He was 35 and broke, and he was meeting Carroll Shoffner, a 57-year-old mega-millionaire who owned over a dozen highly efficient truss plants....