Not by choice in 1989, I transitioned from being behind a CM’s desk around to the front of the desk as a supplier. My old company took me back, despite the “blemishes” on my record as a plant manager. On my first day in the field, I picked up a 1987 Ford Taurus from outside our...

Contrary to what we Boomers think, Millennials are no longer children. Born between 1981 and 1996, they are in their twenties, or even late thirties, and already entering the single family home market.  Millennials will outnumber Baby Boomers in 2020 and they’re a market segment...

Did you know that, even though setting wall panels saves an average of eleven days compared to traditional stick-framing of walls, the overall home completion can have an average savings of 30 days when wall panels have been used? For the home builders, every day a home is completed sooner can...

I love stopping at Chick-fil-A, not only for the food but also to see how organized and disciplined every store is. The food isn’t bad either. It occurred to me that there must be a secret to their success that modular home factory management could use to ramp up their sales...

Last month’s article, “Investment in Employee Training, Not Just Equipment,” produced a lot of good responses from many readers. Now it is time to offer real solutions to help your company improve productivity and reduce costly errors for your sales team and also all of the...

One of the people in the modular housing industry I’ve wanted to interview since I met him a few years back is Vaughan Buckley, the owner of Volumetric Building Companies in Philadelphia. He is the rising star more people in our industry should emulate. His vision for what is and could...

When you look out the window at the constantly evolving building industry, not only in the US but around the globe, you see change, innovation, and entirely new ways of marketing and selling your product which have sprouted up like freshly planted corn. Yes, there are plenty of weeds also,...

Many of us have been in the industry long enough to clearly remember the pain of the ‘08 crash. Before the crash, everyone was very optimistic about their own growth potential because the building economy was on fire, which gave everyone a reason to expand their manufacturing capacity like...

Why are equipment sales booming when near-term housing starts are projected to be flat?  Possible reasons are: CMs know better and expect good growth and need more capacity. Some markets will grow well and others will contract. CMs buying equipment expect to do better on the same...

We’re pleased to report that Acceptance Leasing and Financing Service, Inc., (ALFS) located near Pittsburgh in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, continues to be a key player in its niche market for small and mid‐sized manufacturing businesses seeking easy access for commercial equipment...