Go to a meeting about modular construction, mass timber, and other off-site components manufacturing and odds are one of the speakers will show this chart [See PDF or View in Full Issue]. I’ve been to events where four consecutive speakers showcased it in their presentations. Some of these...

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...

Introduction In some arid parts of the Southwest, the occurrence and recurrence of cracks at taped gypsum panel (drywall) joints between panels in residential projects have been reported in trade magazines since the mid-1990s. In some homes of a project, one or two cracks or ridges appear at...

I am not talking about stocks, bonds, markets, or even finance. Speaking from experience as a recruiter for over 27 years, I see signs that 2020 is probably going to be OK as far as the building components manufacturing job market goes. My employers are saying they don’t see growth like in...

Just in case you haven’t looked out your window lately, new home construction is happening everywhere, especially on the East and West Coast. Traditional new home site builders are facing labor shortages in not only skilled trades but also in basic framing. This shortage is having a...

Framing a house in one day will require floor panels, or “cassettes” in modern parlance. So be ready for this final phase in componentization, creating new opportunities, more computerization, and… Low-boy or drop-deck flatbed trailers to minimize trips to job. Extra...

Recently I heard, once again, a speaker supporting total automation of the modular production process while comparing modular housing with automobile production lines. Let me put this to rest for hopefully the last time. Modular housing is not anything like the auto industry. There are two...

Let’s give thanks to this component industry, for still paying us after all these 50+ years. While so many others have been laid off or retired early, we are still standing tall. Even as the lifeblood of our industry, housing starts, are down 50% since I came on board. Even as four major...

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...