Builders' Guide to Process Improvements Coming in 2006

While other manufacturing industries have been quick to develop and adopt new technologies that improve productivity and lower costs, the home building industry has not kept pace. To help builders reap the benefits of process improvement, a group of home builders, housing researchers, and the federal government have joined forces to transfer lessons from other industries to small and medium-sized home builders.

Representatives from Virginia Tech’s Center for Housing Research, Integrated Building and Construction Solutions (IBACOS), HUD, and an advisory board of small- and medium-sized home builders met last week in Pittsburgh to kick off the next phase of the project. The group will develop a guide for builders based on the HUD report, "Industrializing the Residential Construction Site." The guide will help home builders determine their existing levels of industrialization and then target specific areas for process and production improvement. Builders who apply these methods can achieve operational efficiencies, reduce process errors, improve product and process quality, and develop smoother construction workflows.

The builders guide will be available on PATHnet in spring 2006. The HUD report for the first phases of the project is available in three sections:

Industrializing the Residential Construction Site
Industrializing the Residential Construction Site Phase II: Information Mapping
Industrializing the Residential Construction Site Phase III: Production Systems

For more information:
Scott T. Shepherd
301-628-2023

Content updated on 3/10/2005