Even If you think it ain’t broken - You can always improve it?

Last week, I was contacted by John Helser (https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/john) of Helser Homes and I read one of his articles which I thought would be very applicable to the US home building industry. John's basic thesis is that even if its not broken, there is still no reason not to try to improve it which is analogous to the Japanese theory of Kaizen or continuous improvement. In other words even if you think your systems or processes are good, you should still be trying to improve them. This is how the best and most successful companies operate.

However the home building industry seems to be an anomaly. For over a century the method of framing homes has virtually remained the same despite the fact that in nearly every other developed country, Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) and factory controlled conditions and advanced automation have become the norm. Over the last 50 years we have seen, a man walk on the Moon, recently we have had the 10 year anniversary of the I Phone and more recently we have seen the combustion engine challenged by companies like Tesla. However when we look at home building, in particular stick framing, the most that has happened has been the use of electrically powered skil saws, a pneumatic nail and hard hats. Yet despite these productivity in home building has actually declined over the last 3 generations

The construction industry is notoriously conservative and slow to change and the expression ‘if it isn't broken, don't try to fix it’ is the mantra of the day.

I personally, have always had a problem with this outlook in business and in life. It prevents you from looking any further to see how things can be improved and how you can make life or business better!

If you think about it, most ideas or businesses are simply improvements on other ideas or businesses. Digital photos instead of Polaroid; Streaming films instead of dvd's. If only the people at Kodak and Blockbuster said the words if it ain't broke how can we improve it? Maybe they would still be here today!

Everywhere you look there is a product or even service that has been innovated. You walk into most supermarkets and there is the technology to scan and pay for goods yourself without the need of a person. Uber and Lyft have revo;utioized the transport business and Air B and B has taken on the hotel industry. In Europe, Fully Integrated Off Site Solutions are the norm for framing buildings up to four storeys and even higher in some countries.

Not to use the advances in technology that we have seen over the last century in construction would literally be the equivalent of having the components for your new car shipped to your front yard and having 5 guys with some pneumatic tools and some welding gear come out in a pick up truck and build it. It would be ridiculous to do this. Why would you not want your car built under factory controlled conditions with all the sophistication in manufacturing that is available.

Why is it any less ridiculous to frame a house or any building this way?

?Basically it is to say, that the last 100 years of technological advancement didn't happen. However it did, The technology that is available today to build homes which is in everyday use in Europe and Japan is pretty much equivalent to the technology used in both the aeromotive and automobile industriesCan you remember your first mobile phone? How does it compare to what device is in your hand or pocket today? It still makes phone calls but how has it been improved?

Do you remember when the latest in a TV was a huge box in the corner of your living room with a 21 inch screen and now 75 inch flat screens are becoming the norm. Again why should framing be immune to these technological advances.

When you look at how much data and information is at our fingertips every seconds of every day it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. 

So instead of adding more of the same you need to be different. To be different you must innovate, change and improve.

Thank you to John Hesler (https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/john for giving me permission to use his content and ideas.

*Gerard McCaughey is Chief Executive of Entekra Inc, a firm specializing in design, engineering and manufacturing of Fully Integrated Off Site Solutions? (FIOSS?) for homebuilding industry. Mr. McCaughey previously co-founded Century Homes, Europe’s largest offsite building manufacturing company producing over 8000 house units annually, with five plants in Ireland and UK, which he sold in 2005 to Kingspan Group Plc. He is regarded in Europe as being one of the leading figures in off site construction and green building movement, and was at the forefront of regulatory reform in both Ireland and Britain. He has acted as an off site construction consultant in Eastern Europe, United States and South Africa and has spoken and written about green and offsite construction in many other countries around the world and is a previous winner of Ernst and Young’s, Industry Entrepreneur of the Year Award and recognized by US Immigration Service as a "Person of Extraordinary Ability" in green and offsite construction.

www.entekra.com