There are many advantages of utilizing automation using lasers when building single and multifamily homes such as the pre-built components. There’s a lot more value in your goods and services than just the components you deliver. In this series, we’ll expound on those additional values and explore ways you can use automation to deliver even more while increasing your margin and capacity by up to 40%.
1/5 Efficiency Unleashed: Cutting Cycle Times in Component Manufacturing
From a builder’s perspective, anything they can do to reduce the total time it takes to complete a construction project, from start to finish, exponentially increases profitability. Everything that can reduce or improve the predictability of their building (cycle) time is valuable. A 300-unit apartment building costs about $100 million to build, the monthly repayment of that loan is almost $500,000. Each day that a project isn’t completed costs $16,000 in principal and interest. Coincidently, each day 300 units can’t be rented for $1,600, is also an opportunity squandered, literally $16,000 potential rent. Every day we can help reduce the builder’s days to completion. We can do that by delivering panels or floor cassettes faster, with fewer defects than we are today. If our cycle times are faster than our competition, we’re providing measurably more value by reducing their cycle times. What would shipping 20-40% more panels and floor cassettes of higher quality, from the same lines, with the same labor mean to your bottom line?
1/5 check back each week for the next blog in this series
2/5 Minimize Delays: Risk Reduction Strategies for Builders
In part 1 of our series, we mentioned “Predictability” as it related to a builder’s cycle times. Construction delays aren’t just expensive, they create a cascade of other potential delays for any project. Stick framing can be delayed by weather, scheduling conflicts, unreliable framing contractors, supply delays and other challenges.
Onsite framing is a common bottleneck. General contractors are always looking for ways to reduce or remove potential delays. Builders rely on offsite component manufacturers to help reduce the risk of delays. If you don’t have their job delivered the day they need it, you’ve become the risk they hired you to avoid.
How can you reduce risks and have the capacity to reliably increase production? By automating your panel and floor cassette building process with laser projection. If you haven’t already, do a time study of each process on your panel line. How much time is spent interpreting plans, measuring, marking, squaring and repairing? Using lasers to build panels or floor cassettes is like having a silent supervisor on every crew. Laser projection can virtually eliminate mistakes, guarantee squareness and increase productivity by 20-30%. Using lasers to build I-joist floor cassettes yield can cut cycle times by over 40%!
Check back again for part 3 - Building Faster or Better, a trade off?
3/5 Building Faster or Better, a trade off?
What if you could improve cycle times by 20-40%, while all but eliminating structural, dimensional and nailing defects? That’s not only possible, its the new normal in many plants.
Maybe you’ve been building panels and cassettes for years, and you have established production processes in place. You’ve tweaked and innovated to the point that you know the limit of how many units your line can produce per day. When you’ve pushed for more production, the trade-off was a decrease in quality. With your current demand, you need the production and that comes with an “acceptable” number of defects. Of course, defects cost you directly in the form of callbacks, and less directly when you lose bids or customers. At this point, everyone’s familiar with laser projection for trusses. Laser projection is also widely in use for wall panels and floor cassettes. Each step of the panel or floor plan, from your file, is projected on your build surface, whether that’s a table or concrete floor. The location of every board, openings, blocking, sheathing and even nailing lines is clear and easy to follow. Reading plans, measuring, and squaring can be virtually eliminated.
Check back again for part 4
4/5 Laser Precision: Transforming Component Manufacturing
In part 3 of the series, we talked about how laser projection can enhance productivity and quality. Automating your panel or floor cassette lines with lasers will add immediate productivity gains by eliminating the need to pull tapes. Lasers will reduce defects and accelerate the training of new workers or those that haven’t framed walls or built floors. Virtek’s Laser Template Generating (LTG) software has an icon driven user interface, incorporated in the projection, operators can step through each phase of the build, or to the next job, right on the build surface. Installation and onsite training are included and are typically completed in a couple of days. The complete ROI is typically realized in under 18 months.
Check back again for part 5 the finale
