Prefabrication Case Study: A Potential Solution to the Construction Industry’s Productivity Problem

Prefabrication Case Study: A Potential Solution to the Construction Industry’s Productivity Problem

The following case study provides insight into Blackhorn’s strategy for addressing prefabrication’s sustainability challenges so it can be successfully integrated into the construction industry.

Although construction is the largest industrial sector in emerging market economies and second in size only to the healthcare sector in OECD (The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries,
its productivity gains have lagged behind other industrial sectors since the 1960s. Modular construction through prefabrication is considered a solution to this productivity challenge, but there are three factors restricting its growth: market cyclicality; demand for customization; and market fragmentation.

Learning from Operation Breakthrough in the 1970s and Katerra’s
recent failure, Blackhorn is backing a new generation of firms in prefabricated or modular construction that take one of two differentiated approaches. The first approach leverages new technology, such as machine intelligence, computer vision, and robotics, to automate part of the work of a single trade using a capital-light and agile business model. The second combines physical and digital technologies, acting as a supply chain orchestrator, to outsource production while using software to generate fully engineered, costed and code-compliant housing schemes in real-time.

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