Chicago

Chapter Meeting: Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Buildings as Product: Exploring the Benefits of Factory-Manufactured Buildings for the 21st Century


Skender graciously hosted 105 attendees to kick off CSI Chicago’s fall chapter meetings with a riveting presentation from Skender’s Chief Design Officer, Tim Swanson, on “Buildings as Products.”

Over the course of an hour, Tim walked us through the precision assembly processes of automobile and other manufacturing sectors that could potentially translate into the construction industry. Below are the key takeaways that Patrick Reicher of Raths, Raths, and Johnson took from the presentation:
Construction technology and processes have been stagnate for the past 25 years. During that time, automated assembly processes have permeated the manufacturing sector and offer endless possibilities to improve construction methodologies.
There is great potential for significant productivity improvement in construction. While construction-related spending accounts for 13 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GPD), the sector’s annual productivity growth hovers around 1 percent per year.
While understanding that construction sites have extraordinarily complex coordination and scheduling challenges, many site-related issues may be overcome by constructing significant portions of buildings faster and better in a controlled factory environment.
There have been documented issues with modular manufacturing and construction technologies in the past. However, as design methodologies and understanding of assembly tolerances continue to improve, interest in the use of modular construction continues to grow.

This program was featured as part of CSI Chicago’s annual Contractor Engagement Month. Thanks to the outreach efforts of the Contractor Engagement Committee, we were thrilled to welcome the 20 contractors registered to take part in our program.

Special thanks to Tim Swanson for taking the time to share with our group, and to Skender for hosting us in your exceptional presentation space. We also thank our tabletop presenters for sharing with us that evening: Aristech Surfaces, ASSA ABLOY, Hager, Intus Windows, and MAPEI.