It's nearly impossible to read a building industry publication in print or online today without encountering multiple articles touting how the application of manufacturing technology is about to change home building forever. The implication is that if you aren't keeping pace, you'll be left be- hind. These techniques will solve the labor shortage, eliminate waste, reduce managerial burden, improve quality, and drastically reduce cycle time. Can I get a witness? Well no, not exactly. And therein lies the rub. There's a wealth of written knowledge on the subject, but precious little application. I'm taken back two decades to the late 1990s, when the wholesale change of home building was predicted at every turn in response to another revolution: the dot-com boom. It ran at a fever-pitch for several years, and folks could hardly talk about anything else. Every home building publisher had their dot-com conference with multiple stages of panelists and pundits. There's one particular event I vividly recall because I'd had eye surgery just two weeks prior. I was cleared to travel and felt fine on arrival. But before long I was in terrific pain and an angel, in the guise of a management consultant named Noelle Tarabulski, nursed me along for both days as we listened to prognostications about how this (and that, and that) would change everything! Noelle and I have been friends ever since, and when we reminisce about that conference, we recall my physical trials and marvel at all the wild claims that were bandied about.
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