In this issue of the Leaders &amp; Innovators series&nbsp;<a href="http://www.offsight.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Offsight</a>&nbsp;CEO,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vikasmurali/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Vikas Murali</a>&nbsp;sits down with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-pullen-0a723b91/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tyler Pullen</a>, Senior Technical Advisor of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ternerlabs.org/builders-lab" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Builders Lab</a>, a new accelerator that’s part of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ternerlabs.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Terner Labs</a>. The goal of the Builders Lab is to drive innovation in building affordable housing by working closely with architects, engineers, builders and manufacturers to adopt and promote modern methods of construction including modular construction, panelization, and kits of parts.







In addition to selecting companies and startups that can help achieve this goal, the Builders Lab will leverage their strong network and established presence with&nbsp;<a href="https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Terner Center</a>&nbsp;to help enable cross-sector collaboration between their cohort companies and the public-sector and to bring resources including industry partners, experts and coaches to help their startups succeed.







We sit down with Tyler to discuss why now is the right time to launch the Builders Lab program, how companies manufacturing affordable housing can differentiate themselves when pursuing competitive bids, and how technology can play a role in driving more affordable housing.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-3-1024x573.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1457" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-3-1024x573.png 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-3-300x168.png 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-3-768x430.png 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-3-1536x860.png 1536w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-3.png 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Builders Lab is launching in 2024 and now accepting their first batch of companies.



V: 2024 is the official launch year for The Builders Lab program, what prompted your team to launch this new program and why is now the right time to push this initiative?







T: The original idea and program design for the Builders Lab reflected research insights from our sibling organization, the Terner Center at UC Berkeley, which identified industrialized construction (IC) as an important tool to address chronic housing undersupply in the U.S. As other research also finds, IC and related building industry innovations could meet the urgent need to reduce the time and cost of delivering housing while simultaneously minimizing environmental impact, in alignment with our core goals at the Terner Center and Labs. But IC innovators face numerous challenges in industry practice and the regulatory framework governing housing delivery.This means there is a need to support innovators and to identify and push systems-level change: an environment in which Terner Labs thrives.







Candidly, the “right time” to push this (and other!) initiatives was decades ago. But converging awareness and earnest engagement from agencies at local, state, and federal levels, as well as continued and increasing investment from the private sector, provide ample connective tissue for the Builders Lab to take advantage of right now. My colleague and Builders Lab Director Ben White recently put out&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ternerlabs.org/blog/why-were-launching-an-accelerator-to-build-housing-better" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a blog post</a>&nbsp;further detailing our conviction behind the Builders Lab and the innovations we’re most excited to support.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-5-1024x573.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1459" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-5-1024x573.png 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-5-300x168.png 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-5-768x430.png 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-5-1536x860.png 1536w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-5.png 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



V: &nbsp;When it comes to achieving The Builders Lab goal of effectively scaling housing delivery for affordability and sustainability, what do you see as the largest public sector barriers that must be overcome? What long term policy changes are needed to help Builders Lab address its goals?



 T: There are numerous challenges in both the regulatory framework and the industry practice behind traditional housing delivery. Within the public sector’s purview, one of the most difficult aspects of scaling a business in the building industry — not just in IC — is the fragmented system of building and planning codes, which are set individually in each jurisdiction in the U.S. Even minor, prescriptive differences between the building standards across jurisdictional lines can complicate any attempt to standardize high quality, affordable housing to meet regional demand. Many other frictional elements of traditional housing delivery in the U.S. are not exclusively in the realm of policy change. Notably: project-based financing mechanisms require significant effort from developers to align eligibility criteria and funding timelines, and project delivery methods (e.g., design-bid-build procurement models) can lead to siloed decision making based on partial information, furthering adversarial stakeholder relationships. The public sector could play a key role in reconfiguring these barriers to incentivize and support innovation, especially through projects using public funds. For better and for worse, the building industry writ large has shaped and been shaped by the contours of the regulatory structure described above. As such, the public and private sectors must work hand-in-hand towards systems change, including in-step changes to policy and industry practice. Examples of visionary policy shifts we’re excited about include performance-based (rather than prescriptive) building codes, federal certification systems for factory-built homes and products, and improved funding mechanisms for companies producing off-site housing affordably and sustainably. It’s this kind of large-scale collaborative coordination effort that Terner Labs is poised to facilitate.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-4-1024x573.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1458" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-4-1024x573.png 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-4-300x168.png 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-4-768x430.png 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-4-1536x860.png 1536w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-4.png 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



V: Pulling from your current experience already working with startups leveraging innovative building technologies (eg modular construction, panelization, kit-of-parts), what would you say are the key points these startups should highlight in order to win competitive bids for affordable housing projects?&nbsp;



 T: In short: there is no perfect formula. Different developers in different regions will have slightly different needs, funding sources, and respective criteria and priorities. In recognition of that, perhaps the most important strategy for startups attempting to partner with these developers is to connect early and listen. Be prepared to adapt your service to their needs, but try to not compromise on your primary product offering by overpromising with design customizations or unrealistic cost performance targets. This is why we’re thrilled to have advisors in the Builers Lab representing developers and builders such as AvalonBay Communities, Eden Housing and Suffolk Construction; their insights as established players in the space will be invaluable as we seek to cultivate emerging AEC innovators. Most developers, affordable and otherwise, are very cost-conscious. So startups that can offer measurable cost savings will likely be more successful in procuring projects. If your product unlocks access to other financing or rebates for their project, such as programs designed to reward energy efficiency, call this out. Another concern we hear from affordable housing developers in particular is finding a partner that can commit to the often long development timelines endemic to affordable housing. With several high-profile business failures in the IC sector still looming large in the perceived risk among developers, those with a demonstrated track record of completed projects, pipeline security, and/or liquidity will further improve the chances of winning projects.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-2-1024x573.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1456" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-2-1024x573.png 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-2-300x168.png 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-2-768x430.png 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-2-1536x860.png 1536w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Tyler-2.png 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



V: What role do you believe technology can play in helping drive more affordable housing and where can technology be impactful in the value chain from manufacturers to developers and homebuyers?



 T: Though the current housing and climate crisis is a systems-level issue requiring changes across many institutions and practices, technology does have a role to play in modernizing the housing industry. In recognition of that, we’re seeking to highlight impactful innovation rather than invention for invention’s sake. Within the construction sector, we see at least one area in which technology could play a significant role: digitalization of the information and decision making tools that drive the industry. This includes every aspect of project delivery: design iteration and optimization, supply chain management, off-site fabrication, on-site installation and coordination, facilities management, and the feedback loops across them. Software tools that can collect, organize, and analyze all of this information, and then make it actionable, are crucial accompaniments to the physical hardware innovation advanced by many IC entrepreneurs. Simultaneously, this would allow more robust mechanisms to research and understand industry-wide performance. Finding the baseline is crucial to improve project- and industry-level accountability in the effort to “rise the tide” of the AEC sector performance writ large.

In this issue of the Leaders & Innovators series Offsight CEO, Vikas Murali sits down with Tyler Pullen, Senior Technical Advisor of the Builders Lab, a new accelerator that’s part of Terner Labs.

Q&A With Tyler Pullen, Senior Technical Advisor of Builders Lab

In the latest issue of the Leaders &amp; Innovators series <a href="http://www.offsight.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Offsight</a> CEO, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vikasmurali/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Vikas Murali</a> sits down with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertcrotty/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robert Crotty,</a> AVP of Capital Productivity Improvement and Strategy at HCA Healthcare. Robert and his team at HCA have deployed billions of dollars across multiple projects that use many prefabricated components. These components include modular bathroom pods, interior and exterior wall panels, precast facades, modular ceilings, and volumetric patient rooms. 







Given the scale of HCA’s projects, Robert and his team have already determined that the cost of leveraging standard prefabricated components like bathroom pods can save 10% or more compared with the traditional stick-built approach. In addition, projects can save 5% to 10% on the overall labor on projects leveraging prefabrication. 







On past projects, HCA has seen significant timesavings when at least 20% – 30% of the work is performed offsite and prefabricated components are shipped in for installation. For example, when HCA compared two very similar projects, a traditional onsite project with a project leveraging a significant number of prefabricated components, they found the prefab project was completed 2.25 months faster. They plan to gain even more savings and drive more efficiencies in speed and quality with offsite construction once they further scale up the implementation of more prefabricated components on newer projects. 







In this interview, we hear Robert’s perspective on why healthcare projects are a great fit for prefabrication and how they have already shown to be successful with major providers like HCA. We discuss how Robert and his team make the calculations to take a project offsite with prefabrication and we review the role <a href="https://www.offsight.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">technology</a> can play in driving prefab adoption by <a href="https://www.offsight.com/reporting-auditing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">providing supply chain visibility to owners.</a>







<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-4-1024x573.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1443" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-4-1024x573.png 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-4-300x168.png 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-4-768x430.png 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-4-1536x860.png 1536w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-4.png 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



V: From the perspective of an owner who has already managed many large hospital projects, where do you see offsite, modular construction, and prefab providing the most value? (E.g. project speed, quality, cost, etc)







R:  Prefab/Modular for our projects provides many advantages. First, building in a controlled environment such as a shop or factory allows work at table height or by machines. Falling off ladders or scaffolding and hand cuts are some safety issues mitigated. Offsetting labor, especially MEP labor, is a significant driver for our program.







Offsetting labor in a factory or shop means less dependency on the project-by-project workforce. The second highest value is speed. We can produce many of the components in parallel with permitting or site work. To leverage cost, an owner must take a programmatic approach to prefab/modular construction versus buying project by project. A program approach in our case is contracting with several modular/prefabrication suppliers using 3-year contracts.







The 3-year contract approach enables protection against escalation. Further, a program provides opportunities to improve the cost by continuous improvement and product quality.







<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-5-1-1024x573.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1447" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-5-1-1024x573.png 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-5-1-300x168.png 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-5-1-768x430.png 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-5-1-1536x860.png 1536w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-5-1.png 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



V: &nbsp;We hear in the news how hospital projects are a very strong fit for modular and prefabrication when compared to other types of projects. From your experience, why do you think that is, and potentially what could builders and owners do to help leverage prefabrication in other types of projects?



 



R: The idea is that hospitals have repeatable spaces driven by codes and standard practices. The barrier is that the spaces are slightly different for each project, especially for expansions where the existing building design did not contemplate a modular approach. However, creating components that can be standard, such as bathroom pods, is achievable. Unique spaces can use custom prefabrication or a combination of prefabrication and modular.







<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-3-1024x573.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1445" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-3-1024x573.png 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-3-300x168.png 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-3-768x430.png 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-3-1536x860.png 1536w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-3.png 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



V: What role do you feel technology can play in the growth of offsite construction? E.g. are there gaps with managing the supply chain on large projects or in collaborating with prefabricators during the project where technology can help improve project outcomes and drive more projects offsite?







R: Technology is a crucial enabler of modular/prefabrication. Using BIM technology and other virtual collaboration tools that have hit the market in recent years makes integrating modular or prefabricated components in projects possible. Technology can enable generative design, automate routine design tasks, and quickly simulate multiple options. Technology in the field helps the project team coordinate all the complexities of a healthcare project. Project teams can integrate components with the supply chain to efficiently schedule and produce modular products according to specifications. To achieve speed and significant labor offsets, many prefabricated components are required. Components such as bathroom pods, headwalls, interior walls, exterior walls, underground electrical, MEP racks, and CUPs are necessary. Multiple components mean multiple suppliers must be coordinated to leverage the benefits. 







Regarding the supply chain, there is a massive gap between suppliers and customers, and other industries have been using Technology to manage product deliveries for a long time. To take advantage of producing in parallel with permitting while supplying the project on time requires visibility into the prefabricator’s production milestones. Construction project schedules change frequently, and a prefabricator can be out of place, producing too early or too late. Visibility between owner, GC, trades, and supplier helps with flexibility and efficient production. Supply chain visibility can help forecast and level load a factory, which is an enabler of cost reduction.







Construction equipment and materials pre-Covid lead times were significantly less for switchgear, chillers, and AHUs. Managing the supply chain did not require any improvements. The combination of post-COVID lead times, mega battery, chip, and data center construction consumes all the material and equipment supply. Healthcare materials and equipment volumes are insignificant compared to the mega projects. These factors require owners to order early in the design and understand delivery status, especially when the GC is not on board to manage the orders. 







<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-2-1024x573.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1448" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-2-1024x573.png 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-2-300x168.png 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-2-768x430.png 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-2-1536x860.png 1536w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rob-2.png 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



V: How can prefab/modular builders better pitch and market themselves to owners? Are there certain KPIs or metrics that would really stand out for a prefab factory? 



R: Here is what I told one of our prefab suppliers, asking a similar question. We compared two projects with the same scope for a medical/surgical bed tower expansion. The conventional project versus the one with modular and prefabricated components shows that the latter finished 2.25 months earlier.







We track the cost of our bathroom pods versus stick-built ones. We have refined the product and installation practices significantly. Our cost is between 5 and 10% less than stick-built units, depending on the supplier. The cost of MEP prefabrication is neutral. The cost of exterior walls is slightly higher, however, offset by the reduction in project duration.







We sampled the number of offsite hours by trade on several similar projects. Generally, less onsite labor is required, and overall labor was reduced by 7% for one team. Moving labor to another pool is needed due to the lack of skilled labor. The CHIPS Act, Inflation Reduction Act, Infrastructure Act, and manufacturing reshoring are driving mega projects. For example, EVs, semiconductors, and data center construction consume large amounts of labor. Couple that with more skilled labor leaving than entering the workforce, and your projects will take longer unless you shift the labor to another pool. Further, shifting labor to a controlled environment improves productivity and increases capacity with the same amount of workers. We have tracked prefab offsite hours. Components like bathroom pods/headwalls represent a significant shift to an offsite labor pool. When marketing modular construction, it is important to always communicate the benefits.

In the latest issue of the Leaders & Innovators series Offsight CEO, Vikas Murali sits down with Robert Crotty, AVP of Capital Productivity Improvement and Strategy at HCA Healthcare. 

Q&A With Robert Crotty AVP of Capital Productivity Improvement & Strategy at HCA Healthcare

With Offsight 2.0, customers will gain functionality around project collaboration and coordination within their factories and across their project partners and stakeholders. Our enhancements will streamline data sharing between factories, materials suppliers, and onsite installers where sharing of progress updates between prefabricators, owners, and general contractors will benefit overall schedule tracking across major projects with many complex building components.







<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="697" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Offsight-2.0-1-1-1024x697.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1436" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Offsight-2.0-1-1-1024x697.png 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Offsight-2.0-1-1-300x204.png 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Offsight-2.0-1-1-768x522.png 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Offsight-2.0-1-1.png 1445w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>







<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Quality From The Factory through Jobsite Installation</h2>







Robust account linking access in Offsight 2.0 will allow vertically integrated builders, prefabricators, and their install partners to securely share data. Prefabricated products including panels and pods can be tracked from their initial assembly in the factory through transport, receipt at the jobsite, and final installation on the jobsite. Quality checklist data, legal sign-offs, and conformance checks can all be shared between parties.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="697" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Offsight-2.0-2-1024x697.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1437" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Offsight-2.0-2-1024x697.png 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Offsight-2.0-2-300x204.png 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Offsight-2.0-2-768x522.png 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Offsight-2.0-2.png 1445w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>







<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Progress Tracking and Sharing for Billing and Scheduling</h2>







Offsight 2.0 will expand our real-time advanced analytics and production KPI capabilities. Thereby allowing our clients to share production progress through automated live reports and real-time tables directly to project stakeholders on a regular basis. Automatic reports will provide owners and general contractors with the current progress of each prefabricated product on a major project with a % complete status for billing and payment milestones to prefabricators as well as for coordinating schedules and installation resources on the jobsite.







<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="697" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Offsight-2.0-3-1024x697.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1438" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Offsight-2.0-3-1024x697.png 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Offsight-2.0-3-300x204.png 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Offsight-2.0-3-768x522.png 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Offsight-2.0-3.png 1445w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>







<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Full Traceability From Sub-Assembly to Finished Products</h2>



Offsight 2.0 will build on current capabilities to seamlessly link sub-assemblies and component production lines to finished products and final assembly. Our ability to track when sub-assemblies fall behind and when it will impact your overall product delivery and project schedule is critical for coordination and planning. Accessing end-to-end traceable records including all components and sub-assemblies that went into a finished prefabricated product and providing this traceability downstream to your project partners provides much-needed visibility to owners and general contractors.







<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Trusted by the best.</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="190" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/logos-1024x190.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1432" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/logos-1024x190.png 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/logos-300x56.png 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/logos-768x142.png 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/logos.png 1445w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>

Offsight 2.0: Drive Prefab Success with Project Collaboration & Coordination

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="215" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Frame-54-1024x215.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1418" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Frame-54-1024x215.png 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Frame-54-300x63.png 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Frame-54-768x161.png 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Frame-54.png 1479w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Alan Agemy







<a href="https://ginosko.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ginosko Development Company</a> has been delivering high-quality residential projects for over 20 years with over $560M in capitalized value to date and many projects in our pipeline. The next step to accelerate our business was to launch <a href="https://ginoskomodular.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ginosko Modular</a>, our prefab business tailored towards leveraging offsite construction and factory-based production, to deliver multi-family housing faster and more cost-effectively while maintaining our quality. 







As a Controller responsible for selecting our manufacturing platform and ERP. I leveraged my extensive experience in various financial roles throughout my career to evaluate various types of manufacturing software including and ultimately selected <a href="http://www.offsight.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Offsight</a> as the best-of-breed manufacturing software for our modular construction process.







From this perspective, I will outline why we ultimately decided on Offsight as the perfect fit for our prefab business. 







<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Built For the Prefab and Modular Industry</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-1-1024x573.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1420" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-1-1024x573.jpg 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-1-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-1-768x430.jpg 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-1-1536x860.jpg 1536w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-1.jpg 1801w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



As we began our search for manufacturing software, it became clear early on that Offsight’s capabilities were uniquely tailored to our needs as a prefab and modular manufacturer. Offsight’s platform was built for offsite construction and provides easy-to-use manufacturing workflows that can be created and adapted for each project and product type. In this manner, Offsight is truly a project manufacturing solution for customers who design for manufacturing assembly and experience changes to their manufacturing workflow and process from project to project.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-3-1024x573.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1421" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-3-1024x573.jpg 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-3-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-3-768x430.jpg 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-3-1536x860.jpg 1536w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-3.jpg 1801w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



As a financial controller and someone with a traditional financial background, I found this a unique differentiator when evaluating other solutions. It became even more apparent to our team that Offsight was the right solution when we involved the production and manufacturing operations team members in our evaluation. By leveraging Offsight software, which was designed for our industry and our project manufacturing process, we would not only make our lives easier during implementation but also as we scaled production. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-4-1024x573.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1422" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-4-1024x573.jpg 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-4-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-4-768x430.jpg 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-4-1536x860.jpg 1536w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-4.jpg 1801w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Offsight’s mobile functionality was also unique as they tied material consumption and labor costs to specific products or projects leveraging QR codes and mobile scanning features. From the perspective of a controller, this ensured that material costs and labor costs data were highly accurate and could be used as estimate data for future projects. We found this to be a big gap that many traditional manufacturing systems failed to address because they were not built for the industry and made it very difficult for us to collect materials and labor data from the factory floor. 







<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Easy to use, Dedicated Support, Seamless to Scale</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-2-1024x573.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1423" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-2-1024x573.jpg 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-2-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-2-768x430.jpg 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-2-1536x860.jpg 1536w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-2.jpg 1801w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Another key differentiator was Offsight’s dedicated support. Offsight assigned a <a href="https://www.offsight.com/solutions-engineering" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dedicated solutions engineering manager</a> to our account with established industry experience. Their implementation manager understood our process and with his collective knowledge of best practices was able to easily help build out our production, materials, and labor workflows. Many traditional manufacturing systems we were evaluating fell short in this regard as they had very limited implementation resources and the assigned personnel lacked expertise in the prefab and modular industry.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-5-1024x573.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1424" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-5-1024x573.jpg 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-5-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-5-768x430.jpg 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-5-1536x860.jpg 1536w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-5.jpg 1801w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Once we went live with Offsight, our assigned solutions engineering manager continued to provide dedicated support and helped us build out our manufacturing workflows in Offsight as we scaled and launched new production lines. They also provided hands-on training to all our operators and team leads on the floor and paired with Offsight’s intuitive mobile app and user interface, we were able to quickly get started using the software.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-6-1024x573.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1425" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-6-1024x573.jpg 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-6-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-6-768x430.jpg 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-6-1536x860.jpg 1536w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-6.jpg 1801w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



The streamlined onboarding and training were critical as I could ensure that operators were recording their clock-ins and clock-outs correctly for accurate labor tracking and that materials were being consumed in real-time at each workstation for accurate work-in-process (WIP) reporting. This ease of use in data collection is a major differentiating factor when evaluating competing solutions that promised a lot but ultimately fell short when it comes to real-world useability on the shop floor. 







<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Robust Integrations and Connectivity</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-8-1024x573.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1426" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-8-1024x573.jpg 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-8-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-8-768x430.jpg 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-8-1536x860.jpg 1536w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Controllers-Perspective-8.jpg 1801w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



The final key takeaway in our evaluation that helped us decide on Offsight as the best solution was their robust cloud-based integrations with accounting software. Offsight provides real-time interactions for materials, labor, and production data from the floor and feeds this data to our Netsuite instance via a real-time API.







Since most financial controllers and CFOs find it very difficult to ensure that they get highly accurate production data from the floor, Offsght’s continuous synchronization and real-time updates is a game-changer. During implementation, Offsight’s product team helped integrate our account based on our custom Netsuite setup. Furthermore, Offsight provides continuous support and maintenance to ensure that any updates in Netsuite do not break the integration.

A Controller’s Perspective: Why We Went with Offsight

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="221" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Frame-50-1-1024x221.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1335" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Frame-50-1-1024x221.png 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Frame-50-1-300x65.png 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Frame-50-1-768x166.png 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Frame-50-1.png 1443w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Jason Dixon







The goal of running any successful prefab operation is actively managing your materials costs on current projects, accurately tracking these costs to improve and optimize for future projects, and managing your materials ordering, delivery, and installation process to avoid costly factory downtime. 







In this edition of the How To Guide for Prefab Leaders, we walk through how to easily address these core essentials with <a href="https://www.offsight.com/materials-inventory" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Offsight’s Materials and Inventory Management</a> feature set. We review how to build your processes and workflow in <a href="https://www.offsight.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Offsight</a> to make your material management seamless and scalable.







Managing Material Costs On Active Projects







Through Offsight’s Materials and Inventory Management feature set, prefabricators can build out their manufacturing workflow and full bill of materials (BOM) by project or specific product design for engineer-to-order. Whether the fabricator is manufacturing fully volumetric modules, pods, panels, or other building components, we can use Offsight’s Management Tool to identify the type of product we are building and create unique Product Types that correspond with your designs (e.g. Panel Design A, Panel Design B, Panel Design C).







We can then associate a custom bill of materials for each design or if it&#8217;s made to order, we can associate a bill of materials with each specific product design. Many products can be linked with your overall active project to provide highly accurate real-time material costing. 







<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-2-1024x573.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1402" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-2-1024x573.jpg 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-2-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-2-768x430.jpg 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-2-1536x860.jpg 1536w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-2.jpg 1801w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>







Through Offsight’s Materials &amp; Suppliers dashboard, we can easily link material suppliers, part IDs, and part pricing with your bill of materials. Additionally, purchase orders created for each part will update the pricing to reflect changes across the system and allow for very accurate material costing during projects. 







Once your project launches, capturing real-time material costs and consumption directly from the shop floor can be done seamlessly through <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/offsight/id1522830069" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Offsight’s mobile app</a>. Operators can easily identify and select the specific product they are working on and see its bill of materials for that specific process or station. They can then record material consumption at the moment as they are assembling the parts. During this process, if there are parts that are installed incorrectly or damaged during assembly they can be recorded as waste material. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-3-1024x573.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1405" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-3-1024x573.jpg 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-3-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-3-768x430.jpg 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-3-1536x860.jpg 1536w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-3.jpg 1801w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



By tracking your material consumption in real time across all live products on your shop floor, Offsight provides real-time tracking of material costs on active projects. This provides you with the ability to proactively manage your overall project budget and material costing.







Avoiding Downtime With Streamlined Material Ordering







In addition to tracking material consumption, Offsight’s Materials and Inventory Management feature set allows prefabricators to effectively manage their entire factory inventory, materials ordering, and materials receiving as their inventories run low.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-4-1024x573.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1407" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-4-1024x573.jpg 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-4-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-4-768x430.jpg 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-4-1536x860.jpg 1536w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-4.jpg 1801w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Through Offsight’s Workflow Automation functionality, prefabricators can set up automated alerts that would go out to materials managers and other personnel as parts run low. Minimum quantity threshold alerts can be defined per part and as these parts are consumed during assembly and these thresholds are triggered, managers will receive live notifications and emails through Offsight’s alerting system to re-order more parts.







A major advantage of the material ordering workflow in Offsight is the entire process can be connected and managed within one solution. Once parts run low, materials and procurement managers can log into Offsight’s Order dashboard to immediately create Purchase Orders for specific parts. Since all suppliers, part IDs, and BOMs are already loaded in Offsight, managers can seamlessly select parts low on quantity and generate POs. Managers can also send POs through Offsight to their suppliers or can download the PO as a PDF to send externally. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-5-1024x573.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1408" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-5-1024x573.jpg 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-5-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-5-768x430.jpg 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-5-1536x860.jpg 1536w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-5.jpg 1801w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>







Once POs are created, they are assigned a status in Offsight’s dashboard and can be tracked through shipment, receipt, and ultimately receiving once they are ready to be added to inventory. During the receiving process, warehouse managers can identify if the correct number of parts arrived or if there are any defects or damages and can seamlessly “quarantine” these parts whereby they would be held and returned to the supplier.







A running record of all parts with damages or defects by part ID and supplier is stored in Offsight for future reference and to evaluate supplier quality. 







Optimizing Material Costs &amp; Improving Prefab Efficiency



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-6-1024x573.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1409" srcset="https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-6-1024x573.jpg 1024w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-6-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-6-768x430.jpg 768w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-6-1536x860.jpg 1536w, https://cms.offsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Process-Improvement-July-6.jpg 1801w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



A major value add of leveraging Offsight&#8217;s Materials and Inventory Management is the ability to improve and optimize material costs on future projects and to improve your prefab materials management and operations overall. As outlined earlier, Offsight allows prefabricators to track both material damages and defects at the point of receipt and material waste at the point of assembly on the floor.







By understanding which parts commonly arrive damaged or defective, prefabricators can optimize their designs and corresponding bill of materials on future projects to limit these overhead costs related to material shipment and handling. If necessary certain parts or unreliable suppliers can be swapped on future projects.







Furthermore, being able to record which parts or processes commonly result in material waste on the floor, and being able to identify the root cause of this waste, can provide a significant opportunity for improving overall prefab operations. Recording and identifying, in Offsight, which parts are commonly damaged during manufacturing and improving standard operating procedures for assembly and installation of these parts on future projects will greatly cut down on overall material costs and rework.

The goal of running any successful prefab operation is actively managing your materials costs on current projects, accurately tracking these costs to improve and optimize for future projects, and managing your materials ordering, delivery, and installation process to avoid costly factory downtime. 