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House factory

A house factory is a production plant where the walls, floors, roofs or complete modules of houses are manufactured before delivery to site.

Also known as prefab factory, offsite factory, timber frame factory, house building factory, modular factory

A typical timber house factory combines a wall line, a floor and roof cassette line and a truss shop, with timber storage and cutting at one end and loading at the other. The layout follows the material flow, and the plan follows the order in which elements will be erected on site.

Setting one up starts with the product and the volume: what will be built, how much, and at what level of automation. Those choices decide the lines, the layout and the staffing, and they are easier to change on paper than on the factory floor.

Related terms
Prefabricated houseA prefabricated house is a house whose main parts (walls, floors, roof) are manufactured in a factory and assembled on site. Offsite constructionOffsite construction is building in a factory rather than on the building plot, then delivering the finished elements or modules to site. Lean productionLean production is a way of organising manufacturing around a continuous flow of value to the customer, removing every step that does not add to it.
From term to production line

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