In modern society, building construction is one of the few industries in which the product is made under highly variable conditions.
While cars, computers and other consumer goods are fabricated in precision, controlled environments, buildings are largely still constructed in places with wildly divergent weather and site conditions. The variability creates schedule uncertainty and makes it difficult to produce a consistently high-quality product. As Jason Hess, CEO of assisted living provider Elite Care said, “You wouldn’t want a BMW built in a muddy field. You would want that BMW built in a factory offering laser-guided precision.” That’s the philosophy behind SurePods modular bathrooms.
“You wouldn’t want a BMW built in a muddy field. You would want that BMW built in a factory offering laser-guided precision.” Jason Hess, CEO of assisted living provider Elite Care
So, what goes into building a SurePod? Let’s take a quick look behind the scenes.
Since we started as the first bathroom pod company in North America in 2004, pods have evolved greatly. At the beginning, we were basically doing exactly the same process of field-built bathrooms, but with a roof over our heads. Since then we have applied many manufacturing techniques to improve the end product, as well as the process that our clients experience.
We now work natively in Revit for BIM so we can provide pod models for the architect to drop directly into their entire building model. Our Revit models translate directly into machine code for our production robots to fabricate many of our production pieces, which reduces labor and provides better overall tolerances and accuracy for the pods. For example, our CNC machines precision cut wallboard, which is much faster and more accurate than could be completed on a job site using power tools.
Similar to an automobile factory, bathrooms move down a precisely controlled assembly line in our plant. We inspect the work at each manufacturing station before the bathroom pod moves to the next station. Our workers have proper lighting, tools, and materials, and we specifically have organized all workstations to produce high quality in a safe environment. Contrast that to a site-built bathroom, where more than 10 construction trades – including electrical, plumbing and finishing work – are all going in and out of a constricted space, with high risk of damaging earlier completed work.
While we use robots where it makes sense, people remain a crucial part of the process. Our manufacturing team enjoys a stable and permanent employment arrangement, which helps ensure a high level of commitment to producing top-quality bathrooms.
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Prefabrication is a construction trend that isn't going away. Modular bathroom pods are an example of prefabrication that will help you build BETTER and FASTER.CONTACT US TODAY