91视频

By Sharon Fisher

91视频 Newswires

BOISE, Idaho 鈥� A factory that is intended to help automate modular construction for affordable housing is scheduled to open soon in Nampa.

Affordable housing vacancy rates are at a crisis level, and the only way to meet the demand is through manufacturing and automation, said Rick Murdock, CEO of Autovol.聽He spoke to the Boise Metro Chamber last month as part of its CEO Speaker Series.

鈥淲hy automation?鈥� Murdock said. 鈥淢y question is: Why not automation?鈥�

Everything in the U.S. except housing is manufactured, according to Murdock. And automated modular construction typically is 20 percent to 25 percent cheaper than stick-built, he said. The advantage of automation is it takes away the heavy lifting so workers aren’t tired by 1 p.m., plus it’s faster and requires fewer workers 鈥� an advantage amid the lack of skilled labor these days, he said. It’s also safer and more efficient, he added.

Automation still requires humans, but it can take place in areas where wages are lower, Murdock said.

Modular construction in general can better avoid problems caused by weather, and save time by allowing tasks to happen in parallel, Murdock said. While the ground is being prepped, workers can be in the factory constructing the buildings, sending them out as soon as the land is ready, he said. An entire building can be constructed in three weeks or less, he said. Not constructing on-site also lowers traffic congestion and neighborhood interruption, he added.

Autovol is slated to start prototyping in April with some small builds; its first scheduled project is set for May and June, Murdock said. Its first three projects are all in California, he added, though he wouldn’t provide details. The modular buildings, once made in Nampa, can be moved within an 800-mile radius 鈥� essentially from Colorado to Canada, he said.

What the company needs to do now that its building is essentially completed聽鈥� on time and on budget, Murdock said聽鈥� is program the robots to perform the actual construction.

鈥淭he robot’s not an issue,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t’s a tool. Until you program it, it’s just going to sit there.鈥� Every movement the robot makes has to be programmed, he said.

PrefabLogic, based in Boise, is putting together the software and training employees 鈥� whom Murdock calls 鈥渟olutioneers鈥澛犫�� in modular techniques. House of Design, a Nampa-based robotics company, is building the automation, after Autovol switched from the company it had been using in Sweden, he said. Communication had been difficult, he explained.

The project cost $104 million, primarily for the automation, Murdock said. Also, at first there was no internet connection, he said, joking that tin cans and wire were being used in the meantime.

Murdock is looking to hire 250 to 300 people to staff the factory. That included, as of mid-December, a chief financial officer.

Most of the company’s suppliers will be from Idaho, Murdock said. However, not many of Autovol’s customers are likely to be in Idaho because construction isn’t expensive enough here for it to pencil out, though Boise is on the cusp, he said. The company is focusing on high-cost areas because that’s where people are suffering the most, and on apartments because it’s tough for factory workers to build both single-family and multifamily housing at the same time, he said.

While the modular units could also be used for hotels and resorts, Autovol’s focus is on affordable housing, Murdock said.

As an homage to the site’s original use, barns located on the property were taken down board by board and included in the offices to show what used to be there, Murdock said.