When WWII ended, the world, and especially the US, was suddenly faced with far more ships and shipbuilding capacity than it needed. Merchant ship capacity had actually increased by 20% between 1939 and 1947, much of which was due to the enormous number of ships built by the US during the war. The US had increased its merchant ship volume by 236% during the same years, going from having 4% of the world merchant fleet to 36%. Of the 2700(!) Liberty Ships built during the war, 2400 of them survived [0].
I had always understood that the swings in the housing market disadvantaged the larger capital investment in modular factory fabrication, v. the labor-intensive site construction (i.e., workers can be let go during downswings but the factory must be paid for). Can you comment on the implication of market swings in shipping construction (global market) v. housing (local)?
Tradability is a large factor, too. You can have specialized shipyards (or car plants) ship to the whole world & reap the gains from that. Can't do that for prefab housing due to high transportation cost (and to some extent higher differences in the regulatory environment, esp. fire control, insulation, power line layout)
The video shown looks to be a trailer home manufacturing plant or similar. I expect trailer homes are quite efficiently constructed, but I'm not sure the resulting quality meets the standards people tend to want in a larger home - particularly in relation to fit and finish, and things like air tightness/insulation/energy efficiency.
In the USA I think there is a strong trend towards production building and tract housing. I believe that plays out as a lot of similar houses being built with a common crew, and the ability to schedule teams to move between houses doing relatively standardised jobs. I think that does (or should) give some of the same efficiencies you're talking about - division of labour, economy of scale, specialisation and repeatability. I believe the houses so made are reasonably good, although I also understand not everyone wants to live in a tract house. But I think there are substantial cost economies in that approach.
One interesting thing I learned is that Daniel Ludwig was listed as the richest man in America on the first Forbes list compiled in 1982. Truly a tech billionaire from a different era, it sounds like. His wikipedia page is an interesting read.
I had always understood that the swings in the housing market disadvantaged the larger capital investment in modular factory fabrication, v. the labor-intensive site construction (i.e., workers can be let go during downswings but the factory must be paid for). Can you comment on the implication of market swings in shipping construction (global market) v. housing (local)?
Tradability is a large factor, too. You can have specialized shipyards (or car plants) ship to the whole world & reap the gains from that. Can't do that for prefab housing due to high transportation cost (and to some extent higher differences in the regulatory environment, esp. fire control, insulation, power line layout)
The video shown looks to be a trailer home manufacturing plant or similar. I expect trailer homes are quite efficiently constructed, but I'm not sure the resulting quality meets the standards people tend to want in a larger home - particularly in relation to fit and finish, and things like air tightness/insulation/energy efficiency.
In the USA I think there is a strong trend towards production building and tract housing. I believe that plays out as a lot of similar houses being built with a common crew, and the ability to schedule teams to move between houses doing relatively standardised jobs. I think that does (or should) give some of the same efficiencies you're talking about - division of labour, economy of scale, specialisation and repeatability. I believe the houses so made are reasonably good, although I also understand not everyone wants to live in a tract house. But I think there are substantial cost economies in that approach.
One interesting thing I learned is that Daniel Ludwig was listed as the richest man in America on the first Forbes list compiled in 1982. Truly a tech billionaire from a different era, it sounds like. His wikipedia page is an interesting read.