Skender recently announced that it has begun production at its new advanced manufacturing facility in Chicago. The plant, which will use the company’s unique process for modular construction projects, is expected to be at full capacity in approximately 18 months and will employ 150 people.
“Our production launch is an important milestone in our radical new approach to building,” said Mark Skender, Skender CEO. “We are proud to open our facility with a premier workforce and a project that demonstrates a new housing delivery model capable of changing how we fight the affordable housing crisis. This is a true gamechanger.”
Skender’s modular construction approach combines lean manufacturing practices with the latest integrated building information modeling and manufacturing technology to reduce cost and time to market. Skilled union employees assemble 95 percent of the modular components, including fixtures, finishes and most appliances.
To help source, train and prepare the workforce for specialized careers in manufacturing, Skender has partnered with the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters, Cara Chicago, Heartland Alliance, Chicago Women in Trades (CWIT), Central States SER and the Jane Addams Resource Corporation (JARC).
“By having our architecture, manufacturing and construction leaders all working together from a single source of truth, we’ve developed a hyper-efficient process that eliminates waste and dramatically cuts the time it takes to bring a building to market,” said Pete Murray, president of Skender Manufacturing. “The learnings from each project inform the next to create even greater time and cost savings.”
For more information, visit www.skender.com.
