The Productization Revolution in Construction

Amy Marks, Autodesk’s Head of Industrialized Construction Strategy and Evangelism, has a red high-heel shoe on display in her home office to make a point about the benefits of productization. It was custom-made, which Marks argues isn’t very efficient. Why buy a custom pair of heels when you can easily buy them off the shelf quicker and probably pay less? 

The story illustrates a point Marks has been making for years as the world’s pre-eminent prefabrication consultant, who also goes by the nickname “Queen of Prefab.” Marks believes — and has a growing number of supporters who agree — that the building industry would be more efficient and sustainable if it embraced productization through prefabrication and design for manufacture and assembly. 

“The environment has changed, the technology has changed, the labor force has changed,” she says. “You can’t do the same thing you’ve been doing and expect to get better results. That’s just crazy.” 

Marks’ perspective comes from a long history in the building industry: Her parents ran a successful general contracting construction management firm in Long Island, New York. After a stint in the family business, Marks executed a $40-million turnaround of a modular construction company. She then ran her own consulting firm, XSite Modular, for nearly a decade, helping to optimize prefabrication across many building types in industries ranging from healthcare to high-tech. 

Her latest gig is head of industrialized construction strategy and evangelism at tech company Autodesk. It’s a cool title and another powerful platform for Marks to “open source” her prefabrication passion. She spends her days spreading the word about the need for the industry to transform through the convergence of design, construction, manufacturing, and operations, driven by technology. 

“The lines are completely blurring,” Marks says. “Traditional players in the architecture, engineering, and construction space are not staying in their lanes and breaking down the silos of existing business models. Owners get more involved in leading design and build, general contractors are fabricating, subcontractors are engaging directly with owners — we’re seeing convergence across the ecosystem.” 

“You’re talking about a space where people mostly came out of working with their hands in the trades without integrating technology or digitizing. It takes a long time to change the DNA of the industry and the culture, especially one that has been insular and disconnected from other industries that have progressed.” 

Companies that don’t make the shift could eventually become like the Blockbuster videos of the construction business, Marks warns, amid intensifying competition and cost pressures. The fallout from COVID-19, which has many companies questioning the way they work and their integration of technology, is expected to challenge the industry even more in the years ahead. 

“They want to understand technology and software and fabrication,” Marks says. “It’s just interesting. You’re going to bring in a fresh set of people if you can move towards designing and building like this.” 

And there’s the broader economic sustainability that keeps the industry profitable which, in turn, gives it the financial capacity to invest in its future: “We need economic sustainability to enable companies to stay alive and keep creating and designing buildings based on more complexity,” she says. 

For Marks, the surefire way to make her industry more sustainable is to promote participation, innovation and advancement across all segments. It’s what inspires her to put that prefab crown on top of her hardhat every day. 

“This is a revolution,” Marks says. “We have to think creative destruction — burn down some silos and enable new skills and growth in order to achieve the new possible.”