An architect from Australia visiting modular home manufacturers in Japan notes the factories are similar to automobile assembly lines with many robots, houses moving along assembly lines and technicians doing the jobs the robots cannot. Mathew Aitchison from the University of Queensland says he visited four different companies making modular homes, and while each firm’s sales team claimed their homes were 100 percent customizable, the homes all looked very similar: “An interpretation of a generic western suburban house, clad in ceramic tiling with a very predictable colour palette ranging from brown to beige,” writes Aitchison.

Much like automobiles, the homes come with a standard 20-year warranty with a strong focus on after sale service, according to theconversation.com. Of the total 495,737 detached housing starts in 2013, 64,035, about 12.9 percent were modular, much higher than Australia’s three percent. Sekiusi House, one of the largest prefab factories, produces 15,000 detached homes annually. As MHProNews reported June 12, 2014, modular home production in the U. S. averages a little over 1,000 units per month. ##

(Photo credit: theconversation.com–Sekiusi House display at Shizuoka factory in Japan.)