[SSLance]

I've always thought of the car building industry as being pretty similar to residential contractor\remodeler work.

When bidding for remodel jobs one has to take into consideration hidden "gotchas" that will pop up behind the old sheetrock, likewise a car builder has to be prepared for gotchas behind paint or parts not fitting as intended. One also has to work with change orders, like the customer not liking a new wall once it's put up or new parts purchased and minds changed mid build on a car. At the same time, the contractor\car builder has to be careful to not price themselves out of the market before they even get the job.

Whereas new home construction can be very different. I recently helped my MIL buy a new house in FL in a pre-planned community. This subdivision was completely planned out, down to the trim color on each and every house in the subdivision...well before the first pile of dirt was ever pushed. I've never seen anything like it before.

This approach to home building is very similar to what is being discussed in this thread, but it leaves very little wiggle room for changes and everyone involved has to stay on pace and deliver what they promise in order for it to work. I don't know the numbers but I can imagine that volume purchasing and pre-scheduling greatly affects the margin in this type of product and surprises are kept to a bare minimum since everything is so planned out before you start

I'm not sure how you integrate new building policies and procedures into a remodel type industry, but I'm watching to see the ideas bantered about. There has to be a way to do things better than currently done at a lot of shops I'm sure, but I'm not sure it gets to the totally pre-planned approach before the building ever starts.