Japan led the list of export nations for the U.S. in 1990, followed by Canada, Israel, and South Korea. The major barriers for exporting houses are high transportation costs and the difficulty of obtaining foreign on-site assembly labor. The Swedish factory housing industry differs from the U.S. industry in its degree of automation. Automation in Sweden is generally based on two-dimensional construction because it is easiest for automated machines to construct components in two, rather than three, dimensions. In Swedish computerized wail framing assembly lines, the computer feeds structural components, moves the assembled frame forward via conveyors, determines wall lengths, provides information on the size and locations of windows and doors, cuts and installs insulation, squares the wall frame, and turns the wall 180 degrees for drywall application.
Swedish producers are interested in investing abroad.
An average site-built home in the U.S. is estimated to use about 1,074 labor hours, compared to 533 hours for the typical Swedish closed wail panel house. The panel system also makes good use of export shipping container space, by shipping solid walls with a minimum of wasted space. Industry Issues Building codes are extremely important to factory home builders, especially in the modular and closed wall panel sectors. U.S. federal legislation has been proposed that would promote national uniformity in the regulation of modular and closed wail building systems. This would increase the availability of affordable housing by lowering inspection costs.