The goal was ambitious: to build modular homes in a self-contained manufacturing facility using a unique, high-efficiency assembly layout. The Colorado-based company, Fading West, had to move massive modular units (“boxes”), weighing tens of thousands of pounds each, between 19 workstations fast enough to assemble hundreds of structures—homes, apartments and townhomes—every year. “I came here to Fading West to ask how we can revolutionize the construction industry to create more affordable housing and get it into the marketplace,” says Sean Brown, vice president of factory operations at Fading West. But the million-dollar question was, “How?”
Manufacturing operations have many move systems to select from, including cranes, forklifts, conveyors and rails, each with its own specific limitations and constraints. Fading West wanted to move huge boxes that constantly changed shape and size through a U-shaped assembly line that wrapped around a central mezzanine, housing parts, tooling and offices.
And the moves had to happen fast enough to assemble nearly three complete structures daily. Accommodating that mixture of requirements seemed impossible. Should they use cranes or forklifts? These systems were not feasible given the modular boxes’ size, weight and mass. What about rails? They required a long, narrow building that would have increased travel time for workers and reduced flexibility and efficiency.
Conventional industrial move solutions just seemed impossible. Enter air casters.
Air casters use a thin layer of air to lift heavy objects, turning them into hovercrafts and allowing them to glide across surfaces nearly frictionlessly. Each air caster can lift as much as 8,500 lbs (3.8 metric tons) to glide these boxes through the assembly process; operators simply add more air casters for heavier objects. In fact, air casters have been used to move everything from stadium seating to the giant caissons underpinning bridges, so Fading West knew they could easily handle modular housing.
Even better, air casters can lift colossal weights and offer omnidirectional movement, including the ability to rotate in place. All they need is a little compressed air. “In a 38-foot-long house, we have six of the air casters on,” says Brown. “With 40 psi, we lift the house up and, with four people, one at every corner, we just push the house across the stages.”
This agility and ease of movement have proven invaluable in setups prone to change, such as when Fading West needs to switch between floorplans and structures. One day, they might assemble a 38-foot box; the next, it could be a 76-foot structure. Adjusting the assembly stations and workflows becomes a breeze thanks to the air casters. “We can move the entire factory—with all 19 stations—in under 30 minutes,” says Nolan Reyher, area manager at Fading West.
That speed is due to several factors, all of which come back to the flexibility of air casters. Rather than constructing a building extending beyond a football field’s length, they devised a square-shaped facility with their desired U-shaped assembly line to bolster rapid production. Boxes could then move down a certain number of stations in one direction, move laterally, and back through the same number of stations, effectively doubling the number of structures assembled simultaneously. Virtually no downtime related to the operation of the air casters was required, only the time needed to inflate or deflate the casters. This design also optimized logistics and aligned both input and output on one side of the facility. If a box needs to wait for materials or has a problem, workers can push it out of the way without holding up the rest of the line—something that would be impossible with almost any other move solution.
As a result of all these efficiencies, Fading West increased overall throughput compared to other material handling options and met an aggressive annual production goal.
The Fading West story is not just about the technological triumph of air casters. It’s about challenging conventions and reimagining what’s possible. Too many industries continue to use outdated, inefficient, and potentially unsafe material handling methods because they’ve been conditioned to see their situations and challenges as “unsolvable.” As a result, the operations employees don’t realize they can move certain objects in flexible ways. They assume certain structures are not movable or manually movable and must adhere to specific, unchanging facility layouts. Or they believe that they can’t adapt to change without significant downtime, expense and labor.
Those ideas are often unfounded assumptions as air casters enable solutions for seemingly unsolvable logistical challenges. At Fading West, so many people were surprised by what air casters can do that they’ve become almost a spectacle. “They are so unique that, when we stand on the balcony, point, and say, ‘Do you see those orange casters? That’s how we move the houses!’” says Brown. “Every single person that walks through the factory comments on it.”
In the end, air casters make it possible to continuously push boundaries, redefine paradigms and harness the power of innovation to solve the unsolvable. As Fading West demonstrated, with air casters in its arsenal, it’s doing precisely that, one modular home at a time.
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