When you look at the cost breakdown of building a home, one number stands out starkly: 50-60% of the total cost is direct labor. For Vikas Enti, former Amazon Robotics veteran and founder of Reframe Systems, this figure represented both a challenge and an opportunity to revolutionise how we build homes.


The Labour Productivity Challenge

“In any other industrialised environment,” Enti explains, “the moment you’re starting to trend a direct labor cost being over 10%, that’s usually a moment to take a step back and say, ‘hey, do we need to fix the design? Do we need to fix the process?'” This observation became the cornerstone of Reframe’s approach to reimagining construction.

 

In this episode, Vikas Enti from Reframe Systems, shares insights on bringing speed and scale to low-carbon homebuilding.


Rethinking the Problem

What makes Reframe’s approach particularly interesting is their fundamental reframing of the productivity challenge. As Enti notes, “When you look at construction from the outside, it’s very easy to think of this as a cycle time problem… But what we learned as we look through this process was it’s actually more of an information interface management problem.”

This insight is crucial: skilled workers are actually quite fast at their core tasks. The productivity drain comes from the time spent gathering information, finding the right materials, and managing physical interfaces. It’s not about making people work faster—it’s about making the entire system work smarter.


The Digital-Physical Interface

Reframe’s solution starts with bridging the gap between digital design and physical construction. “Today, the BIM world has been really useful for the AEC stack… but the actual builders on the field or builders in the factory don’t get to see the full benefit yet,” Enti explains. Their approach transforms traditional construction drawings into what he describes as “more like Ikea assembly instructions.”

This transformation has profound implications:

  • Apprentices can perform high-skilled work more quickly
  • Instructions are clearer and more intuitive
  • Error rates decrease significantly
  • Training time is reduced dramatically

 

Software-Defined Manufacturing

Perhaps the most innovative aspect of Reframe’s approach is their concept of software-defined manufacturing. Rather than creating rigid, mechanically-defined processes, they’ve developed a flexible system that can adapt to different requirements through software controls.

“We said, okay, can we apply some of those concepts into how do we make our manufacturing a lot more software defined?” Enti explains. This approach allows them to handle the mass customization inherent in construction, where different climate zones, building codes, and zoning jurisdictions create endless variations.

 


Physical Innovation

Reframe’s innovation extends to the physical world as well. They’ve challenged fundamental assumptions about construction processes. For instance, they questioned why walls need to be built horizontally in factories when their final purpose is to stand vertically. This led to the development of a vertical framing system that eliminates the need for complex butterfly tables and reduces factory footprint significantly.


The Role of Automation

While robotics and automation are part of Reframe’s solution, they’re not the starting point. As Enti emphasises, “We’re not an autonomous factory, we’re a modular micro factory that’s agile. Our whole goal is how do we improve labor productivity so we can deliver low carbon homes in a cost-effective manner.”

Their approach to automation is pragmatic and focused:

  • Automating tasks that workers don’t particularly value
  • Focusing on behind-the-wall work first
  • Maintaining flexibility to complete tasks manually when needed
  • Gradually increasing automation as systems prove themselves

 

The Results

The proof is in the numbers. From their first project where only 4% of walls were robotically framed, they’ve progressed to where 80% of walls in their current projects are handled by automation. This step-change improvement demonstrates the power of their systematic approach to productivity enhancement.


Key Takeaways for the Industry

Rethink fundamentals: Don’t just automate existing processes; question whether they make sense in the first place.

Focus on interfaces: The biggest productivity gains often come from improving how different parts of the system work together, not just making individual tasks faster.

Start with information: Clear, accessible information can dramatically improve productivity before any physical automation is introduced.

Maintain flexibility: Systems should be designed to work both with and without automation, allowing for gradual implementation and fallback options.

Reframe’s approach shows that improving construction labor productivity isn’t just about adding robots or demanding faster work. It’s about fundamentally rethinking how we organise and execute construction work, starting with the basic flow of information and materials. As the industry continues to evolve, their lessons offer valuable insights for anyone looking to improve construction productivity.