Why MMC Shouldn’t Be Considered as an ‘Alternative’
History shows us how change has a polarizing effect – rapid change driven by external factors, even more so. Many Victorian ship owners stubbornly refused to see why paying for coal to power ships was a good idea when the wind was free. A future where cars and trucks replaced horses was unimaginable. And in more recent times, even Bill Gates was a little slow to spot the transformative effect of the World Wide Web.
It feels as though many in the construction industry – from procurement to delivery – are stuck in what you could call an ‘IBM mindset.’ This is one that can only imagine continuing on the same trajectory. In IBM’s case this was towards a tiny number of very powerful computers. History decided otherwise.
In construction, this mindset means sticking persistently to outdated but familiar methods, even when we know there are superior alternatives. The scale of the post-Covid construction challenges across housing, healthcare, education and infrastructure means that it’s time to let go of the familiar and embrace the new.
Time to Grasp the MMC Opportunity
The problem with swimming against the tide of history is that it doesn’t get you anywhere. You just end up exhausted. For all of the examples of resistance given above there were also plenty of people who could see the opportunity and were ready to grasp it. And so it is with Modern Methods of Construction (MMC).
Even before the ‘Modernise or Die’ conversation, there were construction firms not just exploring modern methods but actively investing in them and delivering real projects. In Osborne’s case, we have a established track record of sustained and innovative investment in MMC. So for us it isn’t about ‘potential,’ it’s a case of applying proven methods that we know will deliver project certainty, better quality and improved whole life cost benefits.
You could say Osborne was an early adopter. We certainly know which side of the debate we’re on. We have fifteen years of experience of applying and improving offsite solutions. And we’re ready to bring all of that MMC learning and creativity to deliver better outcomes for your next project.
