Jim Dunn | The Future of Building Design, Construction, & Delivery

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

● What are modular buildings and why are they generally stronger than regular buildings?

● Stack Modular’s typical customer

● How developed is the modular housing industry in China?

● The limitations of modular housing and how they are overcome

● Shipping modular buildings across the ocean and keeping them intact

● 3D printing and home manufacturing

● Why Stack Modular has no local customers in China

● How COVID-19 has affected Stack Modular’s business operations inside China and sales outside of China

● How Jim, a foreigner, is able to manage a business with so many moving parts in China

● What the future holds for Stack Modular

Episode Summary:

Today on The Negotiation, we speak with Jim Dunn, President at Stack Modular, a Vancouver-based construction company that manufactures modular buildings for residential, hospitality, commercial, and resource sectors. He is also the President of Dunn Global, Ltd., a Shanghai-based procurement firm now considered the leader in Chinese manufactured housing exported to North America.

From his native Canada to Los Angeles to Africa to China, Jim’s passion for the building world brought him globe-trotting opportunities through the years. Today, Jim splits his time between China and North America pushing Stack Modular into exciting new modular fields, from resource housing to hotels to office spaces.

The modular housing industry in China has grown exponentially in the last several years, surpassing even the industries of the West. This came after a realization that buildings can be built faster, cheaper, and stronger, and that these can be produced at scale.

Jim goes on to talk about the unique budgetary, logistical, and labour-related challenges that come with the territory for Stack Modular, why the construction industry has yet to undergo major innovations in 2021, and how the pandemic has impacted Stack Modular’s business operations both inside and outside China.

Key Quotes:

“Over the last half a dozen years, China says to itself, ‘Wow, you can build a building faster, cheaper, and stronger in a factory environment. They saw something that made sense and they acted on it. Here in Canada, we’re slow to act.”

“People have reinvented every industry that you and I use every day, whether it’s communication, technologies, textiles, or agriculture. Everything’s been reinvented, except construction. Construction is the low-hanging fruit.”

“If you can’t hire quality people, passionate people, loyal people, your business will never take off, much less in China.”