MHP backs ADMARES digital factory for modular homes

MHP has joined a consortium with Finnish builder ADMARES to develop a digital manufacturing system for modular housing, as the partners push for higher-volume, factory-based residential construction.

The project brings together management and IT consultancy MHP, Porsche Consulting, engineering group EDAG, and Siemens Digital Industries Software. Together, they are developing a production approach that moves homebuilding from conventional site-based methods to a smart-factory model.

ADMARES is planning a 310,000 sq m manufacturing facility designed for industrialised output. The partners expect the site to produce up to 16,320 smart homes a year, more than 50 units per working day, according to the consortium's estimates.

The system is described as a digitally managed production environment linking product design, configuration, simulation, and factory operations. It centres on modular building units made in a controlled manufacturing setting and shipped as completed modules.

"The building modules leave the factory fully equipped and ready to move into," said Maximilian Sander, Partner, MHP.

"The entire process is designed, configured, simulated, and optimized virtually using digital twins - from product design to delivery," Sander added.

Strategy And Architecture

MHP's role spans strategic and technical planning for ADMARES. Early work focused on an operational and IT strategy and a target digital architecture. The programme also assessed and prioritised digitalisation steps and mapped requirements for scaling.

The planning phase examined which digital concepts would support a higher-output model and what the long-term digital requirements would be in an industrial production setting. It also considered how the concept could translate into an investment model for a large-scale facility.

The project then moved into designing specific technology components, including product lifecycle management processes, manufacturing IT, and digital services linked to the buildings themselves. The partners have framed this as a connected digital ecosystem built around a unified IT architecture.

The ecosystem links design, simulation, configuration, and operations through shared data structures. Product variant changes are intended to flow automatically into simulation models, reducing manual handovers and improving data consistency across design and manufacturing stages.

Virtual Factory Design

ADMARES designed production processes digitally before installing equipment, modelling workflows and factory layouts in a virtual environment. The consortium said this reduced initial investment by 30% compared with alternative planning methods used for similar industrial projects.

It also said the factory design lowered the minimum required system availability to below 90%. The manufacturing setup is described as flexible, able to adapt to product changes through its digital planning and simulation layer.

Digital twin technology is central to the engineering approach. Here, digital twins are virtual models used to plan and optimise product design, production flow, and delivery processes. The partners said these models support configuration and simulation across the manufacturing chain.

Automotive Methods

The programme positions modular housing as an area where automotive and manufacturing methods can be applied to construction. Standardised processes, automated manufacturing, and digital planning sit at the core of the consortium's approach.

ADMARES' model also draws on established concepts such as modular platforms and just-in-time delivery. These approaches have been adopted internationally, particularly in off-site fabrication and modular building markets.

The partners said ADMARES differs from other initiatives by combining an end-to-end digital value chain with a high level of automation and vertically integrated production. That claim depends on how tightly design and manufacturing tools connect with the factory environment, and how far output can be standardised while still offering product variants.

"Together with ADMARES and our partners, we are shaping an end-to-end digital value chain - from strategic positioning and IT architecture through to a scalable smart factory," said Federico Magno, Group CEO, MHP.

"The project demonstrates how we combine technological expertise with deep industry and business understanding, transferring our automotive and manufacturing excellence into new industries. The result is a new level of industrial performance in residential construction - faster, more precise, and more cost-efficient," Magno said.

Work will continue as ADMARES advances its smart-factory model for serial production of modular residential buildings. The manufacturing system is designed for scalable output and product variation within a standardised platform.