As Logic Building Systems prepares its modular bathroom, kitchen, and utility pods for market deployment, one of the most critical components of the system is something most people never see: the installation process. Behind every modular product lies the challenge of ensuring that it can be installed quickly, predictably, and with minimal complexity on site.
Thad Keep, an engineering intern at Logic Building Systems, has spent much of his time addressing that challenge by developing the company’s installation manual and translating detailed design models into a clear, repeatable process for contractors and installers.
What follows is condensed from an interview with Thad about the design of the installation process. It was started at the Logic offices, a few days ago.
“Jason and I have been working on the installation manual,” Thad explains. “The goal is that installing a bathroom pod should be as straightforward as installing a washer and dryer.”
That idea became the guiding principle behind all pod installation manuals. Rather than inventing a documentation format from scratch, the Logic team studied installation manuals for common household appliances. These manuals are designed to communicate complex systems to unskilled labor — in a way that is clear, visual, and easy to follow.
“We started by looking at washer and dryer installation manuals and modeling our format after them,” he says. “The goal was to make build trust with a process that was both simple to understand, and straightforward to follow.”
The manual is currently available on the Logic website, and is already several iterations into development.
“The version you see now is actually the third or fourth version. Drafts build on the strengths of previous drafts. We’re a startup, so we want to keep improving it. That’s why we label each version as a draft,” Thad notes.
The process is spatial. It was intuitive to begin drafts with 3D visualizations. The team first created a full animation of the installation sequence to map out every step involved in placing and connecting the pods in a typical apartment layout. Once the workflow was clearly defined, they began translating that process into a written and illustrated installation manual.
Early versions of the documentation approached installation from the perspective of each individual pod. However, this approach quickly revealed a limitation.
“At first we made a manual for installing each pod independently,” Thad explains. “But we quickly realized that each pod installation depends on the overall configuration.”
Because bathroom, kitchen, and utility pods can connect in multiple ways depending on the building layout, the installation process changes slightly with each configuration. As a result, the team shifted toward a configuration-based documentation approach.
Visual communication became the feature of each page of the manual, for orientation and to skip language barriers with installers. All the installation graphics were generated directly from the company’s MCAD models using Autodesk Fusion 360, allowing each step to be illustrated with precise, technically accurate visuals.
“At one point the installation process had many dozens of steps,” Thad says. “But the more we refined the document, the fewer steps it required.”
Like with all good writing, editing was key. Improving Logic’s manual involved meeting-after-meeting about simplifying the whole installation process. By consolidating actions and refining the visual instructions, the team was able to present the installation workflow in a clearer and more intuitive way.
Today, the installation documentation is structured around system configurations. Each arrangement of bathroom, kitchen, and utility pods will ultimately have its own installation guide tailored to the specific connections between the systems.
Developing the manual became the culmination of months of design work and modeling. “Today’s drafts of the installation manual is really the result of a lot of earlier re-work and idea-honing in our fabrication models,” Thad explains.
Early CAD models contained hundreds of individual parts placed within apartment-style layouts. Over time, these models were reorganized into a clearer hierarchy of parts, subassemblies, assemblies, and installation models.
“That structure helped us think more clearly about both how the systems are manufactured in the factory and how they are installed in the building.”
In offsite construction, installation is often one of the greatest uncertainties for developers and contractors considering a new building system. Carefully mapping and documenting the process helps reduce that uncertainty. “Installation is probably one of the biggest concerns people have when they first look at modular construction,” Thad says. “The manual helps us work through and resolve those details.”
Much of the core installation workflow is now well defined. The remaining work focuses on documenting the full range of potential pod configurations. “We’ve identified about eight possible configurations that customers might want using the bathroom, utility, and kitchen pods,” Thad explains. “Right now we have one configuration that’s very detailed and fully documented.”
The remaining configurations are similar but involve slightly different connections between pods. Each variation requires its own documentation so installers can follow a clear, configuration-specific process.
For Thad, the work closely aligns with his academic focus in manufacturing engineering. Concepts such as lean manufacturing, design for manufacturing, and design for assembly play an important role in how the pods are designed and documented.
“Thinking about the system from a manufacturing perspective is really helpful,” he says. “You start designing parts and subassemblies so they move efficiently through an assembly line and are easy to install in the field.”
Outside of Logic, Thad brings the same mindset to his personal projects. “I’m a complete tinkerer,” he says. “I built a camper shell for my Toyota Tacoma out of wood using construction techniques similar to boat building.”
He also performs all of his own vehicle maintenance, which provides a practical perspective on engineering design.
“When you work on your own vehicles, you start to recognize the difference between a good design and a bad design very quickly,” he says.
That hands-on experience carries directly into his work at Logic.
“Believe it or not, the same design for manufacturing and assembly thinking applies to all of it,” Thad says. “Whether it’s a truck, a camper shell, or a modular bathroom pod, the principles are very similar.”
By combining manufacturing engineering principles, CAD-based design, and hands-on problem solving, Thad’s work on the installation manual is helping ensure that Logic Building Systems’ modular pods are ready for scaling to address the affordable housing issues facing most communities.