Inside giant homebuilder D.R. Horton’s bet on robotic homebuilding
Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? D.R. Horton , the nation’s largest homebuilder by volume, has signed a multi-year commercial agreement with Promise Robotics to use the startup’s robotic factory capacity on more than 1,250 homes. The deal, announced October 13, makes D.R. Horton the first major U.S. builder to…
D.R. Horton, the nation's largest homebuilder by volume, has entered a multi-year commercial agreement with Promise Robotics to utilize the startup's robotic factory capacity on over 1,250 homes. This marks the first major U.S. builder to sign onto Promise Robotics' Factory-as-a-Service model. Traditional framing crews build walls by hand, which is labor-intensive and weather-dependent.
Promise Robotics streamlines this process by assembling wall panels in a factory, which are then trucked to the site and set in place. This method is far faster than conventional framing techniques. D.R. Horton, which closed 84,863 homes in fiscal 2025, will use Promise Robotics' robotic factory capacity for approximately 1,250 homes, accounting for about 1.5% of a single year's volume.
This deal is more of a cautious experiment rather than a complete shift in how D.R. Horton builds. Out of the 1,250 homes, they are primarily to be built in Phoenix, Arizona, which is more than half a year of D.R. Horton's recent annual combined closings in Maricopa, Pinal, and Pima counties. D.R. Horton's senior vice president of strategic growth and innovation, Brad Conlon, emphasized three operating goals: faster cycle times, more production capacity, and greater consistency and predictability.
He believes Promise Robotics' platform offers a new capability to achieve these goals. Promise Robotics' "Factory-as-a-Service" model enables builders to utilize the company's plants, robotics, and software without having to own or operate them. The workflow consists of four steps: Design translation, Production planning, Robotic manufacturing, and Site installation.
The company's innovative approach aims to eliminate the need for builders to invest in costly factories that may sit underutilized if local demand decreases. Promise Robotics CEO Ramtin Attar emphasized the importance of this asset-light structure for builders, as they were previously reluctant to invest in factories and then face years of trial and error.
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