VanHomes scales affordable housing by building smarter

VanHomes wasn’t just building homes—they were helping solve a housing crisis. But their operations were strained under disconnected tools and ad-hoc processes.

The team juggled spreadsheets, Smartsheet, Slack, and printed pages to track builds. Supervisors relayed updates by word of mouth. Critical information lived in someone’s email—or worse, a paper slip pinned on the factory floor.

This lack of visibility stretched both the office staff and the on-site construction teams. Teams often worked until late at night just to keep projects moving.

For a company experiencing 50% annual growth, that inconsistency was unsustainable. VanHomes needed a system that could centralize operations, scale with demand, and support their culture of continuous improvement.

VanHomes turned to ClickUp in search of one hub where the entire team could work together. What stood out was ClickUp’s flexibility. It streamlined production from design to delivery and became the system of record for production scheduling, HR, tax, inventory, regulatory reporting, and warranty.

For a workforce mostly made up of tradespeople, there was initial apprehension about diving into new technology. But once they saw how intuitive the workflows were, buy-in came fast.

“We use QR forms so the team can share suggestions easily. Tracking them in ClickUp keeps progress visible and the culture transparent,” Nicole Russo, Founder and Chief Operating Officer, VanHomes, said.

As the partnership with ClickUp grew, new ideas could be tested and implemented quickly.

The impact has gone well beyond tidy workflows. With one source of truth, teams work with less stress and greater alignment, and customers get faster delivery with transparent follow-through.

Ben summed up the visibility shift: “We’ve created a system where you’ve basically got a master list that links to all spaces—one place that has all the data.”

• Production efficiency: 15% gain in efficiency with daycards that improved reporting and processes on the factory floor

• Quality: 20% reduction in quality issues through structured ticketing and follow-through

• Collaboration: 115 employees now work from one hub, cutting down rework and stress

• Customer experience: Access to all relevant information in one place ensures trust and transparency

Looking ahead: Building with AI at the core

VanHomes continues to expand AI-driven workflows—from migrating Slack conversations into ClickUp Chat to using ClickUp Brain for warranty claims, issue tracking, and reporting.

The team is also moving toward more advanced Material Requirements Planning (MRP) by using ClickUp to track inventory and costing—laying the foundation for a complete MRP system. And as demand for affordable housing grows, VanHomes is confident their converged workspace can scale with them.