Arlington-based D.R. Horton, the largest U.S. homebuilder by volume, has signed a multi-year deal with Toronto’s Promise Robotics to support more than 1,250 homes near Phoenix. Promise’s AI-powered robots will build structural frames inside a factory, completing a typical two-story 1,800-square-foot house frame in about eight hours before the panels are trucked to the job site for assembly.
The company is opening a roughly 16,000-square-foot plant in the Gilbert area that is expected to start production in early 2027. Under a Factory-as-a-Service model, Horton gains the capacity without owning the factory or robots. Horton says the goal is faster cycle times, higher production capacity, and more consistent results. Brad Conlon, D.R. Horton’s senior vice president of strategic growth and innovation, said the company is focused on improving cycle times, increasing capacity, and bringing greater consistency and predictability to operations. Promise Robotics’ integrated platform gives them a new capability to support those goals, according to the announcement.…