Sometimes, the best product names don’t come from boardrooms or branding sessions. They often come from the people who use what you’ve created.
That’s precisely what happened to us at World of Modular this April.
The problem with the name ‘M-Dock’
We’d been talking about M-Dock, our IP approach to factory-built modules that dock into housing superstructures for months. The name made sense to us. M for Modules, Dock for the integration process. Simple enough.
But conversations kept hitting the same snag. People didn’t understand where M-Dock came from. What did we mean by ‘dock’? Did we mean the superstructure? Something we thought was catchy and felt innovative was confusing and, quite frankly, distracting.
We knew deep down it needed clarity, but it was when we exhibited at World of Modular that the penny dropped.
What happened at World of Modular
Then came World of Modular in April. We set up our stand, laid out our designs, and started talking to manufacturers and developers from across the globe.
Within hours, we noticed something interesting.
Every conversation followed the same pattern. Attendees would look at our stand with the headline’ Core modules with unlimited housing potential’. Then they’d see our MEP-integrated modules, the compact units containing bathrooms, service risers, utility zones, and circulation spaces, and they’d nod and say: “Ah, core modules.”
Not M-Dock. Not modular docking systems. Core modules.
By the end of the first day, we’d heard it dozens of times. People from different countries, different construction methods, and different markets all use the exact same phrase.
They saw what our innovation was more clearly than we did, and the name M-Dock didn’t work.
The insight we couldn’t ignore
Those conversations taught us something crucial: the industry already had a name for what we’d created. And, in fairness, it was better than what we had named it. The name was more descriptive and intuitive.
Core modules capture exactly what these units are: the essential heart of the home where all the complex MEP systems live. The spaces that we believe would benefit most from factory efficiency. The modules that, when done right, give you control over productivity, labour, quality, speed, and cost.
When an entire industry consistently uses the same terminology to describe your innovation, you listen.
From M-Dock to CoreMods
So we’ve made the change. M-Dock becomes CoreMods.
It’s the same breakthrough approach to integration. The same focus on factory precision and site-build flexibility. The same core belief that if you control the core, you control the build.
But now, it has a name that says exactly what it is.
CoreMods isn’t about docking systems or structural interfaces. It’s about those critical core spaces that contain the complexity, designed for factory repeatability and built for real-world performance.
What this name change means
It’s the same great system. The concept hasn’t changed. The rename to CoreMods is more explicit and proves that we’re listening to and thinking about the solutions that the industry needs. From now on, we are going to talk about CoreMods rather than M-Dock, and our website and social media will change to reflect that.
Whether you’re a panelised builder in the UK looking to bring more construction into the factory, a modular manufacturer in the US scaling your production, or a housebuilder anywhere in the world facing the same challenges of speed, quality, and cost the core modules are where the solutions live.
The underlying story
Here’s what we learned at World of Modular: when your customers accidentally rename your product at a trade show, they’re not just suggesting better marketing. They’re showing you they understand your innovation better than you thought possible.
The industry called them core modules because that’s exactly what they are. These are the essential cores that create a system that makes housebuilding better.
We listened. We learned. And now M-Dock is CoreMods.
Ready to bring the core of your builds into the factory?
CoreMods is a licensed design system for housebuilders who are ready to improve the productivity of their operation whilst tackling the housing crisis. We provide the designs, the engineering, and the support to integrate core modules into your programmes. Get in touch to learn how CoreMods can transform housebuilding.
