On the 12th and 13th of July, our MD Darren Jarman and Technical Co-ordinator James Roberts attended WoodBUILD 2023 in Lampeter. The conference and expo focused on trees, timber & the transition to zero carbon construction. The two-day event was packed with speakers, exhibitors and a series of plenary and parallel sessions. The aim of WoodBUILD was to inspire, create new business opportunities, offer a collaborative platform for all participants and to share information on current and future Welsh Government policies, and it most definitely delivered.
Darren was one of the speakers in the ‘Creating a manufacturing culture in housebuilding’ workshop, giving an insight into some of the Government funded projects we have been involved with and how these have paved the way in creating more timber frame, energy conscious projects within the construction industry.
Darren discussed that ‘As an independent manufacturer, we are some way down the supply chain and despite having a real appetite to innovate, without collaboration and the pipeline of work, it’s very difficult to bring new solutions to the market. At the top of the tree are the clients. They will have their own individual key requirements, be that cost, thermal performance, airtightness, space heating requirements and often familiarity of tech. Schemes are then sent out to tender and main contractors again have their own preferred methods of construction and will often stick with their tried and tested systems, unless there is a financial gain attached. This is why it is difficult for us to innovate without close collaboration with the whole supply chain.
In our opinion, encouraging a collaborative approach to innovation through the whole supply chain was one of the key successes to come out of the Welsh Governments Innovative Housing Programs. The scheme looked to support innovation in the broad context covering construction techniques, but also a delivery pathway. This approach forced many out of their comfort zone and encouraged closer collaboration with the manufacturers and the whole supply chain.’
It was great to be part of WoodBUILD 2023 and network with so many like-minded people throughout the industry, thank you to Woodknowledge Wales for organising the event.
