The inaugural course offered by the UK Timber Frame Association’s (UKTFA) new Collaborative Working Academy will help members reduce waste in the supply chain and aid their competitive ability in the current challenging market.
UKTFA chief executive Andrew Carpenter said the Certificate in Collaboration and Integration, which nine UKTFA members have signed up to so far, was the only sustainable way to achieve government targets of reducing costs by 20%, rather than by bearing down on price, by the end of the current parliament.
“Lean construction is the answer and we hope this course will enable our members to obtain knowledge that will allow them to compete sustainably within the current difficult market,” he said.
The UKTFA said timber frame contractors and suppliers have been competing on lowest price, with the main contractors exerting pressure, forcing prices ever lower.
“As a consequence, prices have reached their lowest possible ebb, leaving contractors and suppliers with no basis on which to compete,” it said.
A member each from The Timber Trade Federation and Wood Window Alliance has also been invited to attend.
For more on this story see the next issue of TTJ
