Held in Melbourne and Brisbane on March 17th and 18th respectively, the workshops were attended by more than 30 industry representatives. Jennifer Cover, Managing Director of the United States WoodWorks program (www.woodworks.org) introduced the events by outlining the structure and achievements of the US program. A copy of the presentation was emailed to all participants following the workshop and is available from FWPA upon request.
While the discussions at the two events varied owing to regional differences the general conclusions were similar and included:
Scope of Proposed Pilot Program
It was agreed that the main activity of the pilot program should be directed towards exploiting the opportunities created by the recent amendments to the National Construction Code, specifically as they apply to the use of timber framing and massive timber in the mid-rise multi-residential market.
Market Size
It was agreed that in the first instance the key measure should be the activity and engagement of the field force with specifiers. However, a longer term objective of the program should be to target a nominated increase in market volume, e.g. to gain a specific market share of mid-rise construction volume within 5 years.
Key Performance Indicators
The KPIs used by the US WoodWorks program were examined and thought to be similar to those of the Australian pilot program, consequently further information will be sought on the US metrics. It was suggested that consideration also be given to adopting and localising the reporting metrics used in the US and licensing the WoodWorks system.
Management Committee
Participants agreed that a management committee should be formed, with representation based on sponsorship contributions.
Commercial Interface
The consensus was that the program should be totally generic regarding reference to products and manufacturers. Field staff will be instructed not to preference one particular producer over others in their communications with building specifiers. However, to assist in training and product knowledge, the concept of embedding field staff in the operations of gold level sponsors for a specific number of days annually was supported in principle.
Level of investment and associated value adds to Gold, Silver and Bronze sponsors
It was agreed that further discussion between FWPA and the gold level sponsors was required to identify preferred value adds as an incentive for higher level sponsors.
