Page 35 - HW Oct 2022

In a nutshell: “People haven’t really been interested in innovation over the last couple of years because they have been too busy.
“Prices are going to settle, inflation is going to settle. Supply chain is coming back online, but labour is going to continue to be an area that is going to be difficult to manage.”
Hence Pryda’s current experience as frame & truss players seek to de-risk their operations by increasing automation in their plants through machinery.
“There is certainly an appetite to change up the way things have traditionally been done,” says Steve White.
Mark Buckenham and PlaceMakers are expecting demand to bounce back after the last few months slump.
“A lot of that work is still there,” he says. “And, once the ground dries out and the slab contractors can catch up, then we should be fine through to Christmas again.
“So we’re hopeful that that’s going to manifest in October and November and then in the traditional silly season, December, we should see most of those jobs boomerang back into our schedule.”
Mark too sees automation as a key factor in not only meeting demand spikes but shaping the broader frame & truss industry
in the comings months and years.
“How we embrace technology and automation is probably
going to be the litmus test of who will carry on and grow and survive and who might pack up their tent, because I think once automation and technology really kicks in with our industry, that’s going to stretch the field a bit.”
In this respect, he continues: “I think that there will be at some point consolidation within the industry.
“Over the last two and a half years since Covid enveloped us, it’s been just a wild, wild rollercoaster.
“There has been heaps of work for everyone.
“So I think when there’s a period of normalcy again and a bit of equilibrium with supply and demand, then you might see some consolidation and you might see some of the older players who don’t instead decide to hang up their boots.”
Far from hanging up their boots, and irrespective of what the pundits are saying, Daniel Caldwell and VIP Frames & Trusses are in the process of opening a new factory in Palmerston North and looking towards new machinery.
Over to Daniel for the last word: “Be nice to know if there was going to be another run, but that’s just crystal ball material, isn’t it?” he says.
frame & truss
NEW GIB®HANDIBRAC® TRADE PACK
BOWMAC® Structural Brackets
→ 20 GIB HandiBrac Brackets → 100 x Tek Screws
→ 20 x BOWMAC Screw Bolts
For the full range of MiTek Products log on to MITEKNZ.CO.NZ
MORE AT www.facebook.com/nzhardwarejournal
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022 | NZHJ 33