It was great to see the Frame and Truss Manufacturers’ Association of New Zealand (FTMA) national conference come to fruition in 2023!
It’s been long-awaited, due to the disruptions caused by the pandemic over the past three years. Spida Machinery was proud to be the principal sponsor of this event.
The FTMA national conference was held at Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand in Wellington from Tuesday 25 July until Thursday 27 July 2023. The theme of the three-day conference was ‘Sharpen Your Vision’ with MC New Zealand entertainer Te Radar and FTMA Chair Seith Harrison and was officially opened by Hon. Dr. Megan Woods Minister Building and Construction.
Seith said, "It was truly encouraging to see our community come together after such a long time and reconnect with fellow members and industry colleagues. The camaraderie and knowledge exchange that took place during the event was unparalleled for FTMA."
Topics at the Conference
Given the theme of the conference, the focus was looking ahead to the future and what we can expect and what we should be considering now and planning for.
There were a variety of topics covered including off-site construction, building for climate change, the future of New Zealand’s wood fibre resource and wood processing industry and new high-performance engineered wood products for the frame and truss industry.
As well as industry-specific knowledge being gained and technical training sessions being offered, the conference also provided key business specific learnings. Given the current economic climate, there were helpful reminders about business finance, credit control and succession planning. Also, the importance of our people –attracting and retaining staff, health and safety and resilience being covered.
Keynote Speakers
Throughout the conference, there were various keynote speakers too, who were all well received. The conference began with economist Brad Olsen giving his take on ‘Looking at the Big Picture’. There were also presentations by John Shackleton, coach of Olympic medalists and world champions on ‘Leadership and Resilience’, and Nigel Latta, clinical psychologist, on ‘Shining a Light on the Future of Work’.
Chance to Connect
As the primary sponsor of the FTMA national conference, and the supplier of choice for New Zealand Fabricators, the Spida Machinery team who attended the conference enjoyed reconnecting with those in the industry.
Wendy Boyd, Chief Customer Officer, Spida Machinery Group says “While we manufacture machinery for the frame and truss industry, it’s ‘people’ that are at the core of everything we do. Working with industry, constantly talking with our customers about their challenges and what we can do to add more value to their manufacturing plant is important to us. Having a chance to connect again at the FTMA Conference was great - sharing knowledge and growing positive relationships is key. We’re looking forward to the next conference!”.
FTMA
The Frame and Truss Manufacturers’ Association of NewZealand is a non-profit, self-regulating and independently audited industry association. FTMA has a mission ‘to be the recognised independent voice for the Timber Frame and Truss Industry that promotes a skilled workforce working to best manufacturing practices.
Spida Machinery has been a proud member of FTMA for many years.
More information on FTMA can be found here www.ftma.co.nz
