Press Release
The IET have published a press release about the guide featuring endorsements from Dame Judith Hackitt and James Talman (CEO of the National Federation of Roofing Contractors).
Read it here: Manufacturers must embrace digitisation to ensure safer construction industry
Guide Launch Event 6 November UK Construction Week
The Guide was launched at an oversubscribed session at UK Construction Week at the NEC on 6th October. You can download it here.
The guide is available in a full 40-page version and as an 8-page summary and 2-page key facts flyer.
Digital Pitfalls Panel Session
The following day we were invited to host a panel session on the UKCW Main Stage. This session was an opportunity for us to take a deep dive into data ownership, security and control, and again was well attended.
Our panelists were:
- Paul Surin, Chair Construction Products Europe Digitalisation and IBM
- Patricia Massey, Digital Technology Manager, BEAMA
- John Patsavellas, Senior Lecturer in Manufacturing Management, Cranfield University
- Knut Jøssang, Product Manager Digital Solutions, Pipelife Norway
- Jamie Mills, Global BIM Manager, Xylem Inc and BIM4Water
- Su Butcher, Director Just Practising Ltd (chair)
We were very grateful to the panelists for making the effort to join us in person at such a challenging time for travel, particularly international travel.
The session explored a range of challenges faced by manufacturers and distributors and discussed how these could be approached:
The session was videoed and will be published on IET.tv; we’ll let you know when it is live for you to watch back.
Upcoming Events
We have already been approached by several trade associations to talk to their members either in private or via webinar.
Here are some of the events we have planned.
Where further information is available a link is provided.
- Kalzip TeamKal – Cheshire. Duncan Reed of the UK BIM Alliance is speaking at this event and will be introducing the Guide to Kalzip’s prestigious specialist contractor and partner manufacturer network.
- Digital Manufacturing Week 2021, Liverpool – On 11 November at 10am we’ll be speaking at The Manufacturer’s Smart Factory Expo event at Exhibition Centre Liverpool. This will be a discussion with members of the editorial board and we plan to record it.
- Finishes and Interiors Sector Webinar, 17 November, Noon. We’ll be presenting to FIS members and discussing the challenges for the sector with CEO Iain McIllwee.
- Builders Merchants Federation Digital and Technology Forum Webinar, 23 November, 10.55. Paul will be presenting on "The Value of the Data in Digital Supply Chain" with reference to the Plain Language Guide
- SpecifiedBy Webinar, 26 November 11am. Introduction and discussion of the guide with Darren Lester and manufacturers from the SpecifiedBy network.
- Building Engineering Services Assocation, Webinar, 2 December, Noon. We’ve been invited to talk about the guide as part of BESA’s renowned webinar series.
- Construction Products Europe - 16 December, Details to follow
- BEAMA Webinar – Details to come. BEAMA is the UK trade association for manufacturers and providers of energy infrastructure technologies and systems and is a supporter of the Guide.
In addition, we are planning a major in person event at the IET in the new year and have been invited to speak at FutureBuild in March.
Join our LinkedIn Group
To support manufacturers who will be implementing digitisation in their organisation, the IET has set up a dedicated LinkedIn group: Digitisation for Construction Product Manufacturers. You can join the group here.
Subscribe to the Blog
We’ll continue to share useful information on this blog including announcements of future plans and activities you can be involved in. If you haven’t already please subscribe by clicking the purple ‘please log in button’ at the top of the page to register to receive email notifications.
Ask us to speak at your event
The IET Built Environment Panel is happy to present the guide and talk about digitisation of construction product information to your organisation, trade association or conference.
Contact us at sep@theiet.org with the subject heading Plain Language Guide to discuss further.
Many thanks to all of you for your participation in our calls, for sharing your thoughts with us and for supporting the development of the guide.
If you have any questions about the guide or would like to discuss it, please get in touch.