ETIM UK, a joint venture between the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) and the Electrical Distributors’ Association (EDA), was back at Digital Construction Week 2023 recently, drawing a large audience to the Main Stage for a panel discussion chaired by Dame Judith Hackitt on the topic of ‘Why standardised product data and building safety are inextricably linked’. The panellists were all senior leaders representing the key players in the construction supply chain:
- Manufacturer: Nico Van Der Merwe, CEO, Signify UK and Ireland (formerly Philips Lighting)
- Merchant: Frank Elkins, Chief Operating Officer, Travis Perkins Plc
- House Builder: Angus Macdonald, Founder and CEO, Galion
- Major Contractor: Stephen Jeffery, Chief Technical Officer, Mace
Introducing the session, Dame Judith emphasised that the UK is moving into a different phase of building safety – that of implementation, with digital technologies being used to support that implementation process, warning too that those businesses which are slow to adapt could be left behind.
John Newcomb, CEO at the BMF said “We were delighted to see a full house for this important debate on the importance of digitalisation in achieving building safety, and I would like to thank Dame Judith and all four of our panellists for their thoughtful and considered contributions. One of the prime take-aways of the event is the need for collaboration across the whole supply chain to drive change. High quality product data is key to successful digitalisation and we are working with materials manufacturers and builders merchants to adopt ETIM as the standard data model.”
Margaret Fitzsimons, CEO at the EDA added “We are very proud of this great example of collaboration between two trade associations with similar goals. The Electrical Distributors’ Association (EDA) and the Builders Merchants Federation Ltd have been working together since 2020 to help standardise technical product data for the good of the construction sector – the data standard is ETIM and the joint venture is ETIM UK Ltd. Today we brought together senior representatives from the supply chain to tell their data stories in a panel discussion at Digital Construction Week. We were exceptionally honoured that Dame Judith Hackitt, agreed to Chair our panel discussion that highlighted the importance of accurate, reliable and standardised data to ensure building safety.”
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