It’s fast, safe, and cost-effective. Now, Europe’s top offsite and prefab manufacturers are leading the way in using zero-labour robots to assemble floor and wall panels for low-rise and mid-rise timber housing in factories before delivering it “flat pack” on site, like IKEA furniture.
According to Andrew Dunn, CEO of the Australian-based Timber Development Association, machine-trained robots could be an answer to Australia’s tradie squeeze, which saw 27,000 or more tradies exit the industry last year, at a time when Australia has a shortfall of more than 115,000 workers just to meet the Albanese government’s housing targets.
“It is clear where the world is going in manufacturing, and the tour saw a glimpse of it,” Dunn said. “Amazingly, not a single Allen key was to be seen. But unlike most IKEA furniture kit-of-parts, apartments built at these factories come pre-assembled, probably a huge relief for purchasers.”
Speaking to Wood Central, Dunn said that Australia’s push to embrace modern methods of construction (MMC) is gathering steam, with Dunn joining Wood Central publisher Jason Ross to lead a new study tour that shows how the world’s most advanced timber construction systems can work in Aussie conditions.
“The 10-day tour is for architects, engineers, developers, and construction professionals to gain a far greater understanding of how ‘industrialised timber construction’ can short-circuit the major roadblocks to construction,” Dunn said. “We want to learn from the best overseas and create a model that is fit for purpose for Australia and our building standards.”
Starting in the United Kingdom, which Dunn said offers the closest parallel to Australia’s long-established timber-frame and truss supply chain, delegates will then travel to Sweden, where they will gain exclusive access to some of the world’s largest and most impressive prefab manufacturing facilities: “These are facilities and projects you simply cannot tour around,” Dunn said. “We’re talking about world‑leading timber modular fabrication plants — the places shaping the future of global timber construction.”
Learn more about the Wood Central European Study Tour.
The 10-day tour – the first to be co-hosted by Wood Central – is open for up to 25 delegates and will occur in mid-September, subject to an expression of interest period. “We are inviting interested groups to register through our booking website,” Ross said, adding that interest in the tour is expected to be oversubscribed. “That’s because interest in offsite and prefab construction is sky high in Australia, and we know that timber systems – whether lightweight or mass timber – are the ‘sweet spot’ for modern methods of construction,” he said.
In October, Wood Central revealed that the Albanese government and its forest products industry are backing a plan to turn forest fibre into prefabricated timber housing, betting that an IndustryEdge-led project, THE PRECINCT, can use MMC to solve its housing crisis.
Officially known as the “Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Strategy and Feasibility to Catalyse Large‑Scale Prefabricated Dwelling Adoption,” THE PRECINCT is a multi‑year, multi‑phase feasibility project backed by Australian Forest & Wood Innovations (AFWI) and is aimed at scaling engineered wood products, prefabricated dwellings and bio‑based co‑products so Australia keeps the value of its timber at home rather than shipping low‑value fibre offshore.
“IndustryEdge is grateful for the opportunity to lead development of The Precinct project, and we thank AFWI and the Federal Government for the commitment and major contributions,” according to Tim Woods, Managing Director of IndustryEdge. “Most of all, we want to thank the industry, research and community partners we have worked with over several years to bring this project into being.”
- To learn more about the study tour, click here for Wood Central’s special feature from last week.
