Success for ukfirst at The National Furniture Conference

Over 80 delegates across 54 different furniture organisations were able to hear the dissemination of the project.

The project undertaken jointly by ukfirst and LERC identifies the key issues surrounding the supply of fabric and establishes opportunities to improve the overall performance of the supply chain.

The day ran from 10am until 4pm, which included presentations and workshops from experts from the furniture industry.

The "Where are you in the Fabric Supply Chain?" workshop was run by ukfirst's programme director John Baldwin and Dr Sharon Williams from Cardiff University. They compared and contrasted different fabric supply chains and there were discussions of next steps. 

John Baldwin said "It was on open and interactive session with positive discussions from people from different organisations. However we only scratched the surface and I am looking forward to the Fabric to Furniture regional seminars." 

Bruce Lovell, Master Engineer at ukfirst ran the Lean Operationsworkshop. His workshop included a presentation of the effectiveness of lean manufacturing and an interactive game that enabled the delegates to understand the principles behind the theory.

Bruce Lovell said, "The delegates raised many questions of how different methods of lean practice could be applied to their business practice for improvement" 

The day was a great success for ukfirst as there were many discussions about the fabric supply chain and ukfirst were able to give their expert opinions.  

For more information about the day or the Fabric to Furniture Supply Chain Project regional seminars, please contact Reena Lathia on 01438 777801 or email

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