ukfirst highlights supply chain issues at NBF Conference
Close to 100 delegates gathered for the new-look interactive National Bed Federation conference on 20 October. The event featured interactive group sessions and keynote speakers including John Baldwin of ukfirst.
This year’s conference – hosted by Dreams at its main warehouse facility in Wednesbury, Birmingham - focussed on supply chain management. Delegates found themselves participating in small interactive groups, working out how the NBF and its members could, by 2016, become world renowned for delivering high quality, high variety, innovative products to the market at low cost, with short lead times.
Guest speakers Mike Clare, Dreams chairman and chief executive, and John Baldwin Programme Director at ukfirst, set the scene for the delegates, with Mike highlighting some of the supply chain issues retailers face; while John highlighted the industry’s supply chain shortcomings and the kind of best practice their research has identified there is to be learnt from other sectors.
Delegates gave both key speakers excellent feedback, commenting that the event had been “very refreshing” and “the most positive in the last 20 years.” John Baldwin said: “There was an enormous amount of enthusiasm from delegates for tackling supply chain issues and the work that ukfirst is undertaking in its Fabric2furniture project was of particular interest. Many of the delegates also showed interest in ukfirst’s Lean Manufacturing programmes and I look forward to working with many NBF members in the future.”
For further information please contact Haley Flynn on 01438 777801 or email
