Report from Budma 2018
From January 30 to February 2, 2018, our Association participated in the BUDMA International Architecture and Construction Fair. In pavilion 3A, where our stand was located, craft shows were held, as well as professions related to the floor coverings industry. Particularly noteworthy was the Polish Championships of Young Parquet Floorers. This organized event has been focusing the visitors' attention for many years. We are very happy that as an Association we could support the competition organized by The Polish Parquet Floor Association with the President, Dariusz Kozera, at the forefront.
The second important event was the edition of the vocational training program for the floor coverings industry. This is an innovative project that was recently created in our Association as a response to the growing problems caused by the lack of qualified employees. We presented the project among people who quite widely represented our industry. Among others, the industry information website Myfloor, the Manufacturers Uzin Utz Poland, Forbo, Murexin, Janser Poland, as well as representatives of distribution and service companies such as Aximo, Budmarkus, Robi, Matrax, Coniveo and Witan participated in the more than an hour-long presentation and discussion.
The project was presented by the President of the Association, Tomasz Urbański, and Przemysław Sołtysiak, a member of the Consultative Council. The gentlemen first presented information about the market and the current situation of the industry. It has been shown that the problem of the lack of qualified employees has been intensifying for several years and that it will probably continue to deepen. The proposal to implement a comprehensive training program could improve this situation. Following this, the range of individual training stages was shown. An undoubted novelty in the presented program was not only a wide range of courses teaching the art of installing elastic and carpet coverings but also hard floors, and courses related to the preparation of sales representatives for work.
The majority of those present agreed that there are no such programs in our country, and that the implementation of this project would be beneficial for all industry participants, i.e. not only service companies but also commercial companies and manufacturers. A few weeks ago, six manufacturers declared their readiness to authorize this program, so that it would be a coherent, standardized program that could train future employees at a high level. Tarkett joined first, and they were followed by Forbo, Gerflor, Murexin, Mapei and Uzin. We will soon provide information about the next stages of the program’s development and its basic assumptions.
Our representatives spent the remaining time in Budma taking part in dozens of meetings with people visiting our stand. Several companies declared their willingness to cooperate and join the Association. The exact results of these meetings will be measurable in the future, but at this moment we can say that we have received a lot of positive feedback related to the proposals of our organization's activities.