CPAC Modular Visit

A fresh start

Skillnet MMC Accelerate’s series of in-person Business Support events kicked off at CPAC Modular in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath, with a selection of thought-provoking presentations, plenty of networking opportunities, and a site visit to the CPAC student accommodation build facility.  It was the perfect start to a programme that will bring people together and promote discussion and problem-solving around MMC adoption and upskilling.  

After a welcome address by Mark Whitehead, Construction Director at CPAC Modular, speakers included Liz Thomas, Strategic Programmes Consultant at Skillnet Ireland, Tony Woods, MD of Midland Steel, Alan Hore, Director of CitA and Project Lead of the Skillnet MMC Accelerate Scheme, Annette Hughes, Director of Strategy and transactions at EY, and Jandré Oosthuizen, Director of Operations and Materials at Harcourt Technologies (HTL).  

Thomas addressed attendees on the topic of developing national talent in the sector, and gave a round-up of the various Skillnet Ireland programmes covering MMC, BIM and other specialties. She emphasised how crucial upskilling will be if MMC are to be harnessed to their fullest, and pointed out some of the difficulties the sector is having. Among them, for example, is the lack of a secure pipeline of MMC tenders, and the loss of workers in the 35-40 age bracket (particularly in the ‘wet trades’) who could be redeployed in the MMC sector. She also went into more detail about the Skillnet MMC Accelerate platform and what it will bring to the table.  

Woods’ topic was ‘MMC: The Future for Irish Construction’, in which he summarised the multiple reasons why the shift to MMC makes sense – among them safety, efficiency, waste reduction, cost etc. He also enumerated some of the steps that will help get the sector there.

Hore spoke about CitA’s plans for delivering Skillnet MMC Accelerate, as well as progress to date on MMC training. As of September 2024, for example, CitA had already supported some 110 organisations via CitA Skillnet funding. This translated into the training of just under 400 employees, with about 3,000 training days delivered in the first half of the year alone. He also summarised CitA’s strategy for making the Skillnet MMC Accelerate platform a reality in 2025, and highlighted the importance of partnerships and collaboration across the industry in bolstering progress.  

Hughes discussed some of the key findings of the recent EY report on future skills needs in MMC. Among the recommendations that emerged were, for example, more senior management training in order to fully embed MMC practices, the development of new roles and the retention of labour, increased use of digital and AI tools, and the removal of any barriers the industry faces in relation to MMC training.  

Oosthuizen, spoke to attendees about HTL’s work on Ireland’s first ever 3D-printed social housing, recently completed in Co Louth. The pioneering project reaped numerous benefits including, as Oosthuizen outlined, a vastly increased delivery speed, less labour, improved accuracy and quality, a more sustainable and less wasteful process, and greater certainty and predictability in terms of both time and cost.