Tackling the Future of Surfacing’s Biggest Threats

BY AMY GATH

While design choices and material preferences may continually evolve, one thing is sure – as long as we’re creating buildings, we’ll need surfaces for them. It’s never been more obvious than the past few years that construction demand can significantly fluctuate across both commercial and residential settings, but overall, our industry feels largely confident in the long-term health of our sector. People will always need surfaces.

However, the future health of our industry is more complex than a simple supply-anddemand equation. The long-term success of our businesses depends on proactively acting on opportunities and threats.

Sustainable Supply Chain

It’s a simple fact that the supply of surfacing materials will continue to have a major impact on our industry, both when it comes to availability of materials and also consumer preferences. No matter the type of materials your company utilizes, now is the time to find solutions for the future, from more efficient material usage to end-product recycling programs to proactively searching for renewable, sustainable material substitutes that will set your business up for success. Considering the finite nonrenewable resources our Earth provides, we need to innovate across the industry for more sustainable supply chain solutions.

Mindful Emissions

We all know reducing our carbon footprint is the right thing to do for the planet and our people, but beyond that, it’s also smart business sense. Consumer interest in eco-friendly materials in their homes continues to grow, and businesses increasingly look to build more eco-friendly facilities to cater to investors, employees and regulators.

As we look to the future, we should expect governments around the world to continue to raise their standards for eco-friendly manufacturing and building design. For the sake of our own operations as well as equipping our customers for success, it’s in our best interest to begin investing in cleaner, more efficient operations now to make these inevitable transitions all the more seamless.

Skilled Surfacing Workforce

While many conversations about the world’s future workforce revolve around automation and artificial intelligence, most fields aren’t going away any time soon, including those at every stage of the surfacing process. From designers and architects to skilled craftspeople across manufacturing and installation, a shortage of talent at any stage of this process endangers the health of our industry.

We should all be doing our part to build and support the pipeline of future talent that will ensure our continued success. That can take shape in many ways, be it through time investment, such as mentoring students studying in the field, or financial investments, such as creating scholarships at local colleges or trades programs to make entering their chosen field more accessible for young people. At Formica, we created a student furniture design competition with financial support and industry networking opportunities for the top three winners, and it has become one of our associates’ favorite initiatives to support.

The future of surfacing is bright and it’s on us as an industry to ensure we get there. Sustainability — from materials to our workforce — should be in every company’s strategic plan for the business and industry’s success s p