Established 20 years ago, Trade Fabrication Systems (TFS) Ltd has been providing innovative solutions and added value opportunities to the UK timber trade from inception. Building on the successful development of ‘peel clean’ protection to chipboard flooring in the early 1980s the business has evolved into a multi-faceted B2B service provider.

Whilst some companies have remained focused on core activities and products TFS has been planning for the future and investing in people, plant and equipment in order to remain the go-to partner for many of the world’s leading panel product producers. Quality is critical to the company’s success and it recently achieved the latest Quality Standard, BSEN ISO 9001:2015. This, it says, underlines its commitment to providing clients with the confidence to use its services whilst entrusting TFS with their substrates.

“A successful partnership has to be ‘win-win’, said Howard Morris, managing director. “Independent auditing via organisations such as the British Board of Agrément (BBA), both for client branded and own branded products, the Wood Protection Association (WPA) and Warrington Exova to name a few, enables us to confidently portray ourselves a leading B2B processor of panel and timber products.”

The journey has not always been straightforward, he added, but adversity has made the company stronger.

“The recession of 2007/2008 taught us a few lessons, the main one being the absolute need for diversity,” said Mr Morris. “It is said that there is nothing as ‘constant as change’, be that the economic climate, customer contacts, legislation, pricing, competitor activity and so on. Whilst we would not claim to have been comfortable, the recession was a wake-up call for our business.”

Since 2009 TFS has developed products and procedures to enrich its offering to an increasingly diverse customer base. In addition to serving the needs of major panel producers and distributors via BBA-certified products, TFS has invested in own brand certification – both for BBA flooring and fire certification.

Product development

Off-site manufacturing has become the go-to solution to the skills shortage and the need to speed up the construction process. The opportunities this presents have not been wasted on TFS and factory finishing of panel, timber and cement-based substrates has become an increasingly integral part of the ex-works offering.

TFS has invested heavily in its coating facility to provide high quality exterior and interior eco-friendly finishes to any RAL colour. This has included the ability to offer both prime only and fully finished mouldings/ linings packaged for retail or plot lots.

Timber frame construction has increased its market share for the aforementioned reasons – speed and skills shortage. TFS developed pre-bonded breather membrane patented technology for the timber frame sector nearly 20 years ago. This has evolved into the application of pre-bonded reflective membranes, which only require tape jointing to significantly increase air tightness and thermal performance of external walls.

Mezzanine floor finishes have been part of the TFS stable for a number of years but have been expanded to offer a more diverse range of slip resistant decorative patterns to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding warehouse and distribution sectors. Included in this range is Class 0 film lamination to the underside of panels and UV or polyurethane slip-resistant top surfaces.

Unfortunately, it has taken some horrific disasters to bring a focus on the use of fire protection in buildings. TFS has spent a number of years examining fire-retardant treatments available in the UK and this has concluded in the belief that truly independent verification procedures have to be in place to support any manufacturers claims of performance.

Following extensive collaboration with the WPA, in 2017 TFS was recognised by the organisation for its quality procedures with the award for best Wood Protection Processor in the UK. This has been followed up by TFS’s accreditation for the WPA FR Build Benchmark scheme. This provides specifiers with the assurance that any WPA Certified for Approval FR treatment has been factory applied in strict observance of the manufacturer’s recommendations.

TFS has also worked closely with PFS Coatings Ltd and a recent joint project saw the development of ProStructFR, a new coating for panel products that uses a blend of chemistries that react to mitigate fire growth when applied to specified spruce and pine 18mm plywoods (see boxed text). The product was shortlisted in the recent TTJ Awards in the Timber Innovation category, which is joint-sponsored by TRADA and Timber Expo.

TFS’s product portfolio also includes a pre-finished interior and exterior door offering.

“Grey is the new black – the penchant for grey exterior doors and windows has taken the market by storm,” said Mr Morris.

“Following that up in the interiors sector has been somewhat slower. Today’s professionals are looking for ‘smart casual’ not traditional white in their homes. We can provide factory finishing of doors to any RAL within 48 hours on customer-supplied door blanks. Supplying them fully finished or prime/undercoat protective wrapped for ease of storage and damage resistance provides the developer with another feature to attract home buyers.”

Within the next few months that service will be enhanced further with pre-cut hinge and lock-plates, leading to further time and cost savings, added Mr Morris.

The future for TFS looks bright, said Mr Morris. “We will continue to stretch the boundaries of effective B2B relationships – be that international manufacturing corporations or independent merchant and distributors.

“Adam Morris, our newly appointed business development manager, supported by our ‘old hand’ Mike Love, our customer services manager (who joined us on day one 20 years ago) in conjunction with a dedicated highly customer-focused team retain an appetite for continued growth.”

PFS and TFS Collaborate on coating

Fraser Peett, managing director of PFS Coatings, says declaring performance is key and that buyers should not be afraid to ask ‘awkward’ questions

ProStructFR is a relatively new coating for panel products developed in the UK jointly by TFS and PFS Coatings and supported by the DTI Smart Initiative.

Unlike other treatments developed around the old BS476 standards Class 0, Class 1 and so on, the team started by studying very carefully the then new EN13501-1 classification standard. The new standard combined two tests and many metrics, the most important to the market of which was Class B. Particular attention was given to the requirements within EN16755 regarding the coating durability (INT2 being the standard to meet), coupled with the requirements of EN13986, which dealt with the characteristics, evaluation, conformity and marking of panels for CE marking purposes.

An extensive research and development programme was carried out under the guidance and expert opinion of BM TRADA/Chiltern Fire and Warrington Fire (now Exova).

“The key objective was to develop a factory applied coating that would achieve Euro Class B and be s1 (low smoke and toxicity) and d0 (no flaming droplets) and have maximum field of use and be highly durable for use in humid conditions and, uniquely, still remain structural,” said Fraser Peett, managing director of PFS Coatings.

“To cap it all, the ambition was that it be a cost effective alternative to existing products and with the additional benefit of short lead times. An extra benefit is that customers retain the choice of a single or double sided treatment.”

The intrinsic problem for pressure impregnation has always been that it improves the reaction to fire but simultaneously removes the structural integrity of the board, taking each and every board that enters the pressure tank from structural to non-structural.

“This didn’t seem so important back in the day, but now the legal obligation to publish a Declaration of Performance (DoP) highlights this flaw and there’s nowhere to hide,” said Mr Peett.

“Other products available in the market, may be structural and may have excellent fire classification, but are they durable?” he added. “The fact is, the mix of salts used are highly soluble, which is good when being applied but not so good when they sweat out again due to climatic changes.

“It’s all well and good if the inner veneers retain the salts, but the outer veneers are the vital first response to the fire and they can ignite and spread the fire across the room if the top layer of FR has disappeared.”

ProStructFR uses a tough external coat that holds in the FR to the top layer whilst maintaining the integrity of the wood veneer. The EN16755 Classification for interior humid/exterior protection means that the performance is proven against both mass loss whilst inhibiting mould growth.

“All the information any buyer needs when purchasing FR treated products is contained in the DoP that should be readily available from your supplier,” said Mr Peett.

“Buyers beware – do not accept bits of information and marketing literature masquerading as official documentation or indicative tests that claim full classification. If in doubt, walk away.”

ProStructFR is currently available from TFS, which is applying the coating to 18mm Finnish spruce plywood.

Other substrates, widths and finishes will soon be added to the range.