Over the next ten years, hundreds of thousands of homes must be delivered in the Netherlands. Without industrialisation, this ambition is unachievable. Timber construction offers significant opportunities, but also raises strategic, operational and financial questions. VORM faced a key challenge: how do you build a scalable and future-proof timber construction organisation in a market characterised by uncertainty?

Data-driven strategy development

As part of this trajectory a comprehensive business plan was developed, based on multiple market and growth scenarios. External market data were combined with analyses of cost structures, value chains and investment options.

The analyses showed that forecasts for timber construction vary widely from  10% to 30% market share by 2030. This required a strategy that does not optimise for a single outcome, but remains robust and relevant across multiple scenarios.

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Strategic trade-offs

A core element of the project was making the key strategic choices explicit, analysing them and quantifying their impact.

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• Where to play?

Clear target markets were defined based on market developments, distinctive capabilities and strategic ambition.​

• How to play?

Should the organisation position itself primarily as a developer, contractor, value-chain orchestrator or timber construction brand? And how might this role evolve over time?

• Value chain & cost structure.

Industrial timber construction requires standardisation and value-chain integration to remain competitive. The entire value chain was analysed to identify where value is created and where risks arise.​

• Make-partner-or-buy & investment model

Strategic choices around in-house production versus collaboration with value-chain partners were explicitly assessed.

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Positioning and product portfolio

Developers and contractors often perceive timber construction as high-risk due to uncertainty around costs, buildability and delivery reliability. At the same time, they are under pressure to deliver on housing supply and sustainability ambitions set by their clients.

Timberfy differentiates itself through advanced parametric and automated engineering capabilities. This enables the company to provide up to 95% cost and buildability certainty during the tender phase.

Based on this positioning, three product–market combinations were defined: Standardised Housing, Flexible (high variability in dimensions and options), and High-end bespoke solutions. In addition, an end-to-end service portfolio was developed to fully support clients throughout the process.

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Business case

Based on the growth scenarios, overhead costs were mapped and cost estimates were developed for different housing typologies, covering materials, engineering, production, transport and assembly. In parallel, cost-reduction pathways were defined under assumptions of value-chain optimisation. 

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Strategy roadmap and OGSM execution

The long-term vision was translated into a multi-year strategic roadmap, showing how the portfolio, organisation and investments are developed in phases and where key strategic decision points arise. The strategy was then converted into an OGSM framework, with KPIs,  initiatives and timelines for the first 18 months.

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Culture

Traditional project-driven housing development is giving way to modular and industrial production methods. This requires a fundamental shift within the construction sector, with implications reaching all the way to board level at both contractors and property developers.

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Would you like to learn more about how we help organisations become more strategic? Read more on our OGSM page or get in touch with WhatMatterZ.