14 minute read
Meinhardt EPCM
SHAPING FUTURE CITYSCAPES
Meinhardt EPCM Group operates at the centre of the Southeast-Asian construction industry. We go behind the scenes with Mr. Vinesh Natali, Global Head and Director of the company to learn more
Singapore represents the future of the urban space.
Existing as a city, nation and state, the island makes up roughly 275 square-miles of land that is home to a collective and diverse population of over five million people.
Known globally as the “Garden City”, over 50 percent of Singapore is made up of green space, and as a hub of international business it is the operational centre of many giants in the construction industry, such as globally renowned Meinhardt EPCM.
“The construction industry in Singapore has always been robust and balanced with good regulatory practises and controls in place,” begins Mr. Vinesh Natali, Global Head and Director of Meinhardt EPCM Group (Meinhardt EPCM). “Over the last two years due to COVID-19, the construction industry has been impacted due to lockdowns and the slowdown in capital investments into projects. Fuelling this has also been the limited labour and materials supply from neighbouring countries posing challenges on the construction industry.
Mr. Vinesh Natali, Global Head and Director
Consumer Experience is King
It goes without saying that for most retailers, the compass to base their course of action on is the consumer. Consumers dictate how they want to make a purchase: where and when they shop, how they pay, how and when it is delivered, and what after-sales service they would like to receive. Yet although in many cases consumers are a retailer’s true worth, it is far from certain what consumers want exactly. Whereas 10 years ago, retailers were looking into multi-channel solutions, soon to be followed by cross-channel retailing solutions, this is now irrevocably passé.
Today, it is all about the consumer experience. The in-store consumer experience is what sets one store apart from the other, and we see that consumers are shifting their spending priorities from product to experience. According to Shep Hyken, “consumer experience rises to the top of whether or not the consumer will decide to keep doing business with a brand.” Regardless of the communication and sales channels used, consumers expect flawless service, they expect to be known and served “on demand”.
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The Future of Retail is Consumer Centric
Consumer-centric retail entails so much more than simply ‘doing what the customer wants’. In today’s modern, digitised world, it’s all about creating a positive experience at the point-of-sale and post-sale. So you’ve got to truly understand your consumers in order to define, build and fine-tune their individual experiences. The future of retail is highly personalized across every touchpoint—digital and physical— it’s a world in which you have the ability and the knowledge to engage with your consumers wherever and whenever it’s most relevant for them, and for you.
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APAC OUTLOOK:
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR CAREER PAST AND ENTRY INTO THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR?
VINESH NATALI, GLOBAL HEAD
AND DIRECTOR: “I started off my career in engineering after graduating with a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of New South Wales in Australia in 1992. Following my graduation, I moved to New Zealand where my first job landed me into construction of a new Engineering Woods Manufacturing Plant in Gisborne.
“From New Zealand, I then moved to Indonesia to work in the mining and mineral processing industry where I was exposed to newer processes and challenges. I was fortunate to be surrounded by some very good mentors and capable professionals who helped and guided me towards the construction industry. “In 2007 I moved to Singapore from New Zealand and worked on some of the largest developments in the country at the time where I was able to apply engineering and construction knowledge. Until 2014, I continued to work across the Southeast-Asian region working on various projects for multiple clients and held key account relationships. “In 2015, I joined Meinhardt and spearheaded the EPCM group for Meinhardt EPCM business which now spans seven countries (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Philippines and Malta) with over 450 professionals across the business. We have strengthened the business across the several sectors specific to each country and introduced new expertise into the group.”
“Fortunately, as part of its construction roadmap, Singapore has been introducing ways of minimising reliance on the construction workforce and improving productivity through modern methods of construction such as prefabricated prefinished volumetric construction (PPVC) and design for manufacture and assembly (DFMA) construction techniques, enabling faster construction with optimal manpower.”
OPERATING IN EPCM
Meinhardt EPCM is part of the international Meinhardt Group and provides end-to-end services in the areas of engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM). The EPCM business was established and commenced operations in 2016 in Singapore and very rapidly expanded into six other countries, namely Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Malta, and more recently Pakistan and the Philippines.
“The EPCM group employs more than 450 permanent members of staff,” Mr. Natali adds. “We have a high diversity of cultures and ages throughout the workforce, and through careful management and implementation of our inclusivity policies, they have each become loyal Meinhardtians.”
For Mr. Natali, along with this regulatory augmentation, buildability and constructability requirements as part of the approvals process have forced engineers to think more broadly on standardisation and modularity for faster, environmentally friendly and safer ways of building. To support this environmental compliance, a significant amount of construction is done offsite where safety, pollution and waste can be controlled within stricter guidelines.
“Our client base includes several notable multinational corporations (MNCs) operating globally and in the region who are looking for one stop solutions such as Meinhardt,” says Mr. Natali. “We currently service largely private clients from the oil and gas, mobility, energy, minerals processing, food and beverage, automotive, advanced manufacturing, semiconductor and logistics sectors. We also work with public sector clients on infrastructure projects in Malta and India.
“We have in the past year enhanced our offerings into the renewables sectors and smart solutions around energy management and optimisation.”
Over a decade, Diebold Nixdorf has been a strategic technology partner to Shell, a global group of energy and petrochemical companies, and Meinhardt Group, one of the most respected Asian-based engineering companies in the world, for projects across multiple global markets. With multiple countries taking a pledge to reduce the carbon footprint also in accordance to the recent Paris summit, Shell has charted big aspirational plans to reduce their business dependence just on the conventional Bio Fuel. They plan big on growth of business in the Non-Fuel Retail and EV charging space. Shell also recently appointed Meinhardt Group, one of the most respected Asian-based engineering companies in the world as their EPCM partners. To achieve these goals, Shell sees Diebold Nixdorf and Meinhardt as strategic partners to complement the needs and processes. While Diebold Nixdorf is transforming the forecourt experiences for customers Meinhardt is managing the engineering, procurement, and setup of fuel stations.
The longstanding experience of Diebold Nixdorf in the retail segment and more open, more modular and more available technology solutions and services are key elements for successful partnerships like this. As a world leader in driving connected commerce, Diebold Nixdorf is designing, enabling and operating relevant consumer and staff journeys. As a partner to global key retailers the company’s solutions connect digital and physical channels conveniently, securely and efficiently for millions of consumers each day. In addition to a well-established traditional business relationship, each partnership also allows Diebold Nixdorf to co-innovate and co-create new customer and staff journeys in response to the fast-paced changes in today’s market environment.
Consumers in every market are getting more progressive than what businesses, particularly in the retail industry, think they are. The rise of “on-demand”, tech-enabled, and digitally informed consumers have prompted retailers to change the way they offer their products to the market. With the global pandemic, retailers are also taking up the challenge of addressing the consumers’ need to control and manage their own transactions in their purchases.
Vipin Kalra, Vice President and Managing Director for Asia Pacific Retail at Diebold Nixdorf puts it in a tangible way: “Diebold Nixdorf’s latest self-service solutions enable retailers to provide a variety of options, based on their individual business and checkout model. For instance, outdoor payments at the forecourt, integrated e-wallets on mobile phones, a security scale, a designated basket shelf, and cash or noncash payment. Behind the hardware is the software resource that connects the dots – the store’s point of sale, back office, stock, CRM system, and many other financial systems in the back end. Therefore, we are offering a new cloud-native solution that ensures higher operational efficiencies for the retailers and better, consistent experiences for consumers across different engagement channels.”
Learn more how Diebold Nixdorf solutions help keep your stores relevant at the intersection of physical and digital consumer journeys here.
EXPANSION AND DEVELOPMENT
With what hopes to be the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic in the past, Meinhardt EPCM is moving forward into 2022 with an array of projects to carry out.
In 2017, Meinhardt EPCM was appointed by Shell Indonesia as its mobility business partner. The company currently provides EPCM services to Shell Indonesia mostly in the eastern part of the country on Java Island.
“Meinhardt EPCM provides engineering of the retail outlets starting at feasibility, cost estimation, contract management, design of the buildings and the fuel systems on the sites, design of photo voltaic (PV) solutions and electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, procurement, capital expenditure (capex) management, construction management and health and safety,” Mr. Natali tells us. “We have delivered Meinhardt EPCM’s global expansion into South America, and an exciting future in the region.
“On top of this, we are servicing a number of sectors for various international clients operating their facilities within Malaysia,” Mr. Natali explains. “We operate both in the east and west of Malaysia in the areas of mobility, food and beverage, logistics, advanced manufacturing and hi-tech plants. We are now also servicing datacentre clients with their requirements regarding datacentre development as well as technology firms in the area of digitalisation.”
over 50 retail outlets in Indonesia itself and have been firmly expanding our delivery into the city of Medan starting this year.
“In Indonesia, our team is about 85 strong on the ground and is supported by our Centre of Excellence Team, to not only help deliver the yearly programmes but also to infuse creativity and innovation into our delivery. Our excellence in delivery is hallmarked by speed and safety and we have had a sterling record in both respects.”
Meinhardt EPCM has recently been awarded a project in Brazil to undertake the feasibility of a new steel plant. This is a new process and technology to be introduced by the client, and the company’s teams in India are engaged to undertake the unique project, demonstrating the expertise developed inside the company itself in the materials handling and minerals processing sector. This project also represents
INVESTING IN THE PEOPLE
Equally, Meinhardt EPCM is focused on internal investments. The company has several development programmes that have seen staff trained in hard and soft skills, health, safety, security and environment (HSSE), procurement, ethics and compliances, behavioural
Deliver Quality Product On Time Meet Customer And Regulatory Requirements Customer Satisfaction And Continual Improvement Over 40 years of Experience
We are always aiming to exceed customer expectations and provide creative solutions to meet any kind of demand. Keeping up with the emerging trends, market needs and combining them with our technical and creative expertise…
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programmes, negotiations and client management, project management, and communications.
“When we started our business, we very carefully chose our staff giving them a platform of opportunity to grow with us as the company grew,” Mr. Natali elaborates. “Many of them came with good industry experience and coupled with our business we were able to fuse their aspirations and expectations to form a winning partnership.
“Over the years we have given our staff freedom and flexibility to exercise their thought within the strategic opportunities and aspirations of the company. This flexibility has provided a very lean and agile workforce that is capable of thinking outside the box to tackle any undertakings successfully.”
More recently, Meinhardt EPCM has introduced staff wellness programmes allowing interactions remotely amongst staff through, for example, the gamification of work.
“A programme we have recently introduced is “Howdy Meinhardt” which allows staff at any level to meet with management and discussion various topics of interest,” Mr. Natali continues. “This allows for closer bonding between management and staff.
“Our supply chain expects a certain level of conduct, and our training programmes align this with the expectations of our clients.”
FUTURE GROWTH
As for the years ahead, Meinhardt EPCM has placed its focus on a handful of key priorities to expand and diversify the business. Firstly, the company is planning to restructure within 2022 to pave the way for successful growth and in-country leadership.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR)
Meinhardt EPCM has been undertaking a number of CSR practices in India helping the homeless in need of basic amenities such as blankets and clothing. The company has also undertaken a public education project with its contractors in Bangalore for Traffic and Road Safety, that relates to building awareness around road safety. “As part of our clients’ ambitions, Meinhardt EPCM is aligned to design solutions within our projects for our clients to achieve Net ZERO and Low Carbon targets. Meinhardt is undertaking several projects which have resulted in achieving the sustainability targets and also certifications for LEED and Greenmark” - Vinesh Natali, Global Head and Director, Meinhardt EPCM Group
“As mentioned before, we are also expanding into the Americas, and on top of this, we will be diversifying our EPCM services through setting up a construction focus targeted at the mobility sector,” Mr. Natali tells us. “Embracing technology as part of our business continuity plan has been in play over the last two years. Meinhardt EPCM has continued to operate at full speed over this period due to the technology in place to conduct work with remotely located teams. Whether it was with clients based in another country to conduct meetings or to give instruction and review progress on sites, our technology platforms allowed us to continue our business operations successfully.
“We also embraced building information modelling (BIM) and virtual reality (VR) in our projects to allow better visuals, team coordination and seamless client approvals.”
Tel: +65 6273 5255 / +65 6274 0788 info@meinhardt.com.sg www.meinhardt.com.sg
