Construction & Civil Engineering issue 119 September 2015

ISSUE 119 Sept

The time is

right The key to efficiency

Industry-wide uptake of DfMA is an important part of reducing waste

Landmark zoo project First phase of £40m ‘Islands’ project opened at Chester Zoo

Modern and innovative methods of construction must be adopted to provide quick, sustainable and energyefficient homes See page 2

Learn to share

Why reliable benchmark data is so important when it comes to good energy management

contents Chairman Andrew Schofield Editor Libbie Hammond

libbie@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Art Editor Gerard Roadley-Battin Advertising Design Fleur Daniels

2 Cover story

Staff Writers Jo Cooper Andrew Dann Ben Clark

FEATURES 6 NEWS Updates and information from the construction and civil engineering market

Operations Director Philip Monument

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Research Managers Laura Watling Wayne Campbell Editorial Researchers Emily Claxton Steve Spurgeon Nick Bochmann Mark Cowles Tarjinder Kaur D’Silva Keith Hope Business Development Director David Garner Sales Director Joe Woolsgrove

Is the time right for the construction industry to embrace innovative timber technology and offsite techniques?

8 DfMA Design for manufacture and assembly could bring a step change in efficiency and waste reduction, says Mark Enzer of Mott MacDonald

10 MAJOR PROJECT

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Sales David King Mark Cawston

The 170 metre One Blackfriars Tower Concept is going to join a sequence of landmarks along the Southbank of the River Thames

13 ENERGY MANAGEMENT The industry needs to collaborate to ensure it has the data it needs to meet its energy usage aspirations

17 HEALTH AND SAFETY

Production/ Office Manager Tracy Chynoweth

Schofield Publishing Cringleford Business Centre, 10 Intwood Road, Cringleford, Norwich, NR4 6AU, U.K. Tel: +44 (0)1603 274130 Fax: +44 (0)1603 274131

2 OFFSITE CONSTRUCTION

The importance of protecting workers from UV rays and other carcinogens on site

company profiles

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20 Lancashire Double Glazing

Lancashire Double Glazing’s reputation sits atop a delivery portfolio of over a million manufactured and installed frames 25 Eastern Concrete

@cce_magazine

© 2015 Schofield Publishing Ltd

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Eastern Concrete is in a strong position in the current market, thanks to a commitment to customer service and self-sufficiency 27 Burnside Eurocyl

Burnside Eurocyl’s success can be attributed to a high level of innovation but also the high level of service and customer focused quality that is delivered

Please note: The opinions expressed by contributors and advertisers within this publication do not necessarily coincide with those of the editor and publisher. Every reasonable effort is made to ensure that the information published is accurate, but no legal responsibility for loss occasioned by the use of such information can be accepted by the publisher. All rights reserved. The contents of the magazine are strictly copyright, the property of Schofield Publishing, and may not be copied, stored in a retrieval system, or reproduced without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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offsite construction

The time is

right Is offsite construction the perfectly timed solution for the construction industry?

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he call for a quick and sustainable solution to the current housing shortage has created an opportunity for offsite construction to become a key building method to meet the demand in the housing industry.

By 2030 we will be looking at a shortage of around two million homes in the UK, if current factors such as population growth remain the same. In order to prevent this and rectify the current shortfalls, modern and innovative methods of construction must be adopted to provide quick, sustainable and energy-efficient homes.

Kingspan Timber Solutions’ Business Unit Director, Ian

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Loughnane, offers his perspective on the offsite construction in the housing industry: “Back in February 2013 the Offsite Housing Review was published by the Construction Industry Council with the help of research partners from across the sector and Government. The most striking aspect of the investigation was the broad level of agreement amongst experts that the solution to the shortfall in housing stock would require the extensive use of prefabricated building techniques.

The timber frame industry can certainly answer that call when it comes, which surely it must. The impetus required will undoubtedly be Government led but it’s not just

about the numbers. As a nation we need affordable, well designed and energy efficient homes that address the significant issues of fuel poverty and climate change.

This combination of requirements plays to the strengths of timber frame and structural insulated panels (SIPS), which deliver the sustainable solution.

“Energy efficiency doesn’t mean an explosion of high tech, expensive and ultimately obsolete eco-bling. The industry has invested heavily in getting fabric solutions that deliver high performance without the future maintenance costs that non-fabric solutions entail. This approach, synonymous with

offsite construction, focuses on the delivery of an airtight building envelope to achieve sustainable and energy efficient new homes, reducing CO2 emissions, energy consumption and associated costs. With Government targets for reducing CO2 emissions fast approaching, the importance of developing energy efficient and low carbon homes is becoming a central concern, particularly to providers of social housing, house-builders and homeowners across the UK. “In the two years since the publication of this report we have come a long way. Offsite construction technology delivers a predictable performance level,

with fewer construction defects or wasted materials. We are able to provide a marked decrease in the build time with a marked increase in the standard of build.

This combination of requirements plays to the strengths of timber technology, which offers a lowenergy design as standard.

“The more recent Construction 2025 Strategy sets out a vision for how the industry and Government will work together over the next decade to radically transform the UK construction industry. This strategy sets out some bold joint ambitions for 2025 including a 33 per cent reduction in both the initial cost of construction and the whole-life costs relating to the building, together with a 50 per cent reduction in the overall build time from inception to completion. I believe this will act as a driving force for change and those who adopt offsite construction methods will deliver volume and meet building regulations far easier than those who don’t.

“The construction of a house maximising offsite technology typically takes four to six weeks, which is nearly a quarter of the time taken by traditional methods with an average timescale of around 20 weeks, providing weather conditions permit. Offsite methods reduce the potential impact of bad weather on buildtimes and swift weatherproofing of the structures diminishes delays for follow on trades. This makes offsite construction the most viable option when working to meet the recommended increase from 100,000 homes per annum to 230,000. From a cash flow perspective shortening the cycle from outlay to sale means that ramping up volume can be achieved without the same capital employed as traditional means.

“The compounded problem of lack of delivery of housing stock during the recession is now reversing to a large pipeline of

activity where the pressure is building and the tap is about to be opened. Research finds that there are no regulatory barriers to the increased use of offsite methods and it is predicted by industry professionals that at some point there will be a ‘sea-change’ that will see offsite components increasingly being used in place of traditional site-based construction methods.

“House builders have concerns over the declining levels of traditional skills, however as a timber frame manufacturer and supplier, I recognise that new skills are required for offsite construction and gaining the right skills will offer employment opportunities for many.

“Currently the majority of house builders see no commercial reason to build in energy performance beyond meeting Part L of the Building Regulations. Indeed there is always a flurry of plot registrations to avoid the next round of increased Part L performance. Many purchasers have no clue that their new home may be five years out of date as far as energy performance is concerned. The need to bring these matters to the fore is why the BRE developed the customer facing Housing Quality Mark scheme, which includes energy performance. The sooner the house buying public begins to look at home energy running costs in the same way as car buyers look at MPG the better.

Yet to deliver improved levels of thermal performance and associated air tightness is cost effective with offsite construction and offer the potential of commercial benefits to those who wish to promote the advantages to the market. Nevertheless the trajectory of regulation sends a clear message to developers, investors and house builders that the homes of tomorrow must be sustainable.

“It is not just the housing sector

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offsite construction

that is looking to exploit the benefits of offsite construction to meet current demands. The education sector is also facing a shortage of almost 900,000 school places and the government has pledged an investment of circa £2 billion to refurbish and rebuild 277 schools. The speed and ease that offsite construction provides is crucial to fitting in with the timeline demands that are unique to schools and the academic year. That is why offsite is becoming the choice method of building in the education sector, matching similar requirements to the housing industry.

“The market is definitely showing higher levels of optimism amongst the timber offsite solution suppliers, with more positive signs of investment and an increase in activity levels.

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According to the findings of a recent survey by the Structural Timber Association, 74 per cent of the UK’s contractors, developers, architects and registered providers revealed they plan to increase specifications of structural timber due to benefits such as thermal, acoustic and sustainability performance, together with speed of build.

“The transition to a lowcarbon economy presents our industry with great opportunities for growth. Environmental considerations will transform how our buildings are constructed, what materials are used and the methods employed. I believe that we are now on the cusp of the predicted ‘sea-change’ and that the time is right for the construction industry to embrace innovative timber technology

and offsite techniques to develop better buildings at a rapid rate to enhance lives, minimise the environmental impact and reduce energy costs for occupants for many years to come.”

Kingspan Timber Solutions will be presenting a range of innovative solutions developed to deliver high performance buildings at a series of Explore Offsite events. Explore Offsite will bring together technology leaders to discuss the opportunity present for offsite construction to play a major role in the coming years. These events are aimed at attracting construction professionals and clients together with architects, surveyors, engineers; facilities managers; building product manufacturers and suppliers.

For more information please visit:

www.kingspantimbersolutions.co.uk/events.

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news

Further investment in Crewe

Store given green light Planning approval has been granted for a budget supermarket and drive through restaurant at Bradford’s multimillion pound regeneration scheme, New Bolton Woods.

The developers are currently in advanced discussions with Aldi to create the new 18,000 sq ft food store, with parking for 150 cars, a second smaller store and a drive through restaurant, which will create over 50 jobs in the area.

The ambitious £150 million New Bolton Woods scheme, which covers more than 30 hectares of land, is being jointly developed by regeneration specialists Urbo Regeneration and Bradford Metropolitan District Council, known collectively as Canal Road Urban Village Ltd (CRUVL).

The new supermarket and restaurant are part of Phase 2 of the New Bolton Woods development, which will create up to 1000 high quality homes and a new local centre comprising retail units, a primary school, crèche/nursery and health centre.

The new £6 million food store and restaurant, which have been designed by the award winning firm of Yorkshire architects The Harris Partnership, are an important step forward for the development as there are currently no local restaurants and large retail amenities close to Bolton Woods. Work on the new food store will begin later this year and it is expected to open in Autumn 2016.

Treasure discovered in Norwich

14th century skeleton discovered in archaeology dig

Archaeologists working on a £70 million development site in Norwich have discovered treasure dating back to the 14th century.

Human remains, pottery, coins, oyster shells and painted glass are amongst the findings uncovered by archaeologists, who began the excavation in May, at the St Anne’s Quarter site.

Orbit Homes, which is developing more than 400 homes on the site, has appointed Norwich Property Services (NPS) Archaeology to ensure finds are recorded and preserved.

Amongst the most treasured items discovered is a silver-gilded dress fastener, known to be at least 300 years old, which is likely to be declared as treasure trove.

Max Barnes, construction project manager at Orbit Homes, said: “It’s incredibly exciting to have discovered these historical artefacts, including some treasure. We know a lot of activity took place at this site in the Saxon era, so these items are helping us to build a better of picture of the local history.

“We are working closely with the county archaeological service and have appointed a local specialist firm to carry out the excavations, who are recording all the findings. We hope to donate the artefacts to the Norfolk Museums Service, for further study and display.”

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Global integrated property group, Goodman has invested £15 million into infrastructure improvements at Crewe Commercial Park as part of a wider plan to attract further business to the site. Part of these improvements included a new highway that was officially unveiled at a ceremony on Monday 27 July.

The new one kilometre road will connect Gresty Road with the A500. The new infrastructure at Crewe Commercial Park represents a significant investment for the Park and the local area as a whole. The site now comprises 55 acres of employment land and six acres of mixed-use land. This is in addition to 25 acres of residential land, which is now the subject of a residential planning application by housing developer Taylor Wimpey North West for the whole 25-acre plot.

Huge flood defence scheme

Above Max Barnes (left) observes skeleton with Iain Bramhill from Ingleton Wood (centre) and Pete Crawley from NPS Archeology (right)

Carillion has been appointed to develop one of the largest flood protection programmes in the UK, which will enhance the protection of Sheffield’s Lower Don Valley from major flooding.

The scheme, a £19 million flood protection project on the River Don over an eightkilometre stretch between the Wicker and the M1 motorway is already well advanced.

Channel maintenance works are already underway and design work; planning approvals and site preparation are close to completion for the physical defences.

Venue fit out starts Belfast based interior fitout company Portview has begun work on the refit of the hospitality areas in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s most recognisable venue. The Stadium is a magnificent arena that has been designed to host worldclass events long into the future, becoming, from 2016, the new home of West Ham United FC and the National Competition Centre for athletics in the UK. Stage one work is now finished and during the remainder of this year work will commence on stage two, with the fit-out of the main hospitality areas, VIP boxes, dining areas and lounges due to complete in the early part of 2016.

Portview Managing Director Simon Campbell said: “The Stadium is an important project for us, having won it against

Road procurement shake up

strong competition. It is crucial to the London Legacy that the Olympic Park lives up to expectations both for the West Ham United FC family and UK Athletics. We are confident that our experience with stadia projects and with luxury retail brands means that we can deliver the designers’ vision for this iconic sporting destination.”

Landmark zoo project Chester Zoo, the UK’s leading wildlife attraction, has opened the first phase of the landmark £40m ‘Islands’ project – the largest scheme ever undertaken by a British zoo.

On completion, the attraction will feature a manmade river, six islands recreating habitats from South East Asia, and a 3500m2 indoor rainforest. The structure – which will create the largest indoor exhibit of any UK zoo – will house species such as Sumatran orangutans, 30,000 different types of fish and Sulawesi macaques.

The scheme also boasts a relaxing 450m-boat trip linking the different island habitats. The new development will also contain education facilities and an outdoor café.

Turner & Townsend has supported the world-class by providing bespoke project management services to Chester Zoo. David Williams, Regional Managing Director, Turner & Townsend commented: “The project is a reflection of the strong alliance and teamwork between Chester Zoo and Turner & Townsend. Having worked closely with the zoo since 2011, we recognised this was far more than a construction project – and we maintained constant dialogue with all stakeholders, including curators and zookeepers, from the outset.

“The combination of our global expertise and local understanding helped us overcome the complexity of working with living plants and animals, and create truly authentic habitats for the attraction’s inhabitants.”

Amongst growing pressure to tighten purse strings and requirements to make up any road network maintenance shortfall through other funding, a newly established £578m fund – earmarked for rewarding LAs that can demonstrate efficiencies – represents a critical opportunity for councils.

The NEC3 Term Service Contract (with amendments) has been selected as the works contract at the centre of the new £6m Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme (HMEP) – a sector-led procurement suite and best practice framework established to revamp, simplify and standardise the way English Local Highway Authorities procure highway services.

Rekha Thawrani, general manager for NEC, comments: “While better roads remain a key priority for the Government, the purpose of the HMEP has been to harness the expertise of the businesses that will be procured to deliver improved highways efficiently set against a backdrop of tighter budgets, increased costs and greater demand.

“Clients and providers have worked together to provide clear direction for the highways sector, providing an enhanced suite of ready-made procurement documents that can reduce the required time, resource and cost, while benchmarking current contract performance to inform future contract delivery.

“The amended NEC3 Term Service Contract used within the programme represents a key simplifying and enabling document which promotes both efficient best practice and fair project collaboration.”

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DfMA

The keyto

efficiency?

Copyright Laing O’Rourke Imtech JV

If truly embraced across the infrastructure industry, design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA) could bring a step change in efficiency and waste reduction says Mark Enzer

D

fMA uses BIM technology to design assets and components that are manufactured in factory conditions and transported to site for safe assembly. The industrial nature of DfMA brings production line efficiencies to construction, reducing waste not only in raw materials, but in human resources, time, cost and carbon too.

Broad take-up of DfMA could help the industry achieve the ambitious targets set out in Construction 2025, the UK Government’s blueprint for the construction industry, which includes a 33 per cent reduction in initial and whole life cost

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of assets, 50 per cent faster delivery and 50 per cent lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Reducing material waste to landfill With an estimated 25 per cent of all construction materials ending up in landfill sites, the most obvious waste-related benefit of DfMA is its ability to cut material waste.

The accuracy of manufacturing avoids the waste of over-ordered raw materials seen in traditional construction projects, and allows for cost-effective recycling of unavoidable process waste.

As well as avoiding material waste from unused resource on site, DfMA can also facilitate material savings in project design.

For example, the expansion of the Davyhulme Wastewater Treatment Works in Manchester will see more than 5000 precast elements used for 17 new water treatment tanks and a new activated sludge plant (one of the largest of its kind) as well as walkway bridges, walls and pipework assemblies. The use of precast, pre-stressed concrete wall panels and post-tensioning strands around the tank perimeter (within cast-in ducts) allows the wall panels to be thinner than if the wall were constructed using traditional reinforced concrete cast onsite. The use of prefabricated elements will result in a saving in concrete and steel reinforcements of between 10 and 20 per cent.

Reducing time spent on site The use of precast panels on Davyhulme is expected to cut project delivery by three months, highlighting another of the key waste-cutting benefits of DfMA: the fact that replacing onsite construction with onsite assembly is far quicker. Indeed, we have found that when compared to traditional construction methods, working with prefabricated elements can bring time savings of 50-90 per cent.

The reduction of time spent working onsite also has health and safety benefits, as more work is completed in a safer factory setting, and many of the hazards of a building site can be reduced or avoided.

Reduction of the time spent on site also minimises disruption.

With so much work now being done on existing assets in busy or congested spaces, there is evergreater economic, political and social pressure to get the work done as quickly as possible.

Reducing design costs DfMA brings standardised designs to construction, removing the need to design the same component over and over again.

For a profession used to creating bespoke solutions, the question is: are we ready for a shift in the industry towards components that are ‘designed once and used many times’?

Clients such as Anglian Water have worked with their supply chains to develop catalogues of pre-designed and easily manufactured DfMA products that can be used many times across their programmes of work.

Mott MacDonald Bentley (MMB) is developing a catalogue of more than 80 DfMA products, predominantly for the water sector, including all the elements needed to create a sewage pumping station as well as more general components.

DfMA is a key element of the Northern Line Extension project, where precast beams, columns, lattice slabs, twin walls and other concrete elements will be precast.

Laing O’Rourke, which is leading the construction of the project, has invested heavily in DfMA with a purpose-built factory – Explore Industrial Park (EIP) – to develop precast components. As lead designers on the project, we are making use of EIP’s product catalogue in our designs.

The use of pre-developed components can lead to savings in time and human resources at the design stage. Many companies prefer not to share intellectual property, but in the water industry we are seeing initial moves towards sharing products more openly, to the benefit of client organisations and their customers – the bill-payers. But will the wider industry be brave enough to follow this example?

Reducing whole life cost and carbon DfMA brings savings to the whole life cost of assets too. BIM data for DfMA-produced elements can provide asset owners with full procurement, assembly, operation and maintenance details, allowing assets to be managed through their lifecycle.

‘Plug-in, plug-out’ modular solutions also reduce time and cost spent on maintenance.

Replacing a damaged component with an identical ‘off the shelf’ product is far more effective than traditional maintenance techniques which are costlier, more time-intensive and often cause more disruption.

DfMA can also be used innovatively to drive down the carbon footprint of components, which reduces whole life costs via improved resource and energy efficiency. The positive impact is seen throughout the DfMA process, with BIM used to design less material-intensive

components, while the logistics associated with the manufacture of DfMA components at specialised factories are more efficient than those required to bring raw materials to site.

Industry-wide uptake of DfMA is an important part of reducing the waste endemic to the industry, not just in raw materials, but also in human resources, cost and carbon. Such a move requires a change in the mind-set of the profession, as we move away from bespoke, onsite construction to designing assets formed from modular, manufactured components for onsite assembly.

However, there is another potential step for DfMA that would reduce even more waste.

At present, the industry is still wedded to the linear economy in which resources are extracted, used once and then end up in a landfill site. The real shift will see us embrace a circular economy, in which waste stops being waste, but rather becomes a resource.

In this future, assets, assemblies, components and parts need to be disassembled and repurposed.

DfMA is an important step, but its necessary evolution will be design for manufacture, assembly, remanufacture and reassembly (DfMARR), which will herald another step change in reducing construction waste.

Mark Enzer is Group Practice Manager for Water and Environment at Mott MacDonald.

Mott MacDonald is a global management, engineering and development consultancy.

One of the world’s largest employee-owned companies with over 16,000 staff, the firm has 180 offices in nearly 50 countries and projects in 150. It works on public and private sector projects in buildings, digital infrastructure, education, environment, health, industry, international development, mining, oil and gas, power, transport, urban development, water and wastewater.

For more information

visit www.mottmac.com.

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blackfriars tower

Letting in the

light SimpsonHaugh and Partners used generative design to shape the One Blackfriars Tower Concept

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ondon’s leading property developer, St. George South London, retained SimpsonHaugh and Partners to fulfill a vision for mixed-use development at the junction of Blackfriars Road and Stamford Street at the head of Blackfriars Bridge in the central London borough of Southwark. The award-winning practice, ranked among the largest and most influential in the United Kingdom by Architects’ Journal, designed the signature skyscraper One Blackfriars using GenerativeComponents, Bentley’s parametric modeling software, to set out the curved geometry of the building form, and define the relationships between internal and external facades. The 170metre tower joins a sequence of landmarks along the Southbank of the River Thames, where its minimal footprint and slender profile allow it to rise skyward without overshadowing its neighbors.

One Blackfriars presents 74,925 square metres of prime space for a 152-room boutique hotel and 274 luxury apartments, as well as retail shops, restaurants and

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bars, a health and fitness center, community viewing lounge, and underground parking. The site also makes space for a landscaped public piazza. Targeting ambitious performance standards for sustainability and energy, the tower was designed to Code for Sustainable Homes (CfSH) Level 4 whilst the hotel was designed to Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM) Rating Very Good.

Being a good neighbour In an age of austerity and popular criticism of the contemporary tower form, the introduction of another sculptural skyscraper to the Central London skyline could have been controversial. One Blackfriars achieved the balance between form and function to earn its place on the cityscape, but not without a struggle.

Conceived in 2004 as a hotelled tower, the concept for One Blackfriars eventually earned community approval and planning permission, having been tested during a public inquiry in 2008 where they were responsive to public feedback.

To stand the test of time, the

tower design needed to address form, scale, proportion, as well as deal with the recurrence of element repetition. Moreover, it had to provide a contextual response to the particular place.

The number one challenge was to establish a base at the bottom of the tower on the site without obstructing the daylight of neighboring properties. At the same time, SimpsonHaugh had a responsibility to fulfill numerous functional pragmatics of the original program. Finally, the building had to be beautiful from every aspect.

The final tower design marks the southern bridgehead of Blackfriars Bridge and is a gateway to Southwark.

SimpsonHaugh conceived a thin form with ‘shoulder blades’ on the east and west elevations that reduce its apparent width. To develop the design for this flaring shape, SimpsonHaugh developed a set of innovative tools based upon existing applications such as GenerativeComponents, Bentley Architecture (now AECOsim Building Designer), and other software that integrated with the core Bentley applications. The aim was to use the technology

to deliver the scheme with fewer people, in less time, and with fewer errors due to reworking or inaccurate co-ordination.

Building within a building SimpsonHaugh benchmarked its existing processes, team structures, and uses of technology against best practices in architecture, engineering, and other industries. For example, the design and manufacture of boat building and luxury yachts inspired the development of the building canopy. Bentley applications provided a solid platform for parametric modeling and building information modeling (BIM). SimpsonHaugh customised and enhanced the available scripts and tools to push the boundaries of what could be achieved.

The design created a doubleskin façade, where the outer leaf is a substantially transparent glass surface that traces the curved geometry of the envelope.

The solid elements of the more orthogonal inner leaf are coloured to overlay the interior volumes with a subtle variation of rendering that lightens as the building extends skyward.

The building-within-a-building concept resulted in an outer skin comprising 5496 panels – each one different from the other – including flat, single and double curved. The inner skin provided thermal lining and opacity. The building breathes through the

skin, so ventilation and solar gain had to be quantified and accommodated.

SimpsonHaugh quickly realised that the parametric model could be used to provide more than the initial building form. Development of the model allowed the team to explore the relationship between the inner and outer glazing systems, internal spaces, structural column positions, and other systems. For example, SimpsonHaugh used the model to investigate and rationalise the geometry and manufacture of the outer façade, the colouring of the glazing schemes, and the size of the shadow gaps between façade panels.

From the base geometry, SimpsonHaugh developed five modules for the external and internal façades, structure, residential areas, and the 3D surface model. External components included the tower cap, mechanical ventilation, purge ventilation, panel type drawings, setting out drawings, unwrapped elevations, and schedules. Internal components comprised unwrapped elevations; panel type, setting out, scoping, and rain screen drawings; panel wall division; and set out colours. The structure involved slab set out drawings, column set out, clash detection, slab openings, and an analysis model. Residential areas required matrix drawings, apartment types and views, area labels, and accommodation schedules.

Model exchange Panel types, analysis model, and façade zones were entered into the 3D surface model. The analysis model of the structure – comprising points, lines, and meshes – was imported directly into analysis software used by the project’s structural engineers, WSP Building Services. The results were then fed back into the parametric model, which ensured consistency and accelerated the collaborative process.

Aret Garip, WSP Building Services, said: “Bentley 3D modeling tools enabled efficient exchange of information between architectural and structural models. We were able to directly import complex building geometry into our structural analysis packages with ease.

It helped us to explore many structural solutions quicker than other methods. It also provided an effective co-ordination tool among our teams.”

The parametric model was also imported into the building information model in Bentley Architecture, allowing the team to generate detailed schedules and general arrangement drawings.

In addition, the parametric model was used to draw, annotate, and dimension the elements related to the façades and the setting out of the structural slabs and frame.

The team used MicroStation to develop details and assembly drawings based on dynamic views

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blackfriars tower

extracted from the model.

The 3D model of the external façade contained crucial information on the façade zones, panel geometry, curvature, warp, inclination, skew, stack joint group, stack joint deviation, glass wastage, and pinstripes.

This information was then made available to contractors as editable files, which helped to explain the complexity of the design.

One particularly challenging aspect of the tower design was the tower cap, where façade mullions lie on a plane defined by the façade joints. The transom planes were set on a best-fit geometry segment by segment, so that they are nearly perpendicular to the glass surface.

Productivity gains By integrating a parametric workflow within traditional BIM and 2D processes, SimpsonHaugh was able to investigate and resolve a number of unique design issues and respond quickly to client requests and requirements.

Bentley’s parametric tools significantly increased project team efficiency and productivity, while ensuring project delivery exceeded client expectations.

Many innovative design options explored within the virtual environment would never have been considered, much less developed for buildability.

Complicated tasks that might have been insurmountable in the past were not only completed but delivered within very short timeframes. For example, it took just two days instead of weeks to

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produce visuals for viewing angles from each and every apartment.

As the main collaborative tool for the key disciplines on the project, the parametric model saved both time and money by simplifying data exchange and producing a model format that could be easily imported into various analysis packages. This completely eliminated redrawing and double handling of data shared among design disciplines.

Façade delivery Using Bentley’s generative design software allowed the project team to deliver a complex façade system that might not have been possible otherwise.

GenerativeComponents allowed SimpsonHaugh to fine-tune the façade to reduce the number of panels and minimise the number of double-curved panels. These measures had a direct impact on cost savings.

Architects Matt Smith and Ralf Lindemann, SimpsonHaugh’s computational designers, noted that GenerativeComponents gave them the ability to: • Describe and analyse the complex form of the tower and its panelisation.

• Quantify all the panel characteristics in order to test them against industry criteria.

• Study all conditions of a particular detail and rationalise this to a minimum number of variants.

• Test ventilation results for all apartments by quickly varying the parameters.

• Quickly quantify overall proportions of solid to void

for the whole building for the SAP calculations and Building Regulations/Part L testing.

• Respond swiftly to client requests for information on quantities of a material.

• Quickly transfer data within the design team, allowing for highly interactive design development, space planning, and the structural grid development.

• Quickly study alternative design solutions for the random internal panelisation and colour gradation across the entire tower.

Toby Clark, a member of the Arup Façades engineering services team, said: “The team at SimpsonHaugh delivered one of the most comprehensive documentation packages we have seen. Taking our advice, the façade was modeled, detailed, and documented to clearly show the complexity of this unique building using the latest in parametric tools and BIM software. One Blackfriars is a truly outstanding job that will set a new benchmark in delivering complex façades.”

Though some were skeptical that One Blackfriars would be built, the groundbreaking ceremony in October 2013 marked the start of construction, which is expected to be completed by 2017. With a mix of residential, commercial, and retail properties, One Blackfriars represents a significant investment by the developer. The 50-storey tower is now being marketed worldwide.

www.bentley.com

energy management

Learn to

share Jessica Elliott asks: is energy management without good data possible?

T

he energy we expect a building to use when we design it and the energy it actually uses when it’s operational rarely match up.

Managing our energy usage is increasingly important to businesses, people and the UK Government, so why is this still the case?

good energy management is fundamentally about cost. There are few companies out there who don’t want to run their business more efficiently, and managing energy costs has an obvious financial benefit. With finite resources it’s essential companies understand their energy operating profile – if not, they’ll find that

energy costs continue to rise, and the amount they have to spend on fundamental business resources decreases.

The data needed to make good decisions The energy usage data we use to design our buildings is generated and collated in a number of

Why energy management matters At its heart, energy management is about our country’s commitment to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and our desire to be good, responsible citizens of the world. Good PR also plays a part as many of a company’s staff, clients and investors will want to work with or for a company that is committed to reducing its energy usage.

For most companies though,

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energy management

that a metering strategy must be prepared for new buildings, but more often than not, designers are not considering how end users will use the data collected by meters.

In most cases, the main energy meters can report total energy usage, but in some buildings there are insufficient meters to provide a complete picture of where energy is being used. New developments in smart metering mean we can get detailed usage profiles down to individual equipment levels. But even if buildings have smart meters, if users don’t understand how to read them, it’s as useless as having no meters at all.

It may seem simple, but collecting, analysing and

places – the CIBSE benchmarks, the UK building regulations and Carbon Trust, to name a few.

Each pull their data from different sources and provide different, and sometimes contradicting, information to designers. Add into the mix websites like Carbon Buzz that provide design and Post

Occupancy Evaluation (POE) data which is also different and you can see why designers struggle to set realistic energy targets for buildings that have been informed by one true source of information.

This is evident in the fact that most newly constructed buildings use up to one and a half times more energy than they were designed to use (reference: Carbon Buzz). This isn’t something that happens gradually – from the minute you ‘switch on’ the building, there’s a good chance it will start to use more energy than you anticipated.

To address this we need to get good, ‘in operation’ data to understand how our buildings are actually performing. This comes from two important sources: meters and POE studies.

Meters A big element of keeping track of energy usage that people often underestimate is meters. Part L of the building regulations mandates

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understanding data from meters is something that takes careful consideration and time. Having a metering strategy in place, and knowing in advance how you’re going to use the data, is essential to getting the most from your data, but is something that is often overlooked.

Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) Another key element to sustainable energy management is POE, which enables an analysis of a building’s expected vs actual performance. If the correct meters are installed, you can use POE to break down a building’s energy usage into categories (small power lighting, lifts, heating, etc.) and then compare it to design data to understand if the building is using more or less energy than you anticipated. Even when buildings are designed with the best energy efficiency intentions, POE is a ‘must have’ as we make assumptions throughout our design and without a POE you’ll never know if the building is actually doing what you want it to do.

For example, if your lights are using twice as much energy as you expected, you can delve deeper into the operating profile

of the equipment, to answer questions like: •C ould we start switching lights off earlier or intermittently when they’re not in use?

companies are starting to recognise that it’s important to carry out POE to make sure their buildings aren’t consuming more energy than they expected them

and achievable standards.

Without good data, our policy and standards may go in the wrong direction. Transparency and sharing information is key to

•C an we fine tune our lighting system to use less power?

• I s the lighting doing more than it needs to for the building users?

•A re the lights running as well as they should be running?

to. However, there are still far too few companies who understand the benefit of sharing this POE data with the wider industry.

Currently, the sharing of building energy data is voluntary, although Government ‘soft landings’ will require that all government departments undertake POE on their buildings. EPC ratings for new buildings being sold or rented and Display Energy Certificates (DEC) for government buildings visited by the public are the only mandatory mechanisms we have to share comparative data. Unfortunately, this data does not reflect actual building operation as it is design data based on a set of assumptions about the building’s operation.

It also excludes small power and equipment usage.

If we shared all of the data we collect in POE, it could be used not only to create more intelligent designs, but to inform policy and help us set informed

making sure this doesn’t happen.

The UK’s design community needs one source of data that gives them the full picture of how much energy buildings use in practice. To do this, the industry can no longer be reluctant to share their data, and must sign up to the idea that sharing anonymised information is a good thing. Ultimately, our commitment to more energy efficient buildings needs to trump commercial sensitivities.

We need to work together to ensure we have the data we need to meet our energy usage aspirations.

Corrective actions like the above can be taken to address any big gaps found in POE, but ultimately your design assumptions have to be accurate. We need reliable benchmark data and robust design stage estimates of energy usage to compare our POE data back to. Documents such as the Chartered Institution of Building Service Engineers (CIBSE)’s TM54 document aims to help designers make better estimates of energy usage at design stage, but to do this accurately we need robust benchmark data to compare it to.

Sharing data for good energy management Energy management will remain high on the UK’s priority list for years to come, and many

Jessica Elliott is an associate mechanical engineer at Atkins. Atkins is one of the world’s most respected design, engineering and project management consultancies.

It builds long-term trusted partnerships to create a world where lives are enriched through the implementation of its ideas.

www.atkinsglobal.com

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Manitowoc Cranes product lineup:

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Learn more about the complete line of Manitowoc products: www.manitowoccranes.com

health & safety

sun

Safe in the

Paul Haxell, chair of IOSH’s Construction Group, discusses the importance of protecting workers from UV rays and other carcinogens on site

A

ny death arising from a workplace incident is one too many. Sadly, 35 construction workers died on the job in Britain in 2014-15 according to the Health and Safety Executive – equal to 1.62 deaths per 100,000 workers.

That figure, however, represents a fraction of the overall number of work-related deaths occurring in Britain each year. Around 12,000 people lose their lives annually due to health issues developed through work. That total includes 8000 deaths from work-related cancers, about half of which involve workers in the construction industry. In many cases, the cancer diagnosis comes years, if not decades, after the victim was exposed to a carcinogen at work.

Encouragingly, great strides have been made to fill gaps in

knowledge on work cancer and there is plenty of good advice out there to help manage the risks.

The construction industry is also already doing much of what is required to tackle occupational cancer, but with more businesses in the UK than in any other sector, more can be done to reach all those at potential risk. Some

health & safety

occupational cancer risks are more well-known than others.

Solar radiation, for example, is not yet seen as a risk by many within the industry, both employers and employees.

In many instances the solution seems to be simply to provide more sunscreen rather than to change working practices. While

17

health & safety

using high-factor sunscreen is helpful, it should not be relied on as the only barrier to the harmful rays. Through its No Time to Lose campaign, IOSH is raising awareness of this significant occupational health issue and offering practical support and advice to businesses to help them tackle five of the top risk factors for occupational cancer registrations and deaths - diesel engine exhaust emissions, solar radiation, asbestos, silica dust and shift work.

In the lead up to the summer months, the Institution published two pieces of new research which aimed to shed new light on the cancer risks that exposure to solar radiation can pose to workers.

IOSH-commissioned research conducted by Imperial College London found that malignant melanoma – the most deadly form of skin cancer – kills nearly 50 people each year in the UK because of exposure to solar radiation at work, with 240 new cases being registered annually.

This does not include the 1500

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non-melanoma skin cancer cases caused by work each year.

A second IOSH-commissioned study by the University of Nottingham also reported a lack of awareness of the risks of solar radiation in the construction industry.

Researchers discovered that 70 per cent of construction workers had never had any sort of training on the risks of working in the sun. The study

also found that two-thirds of construction workers who spent an average of nearly seven hours a day outside on the job thought they were not at risk, or were unsure if they were. Nearly six out of ten of those surveyed also stated that they had developed sunburn – a major contributor to skin cancer – at least once in the last year. Researchers told of a ‘macho culture’ in some parts of the industry and misconceptions about the threat of UV rays in climates like the UK’s – cloud cover does not give total protection from solar radiation.

Experience also shows that the availability of provisions to protect construction workers from the sun can fluctuate with the weather, with people not thinking to take precautions on a cloudy day. Research shows, however, that up to 80 per cent of the sun’s harmful UV rays can still get through a cloudy sky. The findings led IOSH to urge businesses to develop sun safety strategies that include elements such as regular updates on the UV index from

weather forecasts, minimising sun exposure in the middle of the day and asking employees to wear long-sleeved, loose-fitting tops and trousers.

There is, however, plenty of good work going on across the world within the construction sector to limit workers’ exposure to solar radiation, including a number of measures which are not currently employed in the UK. IOSH representatives visited the Asia-Pacific region earlier this year and saw at first-hand examples of measures to reduce solar radiation exposure in action.

In Hong Kong, for example, it is mandatory for wide brim hats to be worn on social housing construction sites. Most workers in construction in Hong Kong and Singapore also have special covers which go over hard hats and provide protection to the neck area. The hat cover is also common in South Africa as an accessory to the current hard hats we have in the UK, however, they are rare here.

Attitudes towards the use of clothing on a sunny day also seemed to differ. The stereotype of a UK construction worker on

a summer’s day has traditionally been of a shirtless man exposed to the sun’s rays. While on the whole things are different in reality, in countries with warmer climates you will often find that operatives tend to cover themselves completely as it actually keeps them cooler in the really hot temperatures. The downside with this is it can create a new problem with material liable to be drawn into machinery and a reduction in peripheral vision on site.

The reduction of risk in direct sunlight is not as commonly considered in the UK as in Asia.

In Singapore and Hong Kong they provide shaded cooling stations with fans and fridges filled with free cold water. In really hot countries, walkways on sites are also covered. In an attempt to increase people’s knowledge of the risks posed by the sun’s rays, IOSH is publicising the internationally recognised UV index through No Time to Lose to make it easier for people to take adequate precautions to prevent skin damage from solar radiation.

IOSH recently outlined the No Time to Lose campaign to Ministers and resulted in it

receiving the backing of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Occupational Safety and Health at Westminster. More than 100 leading businesses have also given the initiative their support to the campaign to date, including major construction companies like Laing O’Rourke, Morgan Sindall and Willmott Dixon.

www.iosh.co.uk

Paul Haxell is chair of IOSH’s Construction Group. IOSH is the Chartered body for health and safety professionals. With more than 44,000 members in 120 countries, it is the world’s biggest professional health and safety organisation. It sets standards, and supports, develops and connects its members with resources, guidance, events and training. It is the voice of the profession, and campaigns on issues that affect millions of working people.

For more details about the campaign, and to access free resources,

visit www.notimetolose.org.uk.

You can also follow @_NTTL or search the hashtag #IOSHsunsafe on Twitter for extra information.

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profile: Lancashire Double Glazing

success Framing

A

s the North of England’s largest home improvement company and leading doubleglazing company, Lancashire Double Glazing (LDG) offers a complete solution to its consumer and commercial customers.

Having acquired aluminium fabricators, Formes Alutek, in 2013 the company has developed an extensive range of services that allow it to provide unrivalled packages at competitive prices and lead times. So far the company’s reputation sits atop a delivery portfolio of over a million manufactured and installed frames to over 225,000 customers.

The acquisition of Formes

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Alutek was a significant point in the LDG Group history. “The company is not only known as a specialist in the bending and curving of aluminium but it can also manufacture almost any specification to service all clients,” explains Senior Contracts and Projects Manager, John Simmonds, illustrating the level of flexibility it brings to the group. As a group LDG’s offering is exemplary, as John goes on to outline the strong capabilities it demonstrates: “We can offer the whole package from the one company,” he says.

“We have our own welding and pressing department, which can manufacture brackets, pressings and panels to our client’s

individual specification. We then have our own powder coating plant and manufacturing glass plant, which means we can offer a better service with reduced lead times. As such, we can turn something around within a 24 hour period if the need arises, instead of waiting much longer like our competitors.”

With such an offering available, the LDG Group is in a strong position to serve a growing construction market in the commercial, trade and residential sectors. “We have seen vast growth in the current market, especially with the increased government spending on student accommodation,” continues John.

“This is an area we have a lot of

Currently experiencing a strong period of growth, Lancashire Double Glazing is proving itself to be a leader in the UK framing and glazing industry experience in from many years at both LDG Contracts and Formes Alutek.”

With Formes Alutek based in Ellesmere Port and LDG in Preston, the group’s manufacturing facilities are logistically well placed to serve the North of England.

Furthermore the group is a CE Marked manufacturer and installer and holds all the relevant accreditation in line with British Standards to ensure that the highest quality is met. However, John goes on to explain that the company’s commitment to quality does not stop there: “We pride ourselves on continuous improvement in research and developments, technical design,

manufacturing and installation using the latest machinery and technology available,” he says. “We also ensure that we continually train our staff to make sure we have a multi-skilled workforce.”

With these strengths in mind it is no surprise that LDG has been chosen to take on some high-profile projects. Of present significance is the work on the Tower Wharf office development in Birkenhead, which commenced in February and is soon due for completion. “This contract is very important to us, as it is the beginning of the Birkenhead Coastline regeneration process,” discusses John. “We have been carrying out this work for one

of our best clients, Eric Wright, for whom we have worked many times in the past and hopefully will continue to for a long time to come. With the speed and efficiency that this has been manufactured and installed to, and its high specification, we hope to achieve more of these prestigious contracts in relation to the programme in the near future.”

In addition to this, the company has recently won a one million pound contract in Wythenshawe, Manchester which commenced in July 2015. “This consists of seven different systems with an impressive glass walkway to link two buildings,” he notes.

John is aware of the challenges that face the company as it grows and takes on more and more large contracts. Yet he also remains confident that the comprehensive service range and resources available to the company across two manufacturing sites will help LDG face the challenges head on as it moves forward.

“Our manufacturing capability means that we can meet the tight deadlines and demands we sometimes have to achieve to service our clients and work within what I would sometimes describe as impossible programme times,” he expresses. “However, this is where I can honestly say I am proud of our achievements, our staff and our work ethic. No job is too big or small and the most important thing for me is to ensure that we service all our

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profile: Lancashire Double Glazing

Comar – Advanced Windows The Comar 5P.i Advanced Window System uses the latest thermal break technology to produce windows for the next generation of solutions.

Integration is the key factor that underpins this solution, which is the latest new product launch from Comar Architectural Aluminium Systems. Its market leading Comar 9P.i Framing system offers fast-track semi-unitised construction for floor to ceiling glazing, allowing tilt/turn or casement windows to hang direct from the Comar 9P.i Frame as well as rebated doors. With the addition of thermal foam and triple glazing Comar 9P.i offers U-values down to 0.77, creating a future proof solution for their architectural, contractor and fabricator partners.

Comar 5P.i Advanced key features include: • Testing to BS 6375 • Casement 750Pa Water Tightness, Air Tightness 600Pa, Wind Resistance 2000Pa, • Safety Test 3000Pa • PAS 24:2012 clients with a quality product on time, every time.”

The forward outlook for LDG is clearly marked by further growth whilst remaining true to its core values of servicing the client’s needs. “LDG Group will continue to do what it has always done – striving for continuous improvement in all areas, as this is what has made us so successful today and allows us to be competitive in the market,” says John. “The focus from now on will be to ensure we continue to strengthen and grow on this, to produce a specialist and quality product at the most competitive price and to continue to grow at the same pace we have been experiencing. Longer term, we wish to increase our client base, working with more and more ‘blue chip’ companies and to become a market leader in the manufacture and installation of architectural contracts. Ultimately, Formes

Alutek and LDG Group are a force to be reckoned with and we are more than ready to prove our rightful place as one of the top and best aluminium architectural specialists in the country.”

Lancashire Double Glazing www.lancashiredoubleglazing.co.uk www.formesalutek.co.uk Services: Manufacture and install a range of framing and glazing solutions

23

ALLEN NEWPORT LTD Suppliers of high quality sand & gravel to the local construction market.

We are delighted to be associated with Eastern Concrete Ltd and wish them continued success.

Contact us: Tel: 01638 718392 E: enquiries@allen-newport.co.uk Or ďŹ nd us at: Marston’s Pit, Cavenham, Suffolk, IP28 6SE

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profile: Eastern Concrete

Strong

foundations

Focused investment and continued growth throughout the recession have enabled Eastern Concrete to take advantage of improving conditions in the construction industry

B

ased in Stowmarket, Eastern Concrete has established itself as a competitive player in providing site-mix and ready-mix concrete to the local market. Current MD Tom Baker founded the company with one volumetric mixer after spotting a gap in the market.

“I worked in the construction industry and identified a need to have smaller loads of concrete delivered as it was very difficult at that time to have loads as small as a metre cubed or less delivered,” he explains. “The mixon-site vehicles are an ideal way of getting around this issue and that’s how we started.” Serving predominantly small builders and domestic clients at first, Eastern Concrete has been able to grow steadily with its clients to reach the position it occupies today.

“By doing this we began to gradually create a market for ourselves,” says Tom. “Traditionally the small loads were not as important to the national ready mixed businesses as they concentrated on large volume.

By providing a bespoke small load service, we gradually took on the mini mix concrete market.”

Illustrating the level of growth experienced by the company, at the start of the business, these small builder clients accounted for 60-70 per cent of sales, now it only stands at 15-20 per cent, but as Tom assures, these customers are still a very important part of the client base. Another early opportunity for the company was a nighttime highways project, delivering concrete to the highway Area 6 maintenance contract.

“Our site-mix vehicles are ideal for this as to open a ready-mix plant and to supply concrete on demand at night is very difficult and expensive,” adds Tom. “This has also pushed us into achieving BS8500 registration, so all of our

concrete is quality assured.”

In such a demanding market, the pillar of Eastern Concrete’s success is in its customer service.

“When people call up, they don’t speak to a call centre, they speak to someone who knows and understands what the customer needs,” highlights Tom. “We continue that commitment with our drivers by selecting not purely on the experience in the concrete industry but also on how they handle themselves in front of customers as they are our ambassadors. The building and civil engineering industry is a very demanding market, particularly when you’re delivering concrete, which the customer often needs at short notice. We strive to offer this consistently but it can be difficult.

Therefore, over the next 12 months we are really focusing on improving how we interact with our customer by investing in new IT technology.

This will enable us to track and monitor vehicles and plants, so that the shipping desk has all the information to advise customers on their order’s progression.”

Part of what has enabled Eastern Concrete to grow into a successfully operating company in today’s market is its approach

25

profile: Eastern Concrete

Danfords Danfords Ltd was contacted by Eastern Concrete with their requirements for a compact wet batch low maintenance Concrete Plant. As Danfords Ltd design and build Concrete Plants they were able to produce the idea solution. The Concrete Plant installed is capable of 60m3/hr of concrete which is premixed through a twin shaft 1.5m3 mixer with 160 tonne aggregate storage hoppers and two 80 tonne upright cement silos - this enables Eastern Concrete to fully service their market. to investment and diversification.

“All the way through the recession we continued to grow and invest in the business and this is paying dividends at the moment,” expresses Tom. “I knew that the recession couldn’t last forever so felt that we need to focus on expanding the business and in 2012 we were fortunate enough to be approached by a ready-mix company, which we subsequently acquired. There is only so much business you can do with a fleet of mix-on-site trucks so I knew that one day we would need to bring ready-mix into the offering as well, and the acquisition was a great spring-board into this.”

As a result, as the economy emerged out of recession in 2013, the company’s work started to pick up dramatically, particularly in the ready-mix segment, and a new period of growth has ensued.

The opening of a new site in Wymondham within an existing quarry has accelerated growth.

This site not only helps expand the company’s Norfolk presence but by eliminating aggregate transportation, also improves the efficiency of concrete production.

In 2015 the company has so far invested into seven new vehicles to add to its fleet including three ready-mix trucks, two volumetric mixers, a 39-metre boom pump and a tractor unit to collect aggregate. This followed a

26

£500,000 investment during 2014 into a mobile ready-mix plant to facilitate specific on-site jobs. “This way we can bring aggregate to site and give the customer a better service,” says Tom. “We’ve done two jobs to date at a mushroom

the underinvestment in mineral production and planning during the recession, which has lead to a chronic material shortage that plagues the entire construction industry. However, Tom believes that the same underinvestment by

farm in Littleport and at Sizewell B Powerstation. Without the site plant being there, the type of mix they wanted would have been extremely difficult to deliver on conventional trucks from a remote plant. Going forward, this plant offers us opportunities to handle specialist projects where the customer requires high quality concrete at will.”

Eastern Concrete is in a strong position in the current market as it looks towards achieving its vision to become the ready-mix producer of choice in the Eastern region. Challenges exist with

larger national concrete suppliers has left a gap in the market that can be filled by the quick decision making and heavy investment programme that are both central to the owner-managed Eastern Concrete. Bring these opportunities together with the company’s commitment to customer service and self-sufficiency and its future looks solid.

Eastern Concrete www.easternconcrete.co.uk Services: Supplier of site-mix and ready-mix concrete

profile: Burnside Eurocyl

Rising

up Ireland based hydraulic cylinder manufacturer Burnside Eurocyl is battling off competition with an unrivalled approach to product quality, customer service and innovation

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urnside Eurocyl is a manufacturer of hydraulic cylinders serving a range of markets and industries across the world.

Founded in 1974 by Anthony and Tom Byrne in Carlow, Ireland, the company has grown to include 200 highly trained employees and produces 250,000 cylinders every year. Eurocyl is one of four plants in Carlow under the Burnside group of companies that collectively produces around 750,000 cylinders a year. “Our main clients are OEMs in the construction, automotive and agricultural sectors,” begins Joint Managing Director Anthony Byrne. “We supply some of the best known manufacturers in the world such as Volvo, Komatsu, JCB, Thwaites Dumpers, Nifylift, Kubota, Neuson, Caterpillar and the Wirtgen group. Whilst Germany is our biggest market, we supply companies right across Europe, the US and Canada, India and Korea.”

Being part of the Burnside

group brings with it a number of competitive advantages, especially when considering the volume of manufacturing undertaken at the plant. “We can harness the purchasing power of the complete group and can therefore source our raw materials at a very competitive price,” says Anthony. “We are also able to employ the very latest technologies in the production processes, including robots and a large selection of specially built machines, which we build ourselves to meet our specific manufacturing requirements.”

However, the strengths of Burnside Eurocyl are not exclusive to being part of the Burnside group and it is the company’s unfaltering focus on service, flexibility and value that has awarded it with the global reputation it enjoys today.

The names in its client portfolio are known for placing quality product and customer service as paramount to doing business with suppliers, which only serves to illustrate the level of service offered to its customers by the Irish company.

One particular area where its service excels is in its highly flexible and bespoke manufacturing capabilities. “One of the biggest advantages we have over our competitors is the extremely strong emphasis we place on working with our customers at the initial design stage to deliver according to the specific demands and requirements of the customer’s individual machines,” highlights Anthony. “As such, 90 per cent of all our cylinders are designed in-house by our engineers who work closely with our customers at all times.” With such knowledge and experience behind it, Burnside Eurocyl is thus able to stock a range of standard products as well as offer a highly competitive customisable service to the broad range of applications demanded by its markets. Alongside this, quality and on-time delivery

27

Its our mission at Slaney Precision to make anything our customers require, we can manufacture a wide range of components.

We can manufacture with: • Steel • Stainless steel • Brass • Phosphor bronze • Aluminium • Plastics • DelrinTM • Nylon • Copper info@slaneyprecision.ie

28

profile: Burnside Eurocyl

remain crucial to completing a cycle of unparalleled service.

In order to operate in such a flexible and customer-focused manner, the company has established a suitable production facility with a keen focus on efficiency cost-effectiveness.

Anthony explains: “With great flexibility in mind, we operate a just-in-time system with cellular manufacturing. Therefore, we have our production divided into eight production lines, which allow us to be very flexible and handle both small and large quantities easily.

This also allows us to produce cylinders within very short lead times.” To accommodate the challenges posed by such a varied and demanding operation the company assigns members of the production team to communicate directly with its customers to ensure that the requirements are met and strong relationships are maintained.

The ability to put this responsibility in the hands of its employees is a very valuable asset for any company and Burnside Eurocyl’s approach to its workforce is exemplary in this respect. “We are proud of the fact that we have a very highly skilled and dedicated workforce with very low levels of staff turnover,” explains Anthony. “We place great emphasis on team work, a can do attitude and spend a lot of time on quality awareness and training for a

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number of opportunities. We also have a very flat management system, which we believe helps to keep costs under control and also ensures that everyone can keep in touch with the really important issues of customer service and productivity.”

Despite such a strong service supporting a growing company, there are a number of challenges currently facing the industry. “I see the ever increasing competition from suppliers in Eastern Europe and China as an ongoing problem, especially as the present demands of customers to cut costs in order to offer better prices to their markets, continue to grow,” outlines Anthony. “This is then exacerbated by the increasing demands put upon us for increased quality levels.” With this in mind, Burnside Eurocyl’s traditionally strong commitment to innovation is more important than ever.

“We see innovation as being of crucial importance in the battle to stay competitive in the market places,” he continues. “This is both to find better ways of manufacturing and to ensure increased levels of quality performance. To make sure we maintain this we have a fully resourced R&D division where we are constantly finding new ways of improving set up and manufacturing methods that are necessary to stay ahead of the game.”

With this in mind it is no surprise then that the company is experiencing a strong level

of growth at the moment with a number of large contracts recently awarded to the company by new customers. As such Burnside Eurocyl is looking to invest in expanding its facilities.

“Our biggest focus over the next year will be the completion of another extension to the manufacturing area, which will add another 2000 square metres to the current 200,000 square metres currently operated in. This will allow us to put in some extra robotic machines and allow us to increase production by another 20 per cent.”

The success so far achieved

by Eurocyl can be attributed to a high level of innovation but also the high level of service and customer-focused quality that it prides itself on delivering and these factors are visible in the company’s future outlook. “Our medium term policy is to grow the company by 15 per cent every year with a particular strategy in place to increase our market share in the US and Canada,” concludes Anthony. “We also plan to move into the market segment for larger cylinders and especially into the sector of intelligent cylinders that are fitted with sensor and feedback devices, where demand is really growing.”

Burnside Eurocyl www.burnside-eurocyl.com Services: Hydraulic cylinder manufacturer 29

Editor Libbie Hammond libbie@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Sales Team

+44 (0) 1603 274130 Schofield Publishing 10 Cringleford Business Centre Intwood Road Cringleford Norwich NR4 6AU