Our Content Calendar theme of the month is Onsite Innovation. We want to use this opportunity to shed some light on the brilliant work that is being done on a daily basis within the industry to overcome modern day challenges.
To do this, we’ve rounded up some of the best and brightest names in the industry to give us their takes on what they are doing to uncover some of the brilliant solutions that their sector produces. Take a look below at everything we’ve got to offer and then dive in to whatever takes your fancy!
Onsite innovation in construction – by Damon Schünmann, Strategic Consultant at Barbour ABI
As he does every month, our Strategic Consultant Damon Schünmann has written our first article on our Content Calendar topic.
This month he spoke to Metek Managing Director, Oliver Rogan, to discover how his firm have innovated in the face of COVID-19 social distancing measures and created a new version of their product that is proving to be more cost effective and reduce onsite production time by around 30%.
Metek are a specialist in the design, manufacturing and installation of penalised lightweight steel. Oliver explains to Damon how steps such as: making adaptations to their product sizing and installation processes; creating a process for remote designer sign-offs; and colour coding both workers and products have led to massive improvements and kept workers safe and healthy in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
Read Oliver’s full breakdown of the success that their innovations have brought to his business.
The Future Of The Construction Products Industry
On February 9th 2021, leaders from the construction products sector congregated on Zoom for an animated discussion on critical issues facing the industry.
Expertly chaired by Barbour ABI Strategic Consultant, Damon Schunmann, panelists represented a cross-section of leading sector organisations including:
- Bill Hewlett – Technical Director – British Board of Agrement (BBA)
- Iain Mcilwee – Chief Executive – Finishes and Interiors Sector (FIS)
- Peter Caplehorn – Chief Executive – Construction Products Association (CPA)
- Graeme Whitty – National Product Director – Willmott Dixon Construction
The purposes of the discussion included: reviewing recent industry developments, both digital and onsite; discuss the new construction product regulator; and how to best go about improving product standards and procurement.
The ensuing discussion between these leading figures was a fascinating insight into what can be possible for the industry if we continue to work together and support one another. As the panelists agreed, putting our heads together and including voices outside of the norm can only lead to more product innovation and onsite successes.
Recreative Construction
Written by industry commentator Brian Green, and supported by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), Recreative Construction is a new, free-to-access series of articles examining the challenges facing the construction community and what innovations can be put in place to work towards a better future for the industry and Britain as a whole.
Throughout the series, Brian examines what he regards as the three major forces that will shape the built environment over the next 20 years:
- Digital Technologies
- Climate Change
- Demographic Shifts
The series looks into the scope for improvement, not just in the industry’s technical capabilities and resources, but within its culture as a whole.
Brian discusses his inspiration for the series further with our Chief Economist Tom Hall.
If this series interests you then sign up here to receive the first article immediately, and each subsequent article will be sent to you every few days once they are released.
Digital Construction: Operating the Intelligent Site
We’re back with our Strategic Consultant Damon Schünmann again! This time it’s for a series of articles that he wrote for us at the end of 2020, but are perfectly relevant for the topic of Onsite Innovation.
In his two-part Intelligent Site series, Damon delved into the issue of needing staff to buy-in and adopt any new technology that is delivered onsite.
In the series’ first piece, Damon spoke to Mark Norton, head of BIM at ISG, to discover how his firm have sought to show staff that technology doesn’t have to be something that is scary, but rather a tool to simplify their job. Mark talks through pre-site tactics, adoption onsite, and the exciting details of their future implementations, such as 3D graphical representations of data, robotic scanning and lasers!
Read ‘Creating the Intelligent Site’
In his second piece of the series, Damon presents a case study of a live project where Kier is bringing together several strands of technology for the MoJ at a site in Northamptonshire. Damon discusses the £253m HMP Five Wells at Wellingborough project with James Franklin, head of BIM at Kier Strategic Projects. James analyses how project’s use of 360 degree photography, drone technology virtual reality, augmented reality and more helped to solve issues that can occur on projects of this massive scale.
Read ‘Operating the Intelligent Site’
Don’t forget, you can see our entire Content Calendar for 2021. And, if you think you’ve got an idea for something that would work for any of the upcoming months’ topics then give us an email at hello@barbour-abi.com and we would love to discuss it further with you!
