Key issues affecting productivity in the construction sector

Can you identify with some of the following issues in your own business? They’re typical of the problems brought to us by our customers in the construction sector.

• Our specialised site equipment incurs massive cost; we need better information to improve utilisation, to know why it’s inactive and to take appropriate action.
• Why are performance and costs so hugely diverse at our different sites where they’re undertaking the same activities?
• We are now designing and manufacturing steelwork structures to a much more advanced state to reduce site installation time and we need cost and capacity information for factory and site.

Scott-Grant’s experience in the construction sector

Here are some recent examples of how we’ve helped businesses in the construction sector.

Example 1

A major construction company needed to position, remove, move, clean and re-position steel shuttering, each up to 6 sq m for concrete pouring. This highly repetitive process was taking place at a number of very congested sites, though some sites were taking twice as long as others. Productivity Specialists supplied by Scott-Grant helped refine the organisation of the process, identifying issues of fastener design, cleaning procedures, crane utilisation, health and safety and many wasteful activities. The norms in many cases had been quite realistic but sites needed more streamlined organisation to achieve the norm.

Example 2

In a very confined site with a small footprint concrete pouring was delayed because steel reinforcing bars weren’t in place at the right time. The project was delayed, penalty clauses loomed and an additional tower crane was installed to alleviate cranage capacity (resulting in added cost and reduced space). Scott-Grant Productivity Analysts were called in to address the situation before it became even more critical. They identified many areas of wasteful activity, all contributing to the poor crane utilisation and project delay. Their improvements included reducing re-bar staffing, streamlining of re-bar delivery content and better timing and organising the unloading of trailer contents. Within three weeks the project was back on track, costs were re-aligned and the additional tower crane removed.