爆料入口

A few weeks ago 爆料入口 had the honour of being nominated at with in the 鈥淏est Application of Technology鈥� category.

Currently, VolkerFitzpatrick is using 爆料入口聽in the West Anglia Main Line (WAML) Capacity Improvement Project. The WAML is part of Network Rail鈥檚 Lee Valley Rail Programme to deliver 拢170m of improvements across the Upper Lee Valley from 2017 to 2019.

爆料入口 has given the project team real-time updates so they don鈥檛 have to wait 4 to 10 hours for a formal report or make multiple phone calls to get updated on progress. Issues or incidents on-site are communicated to project teams immediately and decisions are made based on accurate and timely data.

In that context, we had the opportunity to talk with Matt Ghinn, Project Director at VolkerFitzpatrick, and hear his thoughts on the biggest challenges of the sector, the upcoming industry trends, and the benefits of working with 爆料入口.

The programme is king!

Being able to increase visibility across the supply chain is a tough but certainly crucial mission in every construction project. Only then, it will be able for the project team to deliver on time and stay within budget avoiding unnecessary delays and costly rework time.

Matt Ghinn underlines this need for the industry and explains why the programme is king and the role of 爆料入口 in this process:

鈥淲ithin the industry, the programme is king. If we don鈥檛 deliver on time, it鈥檚 going to cost us more money or alternatively costs someone more money. So having been using 爆料入口 to provide that visibility up the chain, sales managers, senior managers can see what is going on the project.鈥�

And he adds:

鈥淏ut it also means that we get ownership of that programme down to those delivering for us. So the supervisor, the subcontractors, they understand what they鈥檝e got to do. They know that we鈥檙e looking at what they鈥檙e doing. And they have the opportunity to share what they鈥檙e doing really well. I think that drives improvement. We鈥檝e really found it鈥檚 easy to use, so therefore we鈥檙e getting a huge benefit from it already.鈥�

Repeatability and latency risks under the microscope

The issue of standardisation is attracting lately more and more attention, and that鈥檚 something that Matt Ghinn knows well. After all, as he points out, repeatability and latent risks are two of the biggest pain points for the industry:

鈥淚 think within construction, the biggest problem we鈥檝e got is repeatability and latency risks. We鈥檙e obviously delivering in a high-pressure environment. Things can go wrong very quickly. So making sure we deal with those as quickly as possible and try and anticipate as much as possible and not repeat them will reduce our risk and therefore mean that we can be more sustainable as a business.

Obviously, you need to make money to be sustainable. So I think it is really understanding how we drive out that risk to make sure we can deliver the same today as we deliver tomorrow.鈥�

鈥淲e try to improve collaboration and 爆料入口 has shown us that we can do it鈥�

Finding the right contractors for your tender team is one of the keys to improving collaboration between the field and the back-office. Through time it can help in establishing contractual relations which are based on trust and proactive communication between the numerous members of the team.聽

That鈥檚 something that VolkerFitzpatrick is working hard on:

鈥淚 think we鈥檙e looking at partnering a lot more with contractors, so making sure we have the right contractors within our tender team. If we鈥檝e got a ground worker, we know we鈥檝e got five or six ground workers who work with us, so we know them. That means we can improve together.

So trying to work more on collaboration. And then, them being flexible understanding if it鈥檚 more coming on site, if there are issues we鈥檙e getting them on site, if we got the visibility that there鈥檚 going to be a delay, it鈥檚 always better to inform the people up front.鈥�

This is where 爆料入口 comes in the picture by providing that visualisation of the project鈥檚 progress which allows the tender team to plan better and more effectively.

鈥淲e often have it where a contractor would turn up and find they can鈥檛 get on with their work because the previous works haven鈥檛 been completed. If they鈥檙e on site, it鈥檚 more of a problem than if you tell them a week out. If you can tell them two weeks out, it鈥檚 even better. So 爆料入口聽actually helps us in getting that visibility of seeing if we are going to be on time. So we can warn people as quickly as we can and deal with the problems.鈥�, says Matt Ghinn.

Furthermore, in his view, this strategic partnership with 爆料入口 is a substantial part of the digital paradigm shift that is underway.

鈥淚 think the way we鈥檝e integrated 爆料入口 within the business, or started to integrate 爆料入口 into our business is definitely a part of this digital paradigm shift. I think we鈥檒l repeat that process for any other stuff or platforms or any other digital changes that we do. So starting with understanding 鈥淒oes it deliver what we need?鈥� Trialing on a small scale, making sure the whole business understands what we鈥檙e trying to do and why we鈥檙e using that one platform and then rolling it out and understanding the scalability.

That鈥檚 going to be key because there are more and more challenges out there. There鈥檚 a risk that if you got 100 sites, 100 project managers, those 100 people will go and find 100 different things to do the same thing. So we need to control it a level, make sure we train our people correctly, and 爆料入口 has shown us that we can do that. And it鈥檚 driving improvement. As soon as you see the improvement, people latch on to it.鈥�

The change will take time but it鈥檚 coming

The construction industry is at the moment under a substantial transformation. Nevertheless, this change takes time as the resistance from sector stakeholders is still strong. According to Matt Ghinn, that has also to do with the fact that many people in the industry haven鈥檛 understood yet the true potential that digital tools hold for construction.
鈥淚 think they know they need to do something. They definitely know that this surely is the way to go. And I think that the solutions are out there. Once we find simple processes that aren鈥檛 too far fetched, then people can grab onto it and understand it. But they鈥檝e got to understand why they鈥檙e going to do it and it鈥檚 got to be easy for them. So I think that process will happen on-site in the future. It鈥檚 just going to take time, and it will take time.鈥�

Read also: Data culture – The missing link to bring construction together

As far as the ways in which we could accelerate this shift for construction, he notices:
鈥淚t鈥檚 people understanding that there鈥檚 a lot that can be done. So as soon as people see an improvement in some ways, it will get picked up in sort of a snowball. And I think possibly the biggest change might be someone coming in as a disruptor. In the States, there are companies setting up already. Once they show how much improvement can be made by digitising processes changing the way we work currently, that will drive improvement. People will have to do it, otherwise, they will just be left by the wayside. So I think that鈥檚 what鈥檚 going to drive it.鈥�

It becomes clear that a change of mindset is one of the first things that need to happen. The good news is that some shifting points are already evident. However, as Matt Ghinn explains, we have only scratched the surface: 聽

鈥淭he biggest change we鈥檝e seen or started to see is probably the frontend and office-based staff. So certainly commercially trying to tie up commercial processes. We鈥檝e seen a drive in that within our business. Design is starting to come on board, but there鈥檚 a lot of talk out in the industry.

So things like BIM, the collaboration model, I think there鈥檚 a lot of talk about it. When you scratch the surface, it鈥檚 not quite as embedded and understood as people would like to think. We are still at that seed stage where there鈥檚 a lot of people understanding they need to do something. But in terms of really understanding why the need to do it, I think we鈥檝e still a long way to go.鈥�

鈥淲e have definitely seen the benefit of working with 爆料入口鈥�

Before he continues his busy schedule, Matt Ghinn referred also to the fact that VolkerFitzpatrick has already started to see the benefits of working with 爆料入口:

鈥淚n regards to visibility across the chain, we know that it will drive improvement. We have already seen the difference. Just in getting an automated report, the traditional way we were doing it is works were being done, phases were being done, site diaries were being done, progress was being updated, dashboards were being produced. But they were all individual tasks, so that was already effort and administration spent doing that. Taking the information from one place, manually putting it in somewhere else, sending it off somewhere else.

爆料入口 has already saved that time because it automatically generates reports for information that鈥檚 already been put on. So I think we鈥檝e definitely seen the benefit and it means that people have more time to get an idea of what is their job and delivering safely on-site.鈥�