Construction takes flight

he values of Latham, Egan and Rethinking construction are well reported. Working in partnership and co-ordinating supply chain management are some of the methods to improve construction efficiency proposed after scrutiny of the industry. But what about learning from other sectors? Can their methods of working be used to help construction?

A two-year collaborative project between the University of Reading and seven industrial partners including N G Bailey and BAE Systems aimed to find out what lessons could be learnt from the aerospace industry. The primary context was that knowledge sharing between business sectors is ‘an essential source of innovation’.

Aerospace was chosen for comparisons because it is so different to construction in context, structure and technology. Stuart Green, of the University of Reading explains: “The current trends for learning from others are oversimplistic. By trying to understand a sector so different, you learn much more about your own.”

The research concentrated on four main areas: supply chain management, requirements management, human resource management and innovation. These were analysed within the context of the two industries and detailed comparisons made.

A report on the findings, Learning across business sectors: knowledge sharing between aerospace and construction, has now been launched. At the launch, Andrew Carpenter, business manager for Forticrete said the project aimed “to investigate the extent that practices in aerospace can be implemented in prime contracting.” The report concludes that firms succeed or fail on the strength of their integrated supply chain and ability to work together.

This integration of teams must begin earlier in the process said Terry Bilsbrough of N G Bailey. “In the aerospace industry [contractors] are involved in the upfront design. In a lot of cases, when we get involved the building is already designed and we have less influence. It’s the discipline of upfront planning.

“The industry considers every building site unique; I’ve learnt that within any unique building a large percentage of component parts can be standardised. We can still deliver a unique building but, particularly on the m&e side, by standardising there are cost, time, delivery and health and safety benefits and opportunities for offsite manufacturing.”

The research wasn’t a one-way learning process, as Terry Whitehead, construction project manager, BAE Systems explained: “The ability of BAE to better understand construction will allow it to better select partners for its projects.”

Martin Brown, business improvement manager of Mowlem Aqumen Property Services commented: “Taking a visit to Aerospace enabled us to understand construction in a different way. It challenged our perceptions of the industry and the concept of best practices.

“The research project does not give the answers, but gives clues to the industry we’re working in. By understanding the context in which we operate we can influence the way we do things. It’s making us think about what is best practice?”

Dennis Lenard, chief executive officer at Constructing Excellence concluded: “The Strategic Forum wants to increase productivity by 10% per annum. The only way we’ll do that is by learning from other industries.”