Costain’s recent annual Supply Chain Management Conference has re-affirmed its view that a company’s success relies on the effectiveness of its supply chain, whether in promoting collaboration and technical innovation or by improving customer satisfaction.
Andrew Wyllie, Costain’s Chief Executive, explained to 140 suppliers and 60 staff why a successful supply chain is so important to the success of the Company’s Engineering Tomorrow strategy, Costain’s commitment to identifying, developing and implementing innovative solutions to meet the UK’s major national infrastructure needs.
Delegates heard from Colin Reynell, Costain’s Operations and Programmes Director for the Water Sector, and Steve Fozard, a Supply Chain Manager, who gave some insights into off-site manufacturing through ‘Factory Thinking’ which uses production controls and simple assembly techniques to help Costain deliver whole life cost benefits to its customer base.
Speaker Matthew Gent, Managing Director of Mammoet, the global leader in engineered heavy lifting and transport, delivered a presentation called ‘Challenges Evaporate’ which explained how early engagement, collaboration and innovative solutions enabled it to transport and install a 27 metre high, 550 ton modular unit, one of the biggest delivered to the Evaporator D Project at Sellafield.
The use of modular construction enabled the fabrication and testing of the majority of the plant equipment to be carried out off-site. The modules were assembled 90 miles south of the Sellafield site in West Cumbria before being loaded onto a barge and shipped to a beach in West Cumbria and loaded onto transport for a 1.5km ride by Self Propelled Modular Transporter, supplied by Mammoet, to the Sellafield site.
Continuing the modular theme, Michael Peers from Harry Peers Steelwork delivered a presentation on ‘The Future is Modular,’ which looked at modular build within the structural steel industry.
Martin Orrells, Costain’s General Manager for Procurement and Supply Chain Management, who organised the event, commented:
“The success of any company is down to the cumulative effort of a large number of people working together to achieve a set of shared goals, and we wanted to highlight that at this year’s Supply Chain Management Conference. Effective supply chain management relies on good communication and a strong, collaborative working relationship, which are all central to our Engineering Tomorrow strategy.”
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