n a recent post, it has been suggested that the barrier to the uptake of Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) is that decision-makers need to be persuaded as to the ROI on AWP. Assuming that they are neither accountants nor newspaper editors, my view is that they are asking the wrong question. Some say the definition of insanity is continuing to do exactly the same thing (badly) but expecting to achieve improved results. It is no secret that reports by well-informed industry practitioners, observers and commentators reveal that the ROI on engineering construction is, in the main, not sufficient for a sustainable industry. Would you invest your own money in engineering construction? I have not and I have no intention of doing so until the engineering construction industry makes fundamental changes to reverse the progressive decline in ROI that has occurred over the last fifty years, compared to other industries that have reinvented themselves in the way they organise and conduct business – one must presume that insanity did not prevail here.

If the decision to adopt AWP turns on the ROI that can be generated by it, that suggests a certain expectation of AWP in the context of improved project performance that single-handedly reverses the decline in the industry ROI and a level of investment that needs to be made in AWP – neither of which appear to be realistic or relevant. AWP is a tool, and as with all tools, the benefit is derived from the way they are applied and used – enter the human element! Some say a fool with a tool is still a fool. Make no mistake, all the indications are that AWP is a very good tool that can contribute considerably to improved project performance provided it is used to its maximum potential, but no tool, no matter how well used, can single-handily reverse the trend in declining engineering construction industry ROI. Reversing that decline requires a fundamental re-think by the industry about how projects are conceived and delivered. This is about mindset and behaviours. There are indications that a re-think is taking place – it’s about time! The benefits of real collaborative working are beginning to surface and hopefully will soon start to hold the middle ground and substantially replace what has become accepted practices that thrive on a concept of winner-takes-all and the race to the bottom in contracting arrangements.

Collaborative working practices are enablers to maximise the benefit that can be achieved from AWP used in conjunction with other existing and developing interventions and tools such as Lean, Last Planner, Digitalisation, Standardisation, BIM, Factory Thinking, Pre-assembly, Digital Twin, etc.

Therefore, in my view, the question that decision-makers in engineering construction need to ask is:

Do we want to enjoy the level of ROI achieved by comparable industries and if so are we prepared to fundamentally change the way engineering construction projects are conceived and delivered?

This is not a question about the cost and benefits of individual improvement initiatives and tools, it is about determining and taking actions needed to assure the long term survival and prosperity of the engineering construction industry, globally. AWP and other initiatives and tools are a positive step in the right direction, but we must go much further and faster as an industry. We are now entering a phase of significant technological change with decarbonisation, energy transition etc, so surely this is time and provides the opportunity to coincide technological developments with the fundamental shift in how engineering construction projects are conceived and delivered. To the decisions makers, I refer them to some well-known sayings,

You can look before you leap if you want to, but ultimately you will have to leap … and remember, he who hesitates is lost.

On 19 March we launched the European Community of Practice on AWP. It is part of a global network of communities run in partnership with Group ASI which aim to increase the uptake of Advanced Work Packaging. Advanced Work Packaging is an approach whereby the entire project lifecycle is divided into manageable packages – the focus is on having the end in mind at the beginning of each package.

The Community aims to support and accelerate the uptake of AWP across Europe. The key principles are a safe, collaborative, technology agnostic, non-commercial environment to explore the key factors impacting the implementation of AWP. An online LinkedIn group has been established to support this https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13864098/.

We will be holding online drop ins every six weeks with the agenda set by participants. The first meeting will take place on Friday 30^th April.

Click here to download the presentations.

Join in the Constructing Excellence Collaborative Working Mentors joint meeting with Engineering Construction Institute (ECI) on 19 March 2021 @ 10am – 12pm GMT to look at ECITB’s Project Collaboration Toolkit and the associated Project Collaboration Agreement that ECI is developing to support this.

John Fotherby, Kingsfield Consulting and Chair of ECI along with Tony Maplesden of ECITB will present the latest achievements and challenges in the development and implementation process of the Toolkit. This will offer an opportunity to delve into how the Engineering Construction sector is approaching collaboration as a means of delivering better outcomes and the practical tools that are being developed to support this. There will be lots of opportunities for discussion and understanding how the two communities can learn from joint approaches.

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Join in the ECI & Group ASI meeting on 19 March 2021 @ 3:00 – 4:30 pm to discuss Advanced Work Packaging AWP from a European Perspective and the launch of the European AWP Centre of Excellence.

Engineering Construction Institute (ECI) is collaborating with Group ASI to deliver an insight into Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) from a European Perspective. This session led by Luigi Anselmi of Tecnimont and Stuart Block of Fluor will consider the opportunities and challenges of implementing AWP in a European context and why the industry should embrace it.

This event will see the launch of The European AWP Centre of Excellence, part of a global network of communities of practice around AWP. We will be kicking off a series of monthly online drop-ins were participants can delve deep into specific aspects of AWP and its implementation.

Advanced Work Packaging is a construction driven process that improves productivity, predictability, safer and lower costs.

Join us for a discussion on Advanced Work Packaging in the engineering construction industry!

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The plan involves £12bn of public spending over the coming years in areas from energy generation to building retrofits.

The 10 points

Offshore wind: Quadrupling production capacity to 40GW by 2030, or enough to power every home.

Hydrogen: Up to £500m has been allocated, including for trialling homes using hydrogen for heating and cooking, starting with a Hydrogen Neighbourhood in 2023, moving to a Hydrogen Village by 2025, with an aim for a Hydrogen Town – equivalent to tens of thousands of homes – before the end of the decade. Of this funding, £240m will go into new hydrogen production facilities.

Nuclear: There will be £525m to help develop large and smaller-scale nuclear plants, and research and develop new advanced modular reactors.

Electric vehicles:  The UK will end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, 10years earlier than planned. Some £1.3 billion will be spent on accelerating the roll-out of charge-points for electric vehicles. No date has been set yet for phasing out new diesel HGVs but a consultation process is planned.

Public transport, cycling and walking: “Making cycling and walking more attractive ways to travel and investing in zero-emission public transport of the future”.

Jet Zero and greener maritime: Supporting research projects for zero-emission planes and ships.

Homes and public buildings: Improving the energy efficiency of homes, schools and hospitals, with a target to install 600,000 heat pumps every year by 2028.

Carbon capture: An extra £200m of new funding to create two carbon capture clusters by the mid-2020s, with another two set to be created by 2030, with a target to remove 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2030.

Nature: Planting 30,000 hectares of trees every year.

Innovation and finance: “make the City of London the global centre of green finance”.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Although this year has taken a very different path to the one we expected, I haven’t lost sight of our ambitious plans to level up across the country. My Ten Point Plan will create, support and protect hundreds of thousands of green jobs, whilst making strides towards net zero by 2050.”

The recent European Construction Institute Webinar on Net Zero was a great chance to discuss the very significant opportunities presented by decarbonisation of the industrial and energy sectors. 

 Jenny Young from ECITB and Prof Mercedes Maroto-Valer from IDRIC the UK Industrial Decarbonisation Research & Innovation Centre provided insight into the work their respective organisations are doing to drive forward this important agenda.  

The discussion was very timely in the context of a recently published the UK Government a 10-point plan for Green Industrial Revolution. One of its key points is to drive carbon capture with an extra £200 million of new funding and target to remove 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2030. 

The  presentations  considered how new technologies can meet the established environmental targets and bring the UK to the forefront of the global movement against climate change and global warming. 

There was much discussion around: 

• The necessity to align business, technology, policy and regulatory requirements and environmental models 
• The importance of the forthcoming carbon budget, which is planned to be announced in December 2020 
• The significant potential of skills from carbon intensive industries to redeployed in the deliver of low carbon technologies at scale.

2021 will be a crucial year in exploring the role that the Engineering Construction sector can play in developing and deploying new technologies and innovative approaches at scale. As we move towards COP26 (26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties ), which will take place in Glasgow, UK in November 2021 there is significant opportunity for ECI and Constructing Excellence members to explore these significant opportunities. 

Download the presentations:  

ECI_Webinar_Energy Transition Skills_ECITB

ECI_Webinar_Industrial_Decarbonisation_IDRIC