Delivering effective Waste Minimisation - Wrap

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42 Delivering effective Waste Minimisation Case study 4.1 Mid City Place, Central London, 2004 Stanhope, the developer of Mid City Place, quickly recognised that distribution of materials on site would be a critical issue for the construction manager, Bovis Lend Lease, and encouraged a fresh approach to logistics. Wilson James developed a strategy to reduce multi-handling and repeated moving of materials. Although Wilson James’s brief was confined to the site, it influenced, but did not control, deliveries to the gate. However, from that point onwards, it took the distribution out of the hands of trade contractors. The twin-track solution: distributed materials to the workplace just in time for each task; and created the Market Place, a single onsite distribution point for bulk materials and consumables. At Mid City Place, improve logistics achieved: some 35% less material waste than benchmark sites; dry lining waste reduction from 10% to 3%; distribution with on less pair of hoists than originally expected; almost 100% performance in materials being distributed in the right time and place; and significant savings in contractors’ time related to handling materials. Bovis Lend Lease and its trade contractors used 4D modelling (three dimensions plus time) to produce daily build plans. The 4D model predicts what will happen each day and the build planning tool sets out the tasks to be completed and schedules all the components. Wilson James interpreted what each activity was pulling day by day to create a dynamic schedule of packaging and palletising activities with loading and delivery timings. This ensured JIT delivery and optimal utilisation of the movement team. The construction of Mid City Place shows that the use of a consolidation or logistics team on site has a significant impact on JIT delivery. And when used together they have a compounding effect on JIT and therefore on waste. This is because consolidation and the onsite logistics team both employ systems to pull materials when required and therefore enforce discipline and planning on a somewhat chaotic process. Logistics planning should be the top priority as the need for other logistics techniques (described below) such as a consolidation centres; a logistic specialist onsite and just-intime delivery will emerge from this action. WRAP is currently developing a model approach to logistics planning consisting of a Material Logistics Plan Template which will include aspects of site mobilisation, procurement, traffic management, material delivery and distribution and how these link to the site waste management plan. 4.2.2 Materials to site Logistics techniques that can improve the efficiency of materials delivered to site include: Just-in-time delivery Just-in-time (JIT) delivery is a logistics technique when materials are delivered to site only at the point when they are required for installation. The benefit of this approach is that it avoids unused materials sitting on site and getting damaged. When rigorously applied, JIT delivery is one of the most effective techniques to minimise waste. A logistics specialist (see below) can also coordinate the delivery of materials to site. Consolidation centres Consolidation centres are usually large distribution facilities that receive, store and deliver materials, equipment and plant. They usually operate a JIT service (see above) and ensure that sites receive a reliable flow of materials when and where they are required. The benefit of consolidation centres is that they provide a secure environment for materials storage with efficient handling procedures, particularly when materials must be pre-ordered due to long lead times. Take back schemes Encouraging suppliers to ‘take-back’ their own waste and unused product is a useful way of diverting waste away from the waste stream. Often suppliers can return un-used or waste materials to the manufacturer so that they can be restocked or re-processed into new material. For example, major plasterboard manufacturers have committed to taking back clean, waste plasterboard on sites for reprocessing.
Delivering effective Waste Minimisation 43 Fourth party logistics When there is more than one supply chain it is important to ensure there is some kind of strategy or centralised coordination of the many logistics providers. Site demand smoothing Construction workloads are quite irregular, with the flow of materials reflecting this. This peak and trough supply profile can create materials ‘bottle-necks’ whereby extra pressure on logistics is felt at peak times, with a resultant impact on the amount of damage generated. Demand smoothing is an activity that reduces these peaks and troughs. By analysing the programme, work packages can be balanced (smoothed). This involves starting works packages either earlier or later, or sequencing the works so that there is less pressure in specific areas of a building. Integrated ICT An integrated Information Communication Technology (ICT) system across the full supply chain is an interoperable information system that tags and tracks materials through take off, manufacture, distribution, assembly and installation. It tracks the entire process of materials movement from start to end and provides a matrix for continuous improvement. Integrated ICT is a powerful logistics solution as it opens communication along and between supply chains. Experience in the retail and automotive industries have highlighted the importance of ICT in supply chain integration, JIT delivery and traceability of components from design through manufacture, distribution, assembly, installation, commissioning, operation, refurbishment and eventual demolition. Particularly useful for large, complex projects, this technique provides a highly transparent picture of what materials are required when. The construction industry needs to make substantial, long-term investment in ICT that functions across the whole supply chain in order to optimise supply chains. This is a longer term solution but the principles of a lean approach to supply chain management are relevant and applicable in the short term at a local level. Packaging As much as 25% of construction project waste derives from materials used to package the products and materials delivered to sites 3 . Wherever possible, packaging should be eliminated, reduced or returned to the manufacturer for reuse and recycling. Packaging waste will require separate thought as it is unlikely that the cost of packaging waste will not be divorced from the material cost itself. However, there are real opportunities to reduce the impact of packaging. Envirowise have produced specific guidance on minimising packaging waste in construction, accessible from www.envirowise.gov.uk/packaging Below are some of the main opportunities: Suppliers should be encouraged to re-assess their packaging of materials. In many cases this packaging is unnecessary and expensive, resulting in increased costs to manufacturers and to contractors for disposal. By working together better packaging solutions may be available that actually reduce damage. It is worth considering that an abundance of packaging can have the effect of devolving a duty of care for the material inside as it becomes the job of the packaging to protect it, and not the individual. Reduced packaging would require more care to be applied, not necessarily more waste. Effective logistics solutions can also help to reduce accidental damage. If this damage is reduced then the need for packaging (or protection) can be reduced. Packaging waste can be reduced through minimising the use of void-space fillers and specifying lightweight, down-sized packaging. Where minimising packaging waste is not an option, there is a need to encourage the supply chain to take responsibility for reusing and recycling packaging. There have been some advances in making packaging reusable (such as in structural packaging: pallets, crates, sturdy plastic/cardboard boxes, and stillages for delivering windows). Where possible such reuse should take place or a take back scheme arranged. 3 Envirowise, ‘Managing packaging waste on your construction site’.
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