MIPIM 2019 (24.1 MB)

Positions & Opinions
things, as aggregates or for cement production,
for example. The cycling of materials
will become much more pronounced and
sustainable in the future.
Austria lags behind when it comes to digitization
- think Building Information Modelling
(BIM) -. Isn't there an enormous
potential for savings here?
I believe that the Austrian construction industry
- and again PORR as the market leader
- is taking on the role of a trailblazer in this
area in the continental part of Europe. We are
only lagging behind Anglican, English, Nordic
countries in this regard, because in these
countries the public sector jumped onto the
digital bandwagon much earlier. That's really
the deciding factor. If the customer - as is now
happening in Germany - says that from 2024
onwards, every order has to be tendered in the
BIM standard, then the momentum gathers.
In Austria we are only at the beginning of this
development. ÖBB, ASFINAG and other contracting
authorities have to adopt a pro-active
approach and introduce BIM as a mandatory
standard.
However, Building Information Modelling
and digitization are two separate things. Digitization
means standardizing, harmonizing
and automating processes. At PORR we are
working towards paperless administration
and construction sites. Conversely, Building
Information Modelling is a standard planning
framework. We plan using the BIM standard.
The basis of every calculation are these BIM
models - no matter if it is 2D, 3D, 4D or 5D. The
future project manager is already involved at
the calculation stage. If we actually receive
the order, this calculation automatically goes
into so-called work preparation and shaping.
Purchasing, HR and logistics departments
then access this data - "from order to pay".
These are the topics where digitization is
happening. Digitization is about connecting
all those involved, so they have the same information
in the field in real time, enabling
them to make the right decisions.
The right staff deployment and the right
use of materials at the same time is no longer
called BIM, but LEAN Design, Design to
budget and then LEAN Construction. An
approach in which all parties involved sit together
at the table right from the outset and
plan the project from start to finish. Together
and not against each other. The principle of
client on one side and contractor on the other
is something we have to overcome. Achieving
that will enable the construction industry to
play to its strengths (considering the best bidder
principle, under which it operates), utilising
Design to budget and Lean Construction.
All of our 50,000 devices are also digitized
and are controlled by telematic means. Data
is available in real time. No service interval is
missed. Every screw, every work order exists
as digital data. Today, even though we have
doubled the equipment, we work with the
same crew as we did eight or nine years ago.
That, too, is a form of digitization. Well, we
are not talking about digitization here, but we
are really talking about standardization,
We have just planned one of the largest office
complexes in Germany for BMW, using
LEAN Design and Lean Construction. We
delivered great quality, on time and under
budget. This has demonstrated what is possible
if you know how.
Factbox
KARL-HEINZ STRAUSS, MBA (CEO)
BORN 1960, MARRIED, ONE DAUGH-
TER, ONE SON
After graduating from the technical college of
civil engineering, Karl-Heinz Strauss studied at
Harvard University, at the Management Business
School in St. Gallen and received his MBA
from the IMADEC University in Vienna. Until
2000, he held various positions at Raiffeisen
Zentralbank – including in the construction and
real-estate divisions. He then founded Strauss
& Partner Immobilien, whose best-known
projects include the EURO PLAZA office park in
Vienna. He took over as Chief Executive Officer
of PORR in September 2010.
How do you deal with with partners who
are not yet BIM-enabled?
We continue working with them, in 2D. You
have to accept that to a certain degree. You
have to be careful about the digital issues
and make it work for the people you have.
What is much more important and makes
the difference: Our clients have to commission
the planning in this standard. If you
plan and commission it yourself, then the
one who builds it will adopt it as a matter
of course. It's not that hard, it works in England
and in Northern Europe. You can not
build a bridge if you are not BIM capable,
and if you aren't then you need not bother
picking up a tender in Norway. It's all planned
in the BIM standard.
Legislators would need to decide that from
2020 or 2021 we will also work in the BIM
standard. And not go down the route of
one of the biggest contracting authorities,
14 ImmoFokus