Breaking the chains

A supply chain can conjure up the image of a client leading their contractors and suppliers along, but this view may well be out of date. While there are instances of clients setting the pace, nowadays it is increasingly contractors and suppliers who are leading the way.

The reasons for this are twofold: innovation and regulation. The demands of both are very high, but get it right and the paybacks are huge.

End clients may preach the advantages of innovation, but it is increasingly difficult for them to keep up to date with developments, assess the benefits and identify routes for implementation. With fewer small clients and ever more large organisations, they face the difficulties of staying in touch with innovations.

There has been a shift towards contractors and suppliers taking up this challenge and filling the gaps left by ever decreasing time and skill levels. They are also able to answer the business demands of legislative and environmental considerations. For this to work there has been a change in relationships between clients, contractors and suppliers, with a move towards value-based rather than cost-based transactions.

With purely cost-based transactions customers are likely to only get what they have asked for, not what they may really need for a specific project. A value-based relationship allows a two-way exchange of ideas and rewards innovation.

Among those benefiting from this shift in supply patterns are some independent suppliers who are big enough to provide a good range and service, yet small enough to integrate high levels of innovation and implement a continual search for better ways of doing things.

Sunbury-on-Thames based Kem Edwards is a national supplier of first-fix materials, fittings, tools and PPE, yet doesn't feel it has any direct competitors. As Richard Edwards, managing director, explains: "While we do have competitors on some levels they do not match us across all of our stock portfolio - yet our real differentiator is our innovation programme. I think it goes without saying that nowadays it isn't difficult to find a well priced commodity product, but it is harder to find the expertise that may enable you to replace a ‘high labour' product with newer ways of working."

Edward cites ‘standard lengths' as a good example of this. "While many items come only in a couple of standard lengths, few projects come as standard! What about the on-site skills and time required to cut and finish lengths to size, plus the storage and waste considerations as well as the exposure to risk through the fabrication process?

"Like with many other things we take for granted, it was very much a case of the manufacturers producing in lengths they wanted. Our role is either to help larger manufacturers to supply in ways that better meet our customers' needs or work with smaller firms to help them introduce their products to the market."

Investment is encouraging the supply chain to innovate to find practical solutions

In the case of strut and studding, Kem Edwards researched what its clients did with the product after it was delivered in its standard length form. "We discovered that in the main, they cut these down to assemble supports and props for cable management and pipework," explains Edwards. "Further investigation showed certain lengths made for applications were common to most projects. A major investment was then made to buy these different lengths in sufficient quantity so as to nullify any price premium over the ‘standard length' product."

Standard 2·5 mm thick, pre-galvanised strut is now available ex-stock in over 25 lengths, together with 30 lengths of pre-cut M10 studding, fully zinc plated. With less storage capacity required on site and little or no waste or health and safety risk, the cost of producing quality installations on-site is reduced.

A similar ethos of innovation and value is also a driving force for m&e and fm services provider AMEC Building and Facilities Services. AMEC operates its own Continual Process Improvement (CPI) Centre in central London. This 450 m2 facility showcases and tests a wide array of products that the company may be considering using on its projects.

Ron Haldane, head of CPI, explains the philosophy behind the centre: "We review products and new innovative ideas from the supply chain and other sources and if we find that they offer an advantage and we can harness this to benefit our customers, we adopt it as best practice. This assessment includes thorough safety, engineering compliance and commercial and environmental evaluations."

The process works up and down the supply chain. "Our main motivation is business improvement and adding value for our clients, but we also have a role in raising standards across the industry by giving feedback to vendors so they can improve their designs, enhance health and safety, or quantify the benefits that their innovation could offer," says Haldane.

"The CPI Centre has not only helped established firms to test their innovations but also smaller firms and those starting up with their single ‘great idea' and is a real encouragement to the supply chain."

Among the products being considered is the Piranha earth nut, which speeds up installation of cable glands by replacing the earth tag and lock nut to provide a high integrity earth connection. Although it may cost more to buy initially, as boxes come complete with glands, it provides some significant time and convenience benefits making it better value overall.

The examples of Kem Edwards and AMEC show that investment is encouraging the supply chain to innovate to provide practical solutions. Someone, somewhere is developing and testing the products that will help the industry to deliver the next generation of projects more efficiently and more safely.