Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/1157210
www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | SEPTEMBER 2019 | 31 The Knowledge Offsite manufacturing nies have relied on offsite manufacture, deploying systems that use pre-assem- bled package plants and ancillaries, either to minimise downtime or as an effective contingency planning solution. So what can we learn from these sec- tors? The full benefits of adopting offsite manufacturing for treatment plants are achieved when companies effectively implement design for manufacture & assembly (DfMA). This requires the fol- lowing to be considered: Minimising site activities During a treatment plant project, the majority of problems, and therefore risks, arise from activities completed on site – the company's financial perfor- mance, health and safety and even the overall investment programme can all be affected if things go wrong. However, if DfMA principles are implemented, onsite activity and therefore risks are fo- cused on and minimised. That's because when manufacturing is completed off- site within a factory, it is much easier to manage the working environment, put- ting in place effective control measures and procedures. Minimising site works, by pre-assembling components as skid- mounted solutions or package plants, also means other construction materials can be considered, though this requires conventional build philosophies to be challenged. Standard products & sub-assembly design Standardisation is another key discus- sion point within DfMA but, to identify where it is best placed, you need to first consider the DfMA hierarchy. Focus- ing standardisation around parts and components allows for predictability in procurement, but seeking to stand- ardise a complete sub-assembly or asset could constrain the solution's ability to adapt to site specifics and require significantly more investment time. A key part of sub-assembly design (an optimum offsite solution area for AMP7) is working with defined battery limits/ interfaces. Sub-assembly design also re- quires consideration of logistics: overall size, weight and how it can be installed given the site constraints. Implement a production process to procurement Essentially, the primary benefit of production-based delivery is that the factory-built assets (or sub-assemblies) can run concurrently in the construc- tion programme. Production program- ming means understanding lead times and supply-chain interactions or dependencies – working smarter with the key links. As a result, contractual relationships need to be defined much earlier in the delivery process, to secure the knowledge and experience to fulfil the efficiency opportunities. The progress with the Project 13 ini- tiative across the wider construction industry demonstrates the importance of this alignment as a key success crite- rion. Aligned with the Project 13 objec- tives, the integration of information is critical to the management of interfaces, design parameters or programme con- straints. The integration of BIM into the delivery process will help but must not be relied upon solely as the driver for DfMA. When evaluating the suitability of offsite manufacture for your own situa- tion, it is important to consider whether production is to be at the component level, sub-assembly or a fully pack- aged plant. This will be affected by site-specific considerations (access and the available working area) or process requirements (flow, load and consent). However, with the primary DfMA driver being to minimise site activities, there is an opportunity to implement some offsite manufacture on every site. Working across municipal, industrial and construction markets, our Silt- buster team has seen offsite-manu- factured modular treatment solutions successfully work in scenarios ranging from supporting short-term compli- ance and capital maintenance pro- grammes through to providing complete design and build systems. The solution can range from a specific package plant through to a com- plete treatment stream being deployed with programme constraints. Whilst the deployment can o—en require extensive logistics planning, the savings on site assembly are considerable, with com- plete treatment systems installed and commissioned in a matter of weeks as opposed to months. The offsite manufacture of effluent treatment plants also gives the UK water industry an opportunity to futureproof upgrades. For instance, having the plant made up of a series of 'modules' means elements can be added – to provide increased capacity or to deploy different treatment technologies – as the demands of the catchment change. This futureproofing flexibility of modular or phased construction is an important consideration for a water industry, espe- cially as it has such a long investment horizon during which so much could change. The fact that offsite manufacturing fundamentally delivers on so many fronts means that surely its moment has come. It ensures project times, and therefore budgets, are met. It mini- mises site risk – a key health and safety benefit. Furthermore, by drawing on a systemised, production-style approach to plant manufacture, it instils quality control to the delivery process. There are other sectors to learn from and a tried-and-tested supply chain well-placed to present and deliver these solutions to the water industry. The po- litical climate plus scale and challenges of the AMP7 programme present the ideal opportunity for the water industry to draw on this experience, realise these benefits and for DfMA to become its 'business as usual.' AMP7 could be the tipping point for DfMA to be widely adopted