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UtilitY WEEK | 18th - 24th April 2014 | 23 Operations & Assets 5,000-year-old house that was still recognis- ably a house today. He compared this to the pace of change in the automotive and aero- nautic industries. "We're mentally stuck with the wheelbarrow. It is culture and behaviour: 'we don't do it like that round here, son'. It's that sort of mentality that prevails – and it's not just a UK problem, it's a global problem." This can lead to great inefficiencies within the system. Matthew Crabtree talked about how one water company had 472 dif- ferent light fittings across its asset base. "Surely to goodness the operation of assets must become more efficient," he said. Off-site manufacture requires contrac- tors to work with their supply chains in new ways. Fozzard said: "We will be selecting partners – that gives us the opportunity of having a virtual factory, with the best ele- ments of design and civil specialisms. We plug those together and become an integra- tor of those solutions." For the water industry, the rest of this year presents a window of opportunity. Colin Reynell said: "This is a tipping point: you can influence the next five years in the next nine months. Once you've got that smart productisation, you then industrialise it. You have the heartbeat of a factory. You can't do that mid-AMP." Ogden reminded the audience of the scale of AMP6 – £25 billion over five years. "That's a huge number, and who's going to be paying for it? We are. There has to be a better way. Somebody somewhere is designing another set of toilets. Why? Surely we've designed all the toilets we need." Fozzard sounded a note of cautious opti- mism. He suggested that AMP6 was encour- aging more radical thinking among water companies. "The signs are there. Clients are wrestling with the issue of whole-life life cost." As Reynell said, they have little choice, given the savings Ofwat is seeking in AMP6. "You can't do what you did yesterday and get that level of efficiency." To borrow Ogden's closing phrase: "We need to seize this moment." See: www.sustainabilitylive.com In association with London's iconic Leadenhall Building, commonly called the Cheesegrater, was built off-site and trucked in piece by piece