WET News

14 WET NEWS APRIL 2016 E very successive AMP period has seen the UK water industry drive bigger and better innovations and efficiencies in managing its infrastructure. In the first AMP cycle – more than 20 years ago – the intention was for the newly-privatised water companies to replace the nation's Victorian-built structures, but as we continue in AMP6 the objectives and targets are more future facing. AMP6, running up until 2020, focuses on improving the efficiency and smooth running of the country's water infrastructure, and probably the biggest change it demands is the move from capex (capital expenditure; the focus on minimising up-front costs) to totex (total expenditure) because now that the most urgent "quick fixes" have all been done, it is more important to consider whole-life cost. This move towards totex means water companies and their contractors are preparing to make bigger up-front investments in order to create upgrades to assets that will run more efficiently and cost- effectively in the long-term. In order to meet the increasingly stringent requirements, companies are looking to reduce programme times for build, installation and maintenance of assets, hence their in-house engineers are teaming up with the manufacturing sector to devise new innovations. Draw pit In response to the new AMP6 requirements, Anglian Water and composites manufacturer MCL Industrial Enclosures have solved at least four of the challenges with their latest project. During a routine meeting between the water company and its engineering supplier, Anglian Water explained it was having trouble casting the MCC (Motor Control Cabinet) draw pit into its concrete base because of the inconsistent lengths of each individual draw pit. The solution proposed by MCL and developed by the two companies solved not only this problem, but also introduced a total system that introduced significant efficiencies to contractors. Costs MCL in partnership with Anglian devised a system comprising a Corbilt Kiosk and RapidSTACK MCC Chamber, all assembled as an offsite build that saves up to two weeks' work on site, reducing costs and lowering the risk of accidents. It is designed to be plugged straight into a project as efficiently as possible. The system comprises a 7m, pre-assembled chamber that allows bottom entry cabling for the MCC, a preferred method of installation. The RapidSTACK chamber incorporates the support for the MCC cabinet and has been designed to accommodate the various idiosyncrasies of the MCC cabinet manufacturers. The MCL kiosk is installed over the chamber and cabinet. The highly sensitive equipment inside, such as servos, electronics, dosing control pumps or rotor arms, is kept protected from the elements and contained according to the latest regulatory security requirements. Mark Hollingsworth, design manager at Anglian Water's @one Alliance product standardisation department, agrees the significance of the latest invention: "MCL's chamber design ticks four ONSITE Asset uPgRAde major boxes: "This engineering principle puts the most efficient manufacturing process at the forefront in the design process. The 'lean' ethos, which was pioneered in the automotive manufacturing sector, has become popular in construction and contractors are beginning to apply its principles to the water sector. MCL adheres to kaizen principles, which means eliminating waste and continuous improvement in the manufacturing process. "Historically in the water industry much manufacturing has been bespoke: products had to be made to order for every individual project. But the move towards standard products is a great example of lean methodology: it means massive reductions in lead times because water companies' requirements will be predictable and repeatable, so manufacturers can carry stock rather than having to make to order every time. BIM "The Building Information Modelling requirements of AMP6 are another driver for the industry's move towards standard products. Our design means it can be slotted straight into the water company's soŸware and modelling programme without any need for tailoring or reverse engineering. CAD data will drop straight into every project without the need for a redesign every time. "In the case of our MCC system, there is now a deliberately limited number of size variants in order to maintain this efficiency. "MCL need therefore only be prepared to cater for a unit from 2m up to 15m in 1m increments, • Anglian Water and MCL have been ticking off four of the AMP6 challenges with their latest project. Wet News reports. the scheme reduced costs and lowered the risk of accidents TECHKNOW • the Corbilt Kiosk and RapidstACK MCC Chamber were assembled as an offsite build • the system comprises a 7m, pre-assembled chamber that allows bottom entry cabling for the MCC • the RapidstACK chamber incorporates the support for the MCC cabinet • the MCL kiosk is installed over the chamber and cabinet NEED TO KNOW 1 Assembling the Corbilt Kiosk / RapidstACK MCC Chamber system offsite saved up to two weeks' work on site 2 In the water industry much manufacturing has been bespoke 3 Water companies and contractors are preparing to make bigger up-front investments for asset upgrades THE VERDICT "the 'lean' ethos, which was pioneered in the automotive manufacturing sector, has become popular in construction and contractors are beginning to apply its principles to the water sector" Mark Hollingsworth, @One Alliance Stacking adds to 'lean' ethos with no unexpected deviations from this standard. Offsite build "This is absolutely critical in terms of saving time and money. It means the water company does not need to spend weeks on site assembling the asset – instead it can be delivered to site ready-built, and deployed far more quickly. The installation time can be a matter of hours rather than weeks, so the improvement here speaks for itself. "Although credit for the initial idea goes to Andy Hobbis at MCL, the process of making it a reality is a perfect example of how water companies and their manufacturing partners have to work together on research, development and deployment of new innovations. Collaboration "The totex consideration is another principle, as well as lean, that is already familiar to the manufacturing and construction sectors: contractors and suppliers will already be familiar with the concept of focusing on the whole life of the asset, not just the project cost. This is why water companies will welcome close collaboration with their manufacturer and contractor partners, whose input in such areas will be invaluable." Andy Hobbis, group business development director for MCL, says: "We were the only manufacturer in the UK with the capabilities and manufacturing methods to be able to develop such a system. The MCL MCC chamber is only the first step to providing an improved MCC system for the water market and more improvements using our innovative, reliable engineered products are still to come." the MCL kiosk is installed over the chamber and cabinet Anglian was having trouble casting the MCC draw pit into its concrete base pROjECT SpECS • Overcome issues concerning inconsistent lengths of MCC draw pits • Overcome challenges that have arisen for AMP6

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