Doing It Differently in the UK

The operations of Barrett Steel Pty Ltd in Bradford, and Severfield Reeve Ltd in Thirsk, UK offer some very pertinent insights into British Steel Fabrication industry practice. Brian K Mahony visited them in July 2006.

Barrett Steel

A family owned company with annual throughput varying from 15,000-18,000 tonnes/year of fabricated products, with about 70% return business on a single select basis.

Mr Richard Barrett, the MD of Barrett Steel and CEO of the fabrication business, is a Visiting Fellow in The Warren Centre’s Steel: Framing the Future project.

Severfield Reeve Structures Ltd

Severfield-Reeve Structures Ltd (SRS) is the major steel fabrication plant operated by Severfield Rowen Plc, a UK listed public company producing about 150,000 tonne/year with a weekly capacity of over 3,000t.

The company has grown to its present status under the guidance of John Severs, the ‘founding father’ and CEO, with a sharp focus on safety, steel handling and in-plant logistics, design optimisation, and by introducing new efficiencies to the fabrication process.

Conclusions

General

Both companies run highly efficient fabricating shops. While Barrett Steel is equivalent in size to a larger Australian operation, the Severfield Reeve shop is an order of magnitude greater. Nevertheless, there are attributes common to both companies that are transferable to an Australian context.

Both organisations enjoy a high percentage of repeat business on a single select basis.

Continuous Investment in Business Improvement

Both companies have attained industry leadership by a process of continuous, whole of business process improvement.

The three main areas common to both companies are:

• Design/Fabrication Interface
Both companies use 3D models that embrace the design, detailing, procurement, construction planning and production of CNC files for fabrication. The models size members, prepare marking plans, determine geometry, estimate member mass and determine erection sequence which is then translated into transport sequence. The model is transferred to a shop-detailing package, which prepares individual drawings for each member, including connections and weldments. One company uses custom software, the other an off-the-shelf package

• Logistics
In both companies, the inter-process steel handling and storage costs are minimized by the use of roller conveyor systems and eliminating where possible, the use of labour intensive and less safe overhead cranes. Careful planning of these areas eliminates production delays due to process bottlenecks and minimises inventory.

• Fabrication
Both companies have invested in the latest steel fabrication technologies, such as high speed drill lines, plasma cutting, beam lines and high capacity welding lines. The speed and automated handling of the processes means that labour input is heading towards 5 man-hrs per tonne. 3-plate beams and columns are assembled for a labour input of about 1 man-hr/tonne.
Gang drilling has been replaced by high speed CNC drilling technology using cobalt tipped drill bits. A 26mm drill working on 20mm plate completed an 8 hole configuration in just over 2 minutes.

SRS claims to have developed its own plate line technology. Camber is built into the beams by cutting the web plates on the camber profile.
One company does fire-proofing in-house, the other outsources this service.

The gains from investment in these areas has enabled significant reductions in the labour cost/tonne.

Design/Construct Approach
A strength of both organisations is their ability to execute on a D&C basis in close cooperation with the client. Even fully documented bids are subject to an alternate design which showcases the ability of the design team to further optimise the tender design to reduce cost and price. The high level of single select return custom demonstrates the effectiveness of this approach.

In many ways, the D&C approach seen in the UK mirrors the emerging finding re D&C of the Steel: Framing the Future project, except that all their team members are sourced in-house.

Note: Richard Barrett, CEO of Barrett Steel is presenting a paper on 21, 22 and 23 November 2006 comparing the UK & Australia fabrication industries.  Click here to find out more.

Disclaimer: The Warren Centre publishes articles relating to new technology and innovation that are often based on information supplied by third parties. While an editorial process is applied, we make no exhaustive investigation into the accuracy of the information, thus no liability will be accepted for its accuracy. Please note that in providing this information, The Warren Centre is not supporting or promoting any technology or company, merely seeking to inform. Interested readers should take their own steps to verify the information prior to relying on it in any way.

Contents

Steel Industry Shapes Up For Greater Hi-rise Share

UK Steel Fabricators Do It Differently
Biomimetics Promises Commercial Harnessing Of Ocean Energy
NICTA Improves Reliability of Critical Embedded Systems
Pushing the Engineering Envelope With The Warren Centre
 

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(c) The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering, November 2006