Research, development and innovation are the drivers to achieve higher technological goals. Nevertheless, once a company has achieved a technological breakthrough by sheer use of R&D activities, it has only gone half of the way to meet its true goals: bringing those R&D results into its everyday’s business activities to create direct economical and societal impact.
Unfortunately, the road from R&D to production is crowded with a variety of hurdles that very often spoil the research effort done and, therefore, yield no final results. The aim of this European workshop was to meet relevant interlocutors with a proven track of success in the implementation of R&D results into production activities and to share best experiences within this field. The event was organised by DRAGADOS with ENCORD, CICCP, CNC, SEOPAN, TECNIBERIA and PTEC (Spanish Construction Technology Platform).

 

Organised by Balfour Beatty, the 2nd workshop focussed on the implementation of lean principles. The main topics were policy deployment and process mapping and modelling. The members had the chance to hear invited speakers and discuss their own Lean Construction experience with them. Existing tools were discussed and demonstrated in a working sesssion using a hands-on example.

 

The workshop was organised by Acciona and had strong participation both from ENCORD members and partners. This topic that effects society at a whole has special importance to the construction sector: the built environment is the main energy consumer and therefore has the greatest potential for saving vital resources. The workshop programme touched both the global context of the topic as well as the current developments on a regulatory level accross Europe. Experiences with new technologies from many European countries with various cilimatic conditions were presented and discussed.  

 

The workshop series was successfully continued with approx. 20 attendees. The group focused on the situation in England, the Netherlands and Germany with contributions from ENCORD members, guests and Dutch authorities. The highway maintenance strategy was presented from the viewpoint of the Dutch Rijkswaterstaat. The experiences with the contract form “KOSMOS“ as used in the Netherlands was discussed both from the companies and authorities side. British contracts were also presented and insight was given into methods for assessing the current condition and making a prognosis for the road surface in the scope of the PPP motorway projects in Germany. Sessions on value engineering, systems engineering and asset management rounded off the interesting programme.

 

Lean techniques provide the one feasible way to cut costs while also shortening production lead times and time-to-market, improving quality and providing customers with exactly what they want precisely when they want it. They also make it possible to design, order, produce and deliver goods at smaller production scales by means of dedicated product teams, without paying a scale or investment-cost penalty. The aim of this ENCORD workshop was to present different approaches to Lean Construction and to enable ENCORD members to share their experiences and to form a common base for further development within this field. Interest levels were very high, and the approx. 30 participants agreed that this workshop will be continued in the near future.

 

The first ENCORD workshop on this subject dealt with a number of issues concerning the procurement, maintenance and management of high speed road networks. One of the intents was to gauge the interest of ENCORD members in pursuing a special interest group. The initial topics chosen fell into two broad categories; those that have a direct impact on the users of road networks and those that concern the efficiency and effectiveness of delivering a management and maintenance service.

The workshop studied added value for its clients and other stakeholders by using knowledge instead of by an over-consumption of resources (materials, energy, chemicals, etc). Key-note speakers came from the United Nations Enviromental Programme and the European Commission's DG Environment.

Virtual construction is a major international trend in the construction industry. Already today, companies using virtual construction have business advantages over their competitors. In the near future this will change: Companies that do not use virtual construction will have a business disadvantage! This second ENCORD workshop on Virtual Construction brought together leading practitioners, researchers and software providers from all over the world.

This workshop studied tunnel and underground construction issues from a point of view of the contractor in cooperation with other stakeholders. It included many construction methods and technologies, as well as soil engineering, waste handling, design and engineering, and health and safety. Presentations were made by leading experts from the City of Madrid, STUVA, Geodelft, the Graz University of Technology and many more.

A construction project is full of risks - technical, environmental, legal, financial, etc. Risk Management in the construction industry in near future will be an integrated part of the project plan and that it will be as natural to follow up risks as we today follow up finances and time. Representatives of Skanska, the University of Reading, KTH and many other organizations made presentations at the workshop.