Tag Archives: Traceability

Excel in your Steel Fabrication Workplace.

Are you using Excel to enter your bill of materials, complete your bids or to track your jobs?
Why use a general computer program to manage such specific industry tasks!? Read more on how StruMIS Software is the faster, more efficient way to make you productive in your steel fabrication workplace.

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We all naturally resist the initial notion of change. Surely, the switch to Excel from pen and paper was also met with resistance initially. But here we are, years later, familiarly clicking away in Excel; thoroughly adjusted to the cumbersome task of entering the bill of material in Excel. It’s what you know. It’s what you’re comfortable with. Just as the generation before us knew and were comfortable with their pen and paper.

But like anything, time and technology changes. After all, you’re reading this blog (which wasn’t even a “thing” 20 years ago!) from a computer screen, not a typewriter. What if I told you the steel fabrication industry is not immune to such technological changes? That there is an easier way to work with software but it’ll naturally require a transition time to get used to the new way of work? Does your mind immediately focus on “transition time” or “easier way” in that sentence?

If you found yourself focused on “transition time” and dreading that notion, what if I added that the transition time is short and seamless because the new way resembles the look of Excel but is specifically designed for the Steel Fabrication Industry? Starting to sound better? What if I add that the software comes built with all your cost and labor codes for faster, more efficient take-offs? Sounding even better yet? What if I also add that you can import your bill of materials, your excel sheet, your 3D model, your electronic take-off for an even faster, more efficient bid? A no-brainer, right?

estimating

Unfortunately, so many of us, get stuck on the notion of change that we keep to the old way of doing things because it works, no matter how cumbersome, regardless that there are industry improvements out there that help us work smarter, not harder.

Our customers have recognized this realization and are reaping the benefit. They’re able to get more bids out than before, they’re able to track their bid win/loss history to understand where to improve and make themselves more competitive, and they’re able to understand with a click of a button what is available in inventory, what’s already allocated in inventory to a specific job, and what drops they have to utilize. Instantly, our clients are able to view any potential bottlenecks in the shop, reroute, and stay on time for delivery.

They’re not working harder, they’re simply working smarter. They’re harnessing the power of technology that StruMIS delivers and I invite you to see the faster, smarter (not harder) way to work through StruMIS, too! A complimentary, brief online demo will show you just how seamless an “easier way” is. Work smarter, not harder, with StruMIS.

Request an online demo here

Lighting the way in South Africa

Kusile Power Station will end Load Shedding

Kusile Power Station in Witbank, South Africa; is one of the largest energy infrastructure projects under construction in the world. This 4,800 megawatt power station will result in a much needed reliable electricity supply for South Africa, ending the current power crisis and “load shedding”

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When the world is watching

With the whole world watching and waiting, the Kusile Power Station construction requires industry-leading project management performance to meet the challenging schedule with a critical cost focus.

Shortened schedules and maximised productivity critical

Fortunately, StruM.I.S, the global leading steel fabrication management information solution, guarantees to always shorten schedules, and maximises productivity; in addition, it’s three StruM.I.S Bar code data-collection tools enable quick and accurate data capturing of employees, site materials and piece tracking; a huge benefit to Kusile Power Station Contractor, Genrec Engineering – a StruM.I.S user.

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No mean feat

Contracted to provide detailing; project management; site support; erection planning; and fabricate 6 boiler units of 18,300 tons per unit, Genrec needed to track the exact location of items within the complex Kusile Power Station construction site – measuring approximately 3,350 acres or over 5 square miles (1,355 hectares)!

Exact item location in a 5 square mile site

Developed for Genrec, StruM.I.S provided bar code tracking functionality through a bespoke designed interface to track all Genrec site movement of materials and fabricated items to within 1 metre.

Genrec simply scans items into the Production Delivery notes when leaving their fabrication facility, heading for the site. Once the shipment is received at Kusile Power Station, the items are then scanned again to ensure nothing has been lost during transit. Their StruM.I.S Inventory module then shows the exact location, of Genrec’s items, including GPS latitude and longitude co-ordinates, for easy onsite traceability. A godsend throughout the entire 5 year project.

Now that’s organised inventory!

StruM.I.S now offers the additional customisable option of GPS location tracking via barcoding, to enable complete onsite traceability for clients with multiple location warehousing or large site storage issues. Find out how StruM.I.S could revolutionise your Steel Fabrication business, we guarantee within minutes you’ll see the light.

Business model built on dedication and investment in technology

Business model built on dedication and investment in technologyBusiness model built on dedication and investment in technology

From the bottom up, Frank and Dolores Kiernan have built their successful business.
25 years ago, Frank and Dolores Kiernan saw their world fall apart when they were both made redundant. Frank had worked in the steel erection business and Dolores in accounting and book-keeping. When their efforts of finding alternative employment failed, the couple were left facing a bleak future. Instead, they embarked on a journey to form their own business. And in 1989, Kiernan Structural Steel was created.

Today, ready to mark their 25th year anniversary, they have much to celebrate. From what started out as a way to create jobs for themselves has now grown into a hugely successful business that has over 100 employees and an annual turnover of €13m in 2012.

Even after 25 years, they have not lost any of their enthusiasm for the business. Inside their modern factory large CNC operated machines cut and drill the raw material into their required lengths in a largely automated process assisted by the StruM.I.S software nesting and production routing features to further assist in managing purchasing and stock control hence reducing overheads and waste material.

Frank Kiernan comments, “We had very humble beginnings.” “We started the business in an old, two-bay hayshed at the rear of our home.”

Things were slow to begin with until the early 90s where Kiernan Structural Steel received a welcome boost when the Government introduced grants for farmers wanting to build new sheds. To cope with the extra demand, the Kiernan’s expanded their existing premise and hired their first employees. With added capacity, a broader skill-base and the experience gained from working on smaller projects, they began to target the wider construction sector.

Business model built on dedication and investment in technology

In the mid 90’s, the couple bought their first automated sawing and drilling CNC machines. “It was a huge investment” said Frank Kiernan. However, it proved to be a wise decision by significantly increasing their productivity and enabling them to undertake even larger projects.

Kiernan Structural Steel also invested in StruM.I.S – a steel fabrication management system enabling them to be efficient in their steel fabrication. StruM.I.S integrated well into their steelwork fabrication, providing traceability and real-time piece status tracking to ensure successful project execution ultimately displaying significant cost & time savings.

Dolores comments, “We have worked on projects with many top Irish and international firms, such as Google, Intel, Tesco, Diageo / Guinness, Kerry Foods, PM Group and many others.”

“Our staff are highly skilled, many have been working with us for up to 20 years,” says Frank. “While we are a family-owned and family-run company, everyone has a real say in how the company is run,” he insists.

The story of Kiernan Structural Steel is a real example of how one couple managed to turn what could have been a bleak future into a hugely successful one through their own hard work and investment in the right technology enabling ROI.

Read the full news article here:

Back to the news article

How does the BCSA’s mandatory introduction of CE marking affect me, and how can StruM.I.S help?

CE Marking logoAs of 1st July 2013, the Construction Products Directive (CPD) will be removed and replaced by the Construction Products Regulation (CPR). The main difference between the two is that the CPR is mandatory and comes into effect in the UK and RoI law on 1st July 2013. The CPR makes CE marking mandatory in all member states including the UK and RoI for construction products covered by a harmonised standard or a European Technical Assessment that is in force.

What is CE Marking?

CE Marking is a regulatory mark applied by the manufacturer that is a declaration to public authorities and clients that the product satisfies required levels of health and safety (concerning such issues as release of hazardous substances and structural strength).

How does this affect you – steelwork contractors?

From 1st July 2013:-

From the 1st July 2013 steelwork contractors must have in place a purchasing system that will ensure that essential products (steel sections, structural bolting assemblies, welding consumables etc.) are covered by a Standard (specification), purchased and correctly CE marked.
The model purchase specifications for structural sections and bolting assemblies produced by BCSA may be used to develop a purchasing system that complies with the CPR.

From 1st July 2014:-

BS EN 1090-1- Execution of steel structures and aluminium structures – (Part 1) Requirements for conformity assessment of structural components (1st July 2014) 

The CE Marking standard for fabricated steelwork is BS EN 1090-1 and this is supported by the fabrication standard BS EN 1090-2 and the welding quality management standard BS EN ISO 3834. Those affected by CE Marking must put in place a Factory Production Control system (FPC) and have the system certified by a Notified Body.

Other things to consider

  • Selection of correct Consequence Class (CC) as per Eurocode 0 (EN 1990 standard)
  • Design in accordance with Eurocode 3 (EN 1993-series standards)
  • Designers material selection (EN 1993-1-10 requirements)
  • Selection of correct execution class (EXC) by designers, acc. to EN 1090-2
  • Workshop certifications to ISO 9000 and the relevant part of ISO 3834 for the workshop
  • The workshop must have a welding coordinator; his minimum qualifications depend on the EXC. For execution class EXC3 and EXC4 he must be certified welding engineer (EWE/EWI)
  • Generally the workshop must follow the EN 1090-2 standard for the fabrication of steel structures

Traceability and how StruM.I.S can help…

For Audit purposes traceability is now a key factor in gaining CE accreditation.

AceCad Software, along with StruM.I.S – a complete steel fabrication management system and Essentials by StruM.I.S – A light steel fabrication management information and production system for Small to Medium (SME) sized engineering and steelwork fabrication companies, will help you gain CE Marking accreditation, as we have off the shelf products available to assist you with traceability. Designed especially for smaller fabrication teams and with the features that smaller businesses need, Essentials by StruM.I.S is the perfect management system to assist in the tracking of production, purchasing and is a one stop solution for documenting the day to day running of your business.

Richard Brotherton, Managing Director of AceCad Software commenting on the release of Essentials by StruM.I.S said, ’Essentials opens a world of potential business advantages on the steelwork project to all in the sector. Smaller fabricators can now experience new levels of capability, unrivalled in the industry, to deliver benefits to their businesses and other project stakeholders’.

AceCad is aware of the current grievance felt by UK companies due to the recent changes in the construction industry. We have therefore created a cost effective solution that can not only be implemented smoothly, but also see you earn a return on your investment.

To learn more on how StruM.I.S can help you gain CE Marking accreditation:

  • Click here to read more about StruM.I.S and its Purchasing module –
  • Want to have a chat with a representative on how StruM.I.S can help? Click here to request a call back.
  • Request a personal FREE no obligation demonstration here

Steel Purchasing webinar

 

Watch our webinar covering Better Purchasing with StruM.I.S  on our YouTube channel here

Bar Code Tracking with StruM.I.S

Bar code data-collection systems provide huge benefits during the manufacturing and processing stages of fabrication. Murray & Roberts subsidiary company, Genrec, has extended these benefits further by tracking individual items within large scale projects.

The bar code data-collection solution enables faster and more accurate data capturing with lower costs, minimised mistakes and easier data management through the StruM.I.S system including site materials and piece tracking.

A successful installation simplifies fabrication management

With Genrec’s principal RSA steel fabrication site in Wadeville, covering over 55,000m2 of undercover workshops and open areas, tracking of materials and fabricated items represented a major issue.

As StruM.I.S users they had already decided to extend shop floor feedback automation through bar coding for an optimised workflow and real time tracking. This implementation has been highly successful for quite some time and has shown real benefits in terms of processing steel through production efficiently and gaining the most out of the management  system; StruM.I.S.

Overcoming the growing pains

Following successes in several large projects around the world, Genrec has become the main contract steelwork fabricator for a substantial domestic infrastructure project. This resulted in the need to develop their own onsite fabrication facilities alongside the creation of a lay down storage area covering an area larger than that of five soccer pitches!

The sheer size of this storage area created a number of traceability issues for both raw materials and fabricated items and as such Genrec approached AceCad to see if it was possible to create a way of implementing bar coding through StruM.I.S into a new onsite process to enable complete onsite traceability.

GPS location of items enables accurate location on demand

Following development work between Genrec and the AceCad team, StruM.I.S is now able to use the bar code tracking functionality through a specially designed interface to track all site movement of materials and fabricated items.

Originally, the brief given by Genrec required the ability to scan items into the Production Delivery notes to define that these items were leaving the fabrication facility and headed for the site. Once the shipment is received at the site, the items are then scanned again as a confirmation of receipt to ensure that they have not been lost during transit. On confirmation, StruM.I.S will recognise the location, including GPS coordinates, for easy onsite traceability throughout the entire construction process.

Speaking on behalf of Genrec a spokesman commented; ‘With StruM.I.S, we have a system that enables us to manage projects from start to finish. Now with the extended bar coding functionality and the automation that this delivers we are able to benefit from the system more and more throughout our projects.’