Unlocking Supply Chain Understanding

What’s the best way to get an understanding of the products that we use and specify on our major projects?

It’s to spend some time with leading suppliers to our industry and gain an appreciation for their products, services and capabilities.

Last week part of our Inertian Civil Team took the opportunity to go out and tour Humes’ main SEQ manufacturing and storage facility. As a guest of Dr Charles Kelly we were taken through the history of Humes (A Division of Holcim Australia) before going on us on a complete tour of the facility where we were able to observe the manufacturing process in action.

Our Inertian Principal Civil Engineer, Calvin Kirk, strives for his team to understand all fundamentals of the components of civil design. “We work on projects that require a different approach to design and engineering, so it is fundamental that we all have significant product awareness and a thorough understanding of capabilities and product performance.”

“This is to ensure that instead of just drawing lines on plans, we understand exactly what it is that we are specifying and the capabilities of any product. As a result of the visit, each member of the team has a far greater appreciation for the strength, integrity and build process of the majority of typical ‘off the shelf’ concrete products and a greater awareness of bespoke options, which are often required on our clients’ projects.”

“It also means that we can propose products which may be more cost-beneficial to our clients and ensure we are efficient and focussed on ensuring that the solutions we propose are not ‘over-engineered’.”