Infrakit year 2020

Infrakit year 2020

Year 2020 was a challenge. With limitations to traveling and meetings, and some construction sites delayed or even closed down, we all had to figure out new ways to do business, while staying safe.

I’m extremely proud of our customers like Skanska, Veidekke and Kreate, who were able to deliver projects ahead of schedule and below the estimated project budget even in these challenging conditions.

Two of the definite highlights of the year are the Tampere Tram project in Finland, which was completed 26 MEUR below budget (1) and Veidekke’s E6 Arnkvern-Moelv in Norway which was opened 8 months ahead of schedule and 15-20% below original budget (2).

During the year, our team grew to a total of 40 construction and SaaS professionals working in 9 countries. We remain committed to our mission to help our customers succeed. With Infrakit, the construction works can proceed efficiently and safely.

Our vision is a sustainable infra-industry, and we continue working towards this goal in year 2021!

Teemu Kivimäki CEO and founder

(1) https://www.kauppalehti.fi/uutiset/tampereen-ratikan-kiskot-ovat-viimeista-metria-myoten-valmiit-ja-arvion-mukaan-se-kustansi-26-miljoonaa-euroa-ali-tavoitteen/7a15105f-f768-4310-bd55-0c82c09d7662

(2) https://www.bygg.no/article/1447831

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Motorway project E6 Arnkvern – Moelv finished ahead of schedule and under the original budget

Motorway project E6 Arnkvern – Moelv finished ahead of schedule and under the original budget

On October 26, Nye Veier was able to open the last part of the new four-lane E6 motorway between Kolomoen and Moelv in Inland, Norway. Infrakit was used in the project.

According to Byggeindustrien (27.10.2020), Nye Veier’s Development director Øyvind Moshagen believes that both Veidekke and Nye Veier have good reason to be satisfied with the implementation of the Arnkvern-Moelv project.

“We have reduced the construction cost by 15-20 percent and Veidekke has ensured that the opening takes place approximately eight months earlier than originally planned. We are very happy with that”, says Moshagen to Byggeindustrien.

Read more about the use of Infrakit in the project here.

Read the original article in Norwegian published by Byggeindustrien here.

Linda Hakala
January 14, 2021

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Changes in the infrastructure industry – Expert interviews: Tim Barry

Changes in the infrastructure industry – Expert interviews: Tim Barry

Tim Barry is an infrastructure specialist with over 20 years of international experience working and consulting in environmental infrastructure, in private and public utilities and for EPCM contractors. Currently, he works as an Interface Manager at Watercare, encouraging outcome focused engagement with other major projects in Auckland. In our conversation with him, we discussed how the industry has changed and developed in the last decade and what challenges it might face in the future.

Background and experience in the industry

I’ve been in this industry or related fields since graduating in the 1990’s and I’ve been back in New Zealand for seven years, in that time overseas I’ve been based in the UK, the People’s Republic of China and Australia.

My first start on the Anglian Water graduate program came from a New Zealand water resources paper I submitted as an undergraduate to a joint IPENZ / Anglian Water award and was awarded a placement on the 3-year graduate program of the privatized UK utility. This was a great start for understanding the sector as the program emphasized a broad experience platform moving us around various business placements, some of which were unique for an engineer. I maintain a close association with Anglian Water, even spending a week with them last year.

On completion of the program, I moved with Anglian’s international division to Beijing, China where we were looking to expand our non-regulated businesses. There, business accelerated, and I worked on the world’s largest water industry tender, which we eventually won and pursued utility acquisitions in over 10 provinces. After several years I switched to Shanghai and the ultra-competitive EPC market serving the world’s largest industrial workshop in the Yangtze delta. We served foreign owned industrial customers providing bespoke water and wastewater systems. I managed a full EPC team of about 40 delivering about 10 diverse projects annually. I took up an opportunity to move to Australia, also in EPC management and commercial roles.

Most of my experience has been in the industrial or municipal water systems. The last seven years with Watercare has transitioned from complex process-based projects to front ending large linear transmission ones, it’s been great for adding that experience.

The biggest changes in the civil work and infrastructure industries in the last decade

Probably the biggest difference is the fourth industrial revolution. The fact that data and digital technology is now a thing. That’s got to be one of the biggest ones, also now we’re carbon focused. We’re trying to be sustainable, and we’re trying to chop the emitted carbon out of what we’re building and operating.

With respect to digital technology. We’re looking to benefit from generated data for the entire life of our assets, so basically having a relatively up-to-date live model, ultimately a “digital twin” of the hi-touch, critical assets and maintaining that digital relationship with those critical assets for their working life.

Typically, the bulk of our work and services are pipes and squeezing another ten, twenty or thirty years out of the life cycle would be huge for the balance sheet and a change for the business overall. We’ve got tens of thousands of kilometers of pipes. So, data is important. Carbon goals are also empowering our employees to act on initiatives.

Health and safety have improved as well. Particularly in New Zealand where historically it has lagged compared to other similar countries. For example, my experience with Anglian Water in the late 90s. They were already relatively advanced.

Making carbon a priority

What we have with carbon is a three-pronged approach that’s working well.

Firstly, we have a sustainability strategy, that’s been embedded for over a year now at Watercare. It states very clearly what our purposes are, our responsibilities to the living environment and how we go about engaging with our decision process. This sets the scene.

Secondly, we have our 40/20/20 targets, so we have something to aim for. This is a 40% reduction in built carbon. A 20% reduction in costs, and a 20% year-on-year improvement in safety and wellbeing by 2024, all set against baseline 2018 metrics.

The third prong is how we’re engaging our supply chain for longer-term delivery of assets, where we’ve developed what we call the ‘enterprise model’, which is unique in New Zealand. It’s a capital pipeline of two and a half billion dollars’ worth of work for the next decade, awarded to a set of contractors. Engaged for the duration as partners, they can help us deliver the 40/20/20 targets by being more strategic and engaged with the sustainability strategy.

An example of this is concrete suppliers. Concrete is our largest carbon input by some margin. Yet we have never had a close relationship with the producers, and they would not embody our goals. Instead, like most other large clients we’ve always engaged a contractor who have gone with the lowest cost on concrete. Now, through the enterprise model we engage directly to the ‘shop floor ‘of those vendors to align our strategy and goals. That’s something we’ve never been able to do, and this holds a huge potential. We are targeting a 60% reduction in carbon.

Global exemplars in carbon reduction demonstrate that the largest gains are found through reducing the degrees of separation with their value chain. And the cohesive strength of everyone working towards the same goals.

Also important is setting transformational goals. A 10% improvement is easy to achieve and doesn’t necessarily prompt any real change, but a 40% change forces you to totally rethink things, retool and transform the business.

We also benefited from Anglian Water who set their carbon targets in 2010, so we benefit from a decade of experience. So, it’s not as if we’re doing some of these things for the first time. We get to look around the world and see what we can adapt effectively to the New Zealand situation. We’re different, we’ve got a different environment, different geography, systems, but there’s a lot in common that we can pick up.

That’s how we’re looking to make some easy, early wins on carbon in the next few years. In the longer-term it will probably be a case of diminishing returns. We’ll have to get far more granular.

“We won’t be looking at concrete, we’ll be looking at building practices, right down to some of the technologies that Infrakit offer.”

Biggest changes when considering the digital revolution, the carbon footprint and sustainability

A lot of our biggest changes in the future will revolve around customers and our relationship with them. What structured information does is it provides a more accessible stream of knowledge, that’s traditionally only available for limited people. That information can now be shared and viewed by the public so that with this drought that Auckland has been suffering from, we are able to engage our customers much closer than in the past. They are better informed than ever.

An example is the webpage illustrating our dam levels, which has traditionally been ‘unknowable’ information. So, the general public has not had this insight, but now if I go to my neighbors, they are quoting me the consolidated storage percentage. They never would’ve known this information before.

That’s just an example of how the public can be much more informed now. It also demonstrates the importance of credibility and trust, so we must share information whether it’s good, bad, or ugly or even if it reflects imperfectly on us because if we don’t, we will lose the confidence of our customers. And without that, the ability to drive other critical or controversial decisions, that would be a problem and a risk to a utility. Trust is needed for the hard calls.

In the past we’ve made decisions that have generally been sound, but behind closed doors by a collection of engineers and managers. That’s not going to happen exactly like that in the future, so I think that’s a major change. We need to have those relationships and discussions with our community, as the data is there for others to see.

The biggest change in the next 15 to 20 years is encompassing the need to convince people on a wider level than we’ve had to before.

Information flow to the public and vice versa

I think the idea of a fully functioning digital twin, is still a long way off. The fact that information is flowing, and it needs to certain areas is that you’re not going to be able to control it. There’s certain value in learning what you’ve shared, it’s cost effective too. People will have extra information, it’s an important relationship.

“Trust is the currency of the future.”

I know there isn’t a meter for trust but if there was then that’s what the leaders of the future would be interested in keeping an eye on. If you don’t have trust, then what do you have?

Damyanti Rathore
January 8, 2021

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Infrakit project Tampere light rail nearing completion – 26 million euros below original budget

Infrakit project Tampere light rail nearing completion – 26 million euros below original budget

The first phase of Tampere Tram project is now 90 percent complete and the savings are estimated to be up to 26 million euros. Over three and a half years, the tramway tracks have been built faster than planned. Construction for the first phase started in spring 2017 and traffic is set to start in 2021.

According to Sari Valjus, the project manager of the Tram Alliance, on Kauppalehti article 17/10/2020, the moment is historic as rail works – the most important work phase of the project’s first part, is now completed. Read the whole article on Kauppalehti in Finnish here.

Infrakit was used on the project. Check our reference article of the project here.

For more information, contact:
Teemu Kivimäki, CEO and Founder
teemu.kivimaki@infrakit.com
+358 50 344 6465

Linda Hakala
December 2, 2020

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Compatibility and independence form the basis for success

Compatibility and independence form the basis for success

For many parties in the GWW, Infrakit has become a very important tool. But what exactly gives Infrakit the ‘X-factor’? We talked to Tiny Nuiten, Managing Director at Infrakit, to try to find out what exactly this X-factor is.

When we look at Infrakit, the first thing that stands out is it independence from brands and other platforms, Nuiten says. We’re not limited to one specific brand. Machine-controlled or a measuring app? Just connect it. That’s also true about other data, such as documents, reports and pictures: Infrakit is compatible with all kinds of data and accepts practically everything.

‘Stick to what you know’

At Infrakit, our principle is: ‘Stick to what you know’. Nuiten: “We don’t go on any experimental diversions. We deliberately choose to do what we do extremely well. What we lack in-house, we source from other specialists. It goes without saying that we go about this with care, we don’t contract just any company. After all, we want to be able to guarantee quality across the board.

Infrakit ensures that hardware manufacturers are able to work together. This also applies for other data processors, such as Microsoft, Viktor, Relatics or Autodesk. “So we’re always looking to connect with specialists that share a common ground with what we do and have a similar objective. We establish partnerships and our clients validate the entire process. Our major clients are constantly working on the digitization process and looking for ‘the right tools for the right job’. One of those tools is Infrakit. We connect all the other tools they use and therefore play a pivotal role in the digitization process”. Nuiten refers to Relatics as a case in point: “Our customers use it and want to test information, that’s the reason for integrating with Relatics.”

Infrakit is a “gateway” in and out of BIM.

Independence as a priority

Infrakit believes that its independence is paramount. “We can’t just opt for one connection. We want to work on an open basis. Infrakit has become a central access point for Building Information Data. Whether it’s about that one particular model, drawing, picture or document, Infrakit allows you to centralize things at the front of the chain and make it available to everyone”.

In our experience, once you start digitizing, you quickly get a taste for it. Nuiten agrees with that. “Yes, digitizing makes you want more. It starts with one thing and then the wish list quickly expands. The great thing about Infrakit is that it’s prepared for this expansion. Infrakit is your guide that will take you through all stages of the process. That’s business optimization at its best. Everyone can contribute and share their information with all those involved.

Also for project owners and commissioning parties

An additional, not insignificant factor, is the fact that project owners and commissioners are becoming increasingly interested in Infrakit. “That makes sense, because it allows you to monitor the process, confident that everything is always in real time and up to date. Some government agencies even include Infrakit in their specifications. Did you know that Infrakit is a perfect tool for managing the entire tendering process? By continuously working with Infrakit from the moment the tender is placed, you’ll be able to use Infrakit during the maintenance stage. So from preparation, execution, and delivery to maintenance you’ll have all your data centralized and up to date.

Easy access to BIM

Infrakit is a so-called ‘Single Point of Truth’. “A central point for accessing real-time data. Once something is in Infrakit, it will speak the same language across the board, making Infrakit a gateway in and out of BIM. It doesn’t get any easier than that to access data in BIM. “Finally, another good example. Through recent experience, our clients have found out that by using Infrakit on an overall basis, it’s possible to achieve savings ranging from 10 to 20% of the project budget. This is not an estimate, but actual experience. That’s when you understand how important Infrakit can be.”

‘We are not limited to one specific brand’.

Infrakit is compatible with all forms of data.

Tiny Nuiten
November 26, 2020

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