Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) instinctively sounds like a good thing. Who could argue against involving specialists from the earliest stages of a project? In fact, there are probably few projects delivered today without some level of ECI.
Involving people who understand the details and intricacies of delivery at pre-construction and feasibility stages, can only simplify delivery and improve the outcomes. But is it the whole story?
As with so many things, it isn’t just a case of ‘doing ECI.’ How you do it makes all the difference. ‘Involvement’ could mean simply attending a few planning meetings and briefing sessions. Helpful – but also a missed opportunity.
ECI could also mean intensive engagement throughout key project stages to fine-tune design details. This, in turn, pre-empts potential clashes and overcomes technical issues that could compromise later stages of the project and lead to adversarial contract renegotiations.
Frustration or Certainty?
As structural steel project managers and fabricators with our own in-house Design team, we’re particularly sensitive to these issues. Being given final designs for a structural solution that won’t fit or work in practice can be frustrating – as is seeing potential cost savings that have been missed.
But frustration is only a minor issue. What matters is the effect the missing practical details have on project budgets and timescales.
FTE takes ECI a step further with our intelligent integration approach to delivery. It puts process, detail and continuity into the equation to eliminate the traditional disjointed delivery model – and with it, significant project variances
Designed Efficiency
With intelligent integration our engineers are present onsite for initial surveys. We’re fully engaged with the design and detailing process to ensure that what is designed can be fabricated and assembled in the most efficient way possible, while also simplifying future maintenance.
Design flows smoothly into precise fabrication that is fully coordinated with our transport and assembly operations.
‘End-to-end’ and ‘seamless’ may be prime examples of overused business jargon, but with intelligent integration they are realities. Project variances shrink from typical levels of 40% or more, to less than 5%. This is the type of performance transformation ECI is supposed to deliver. You can find out more about intelligent integration and how it could benefit your projects by accessing our free information hub below.
