MRCB stepping up game in construction industry with MBS

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB) is stepping up the game in the construction industry by eyeing to introduce the country’s first volumetric building system by year end.

Executive vice-president Datuk Seri Judin Abdul Karim said MRCB’s Modular Building System (MBS) is a combination of prefabricated prefinished volumetric constructions and a jointing system known as the candle-loc.

MBS, according to him, is a step-up from the current Industrialised Building System (IBS) used by the industry for precast buildings.

“Up to 95% of works under the MBS for the building components is done off-site as compared to about 30% to 40% by I BS ,” he told Bern am a.

MBS he said, would reduce project delivery time by 30% compared to conventional construction methods as fabrication of building components are done off-site which are then assembled into fully finished and completed 3D modules that begin prefabrications concurrently with works on-site.

“This reduces the need of manpower, project delivery times, material wastage and increases safety and quality requirements as it’s built in controlled environments,” he said.

He said by shifting most of the work to factories, it would create a more convenient, safe and efficient workplace to attract locals to join the construction industry.

“At the construction site, workers are exposed to the 3D elements - dirty, dangerous and difficult, but if we can move the construction site to factories and into a more controlled environment then we can improve workers conditions and job quality,” he said.

He said this would also improve site safety issues as fewer activities would be done on-site as well as providing a better salary to attract the local workforce to join the industry.

“Construction industry has always been labelled as a labour intensive industry and we are currently dependent on foreign labours and low skilled workers.

“When we used unskilled workers, the quality and productivity are always an issue,” he said.

He said by moving most of the works to the factory, the company could achieve better quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) which in turn reduces the number of defects.

This would help in meeting the requirement of buyers which is becoming more sophisticated and demanding.

“Buyers are more educated and if we don’t change, we will not be able to meet the level of expectation that is within current demands,” he said.

According to Judin, Malaysia has the supply chain to implement MBS with more companies expected to participate in the supply chain.

“In Johor, there are many factories set up by Malaysian companies to supply building components abroad. The industry and supply chains are established to supply to Malaysia” he said.

MRCB is currently in the process of creating a number of products using MBS which is expected to be used in its project at Kwasa Sentral by end of this year.

“We already built a prototype of a five storey building using MBS in December 2018 in Kwasa Sentral and we are planning to build few of the products in the same development.

“We realised that we have a duty to the public and we would like to create and customise products to suit the market demand. This allows us to target any housing and commercial markets,” he said.

Judin said MRCB is showcasing a product made using MBS at the International Construction Week 2019 (ICW 2019) being held till from March 18 to March 21 at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (Mitec).