Construction can build on joint venture working

Collaborative working seems like a no-brainer – it helps organisations improve efficiency, productivity and by extension, profitability. It also encourages the transfer of knowledge and innovation. Problems are solved more easily because there’s a wider field of expertise to draw from.

Yet, when it comes to construction, the industry is notoriously fragmented. A lack of communication between the numerous parties involved in any building project can cause disruption, mistakes and extra expense. Ours is an industry which could benefit significantly from working more closely together, so what’s stopping us?

Perhaps the misconception that collaborating is costly and time-consuming. At Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC), we’re on a mission to bust that myth and encourage businesses to work with competitors, their supply chains or clients, and even with university experts and public sector providers.

We’re getting there. Since launching in 2014, we’ve supported 207 collaborative projects with a total value of nearly £10 million, leading to 98 new products and 69 new services heading to market. It’s estimated that our work will result in £732m of additional revenue over the next five years, safeguarding 3,000 construction jobs and creating more than 1,300.

The William Tracey Group, for example, collaborated with the Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) at the University of Strathclyde to create lighter, cheaper and more transportable concrete products. Not only were they able to access AFRC’S furnaces and ovens, but also their expertise. The successful outcome of this project led to further research and development activity which will enable the group to expand the business operation throughout the UK and Europe.

While business-to-academic collaborations are key, we are also keen to encourage projects with several industry partners, including competitors; the more players involved, the greater the impact. We are here to help partners scope the project and make the thing less daunting.

It may seem counter-intuitive to collaborate with competitors, but the benefits can be huge. The Offsite Hub, nine Scottish companies active in offsite construction, is a great example of a subsector pooling technical and market knowledge to drive the growth of the sector for each player’s overall benefit. CSIC is currently funding the hub companies to work with the Business School at the University of Strathclyde to undertake joint research into the market opportunities across the UK, helping the sector to achieve its goal of up to 50 per cent growth over the next five years. The companies have now formed a legal trading entity, Offsite Solutions (Scotland), and view market research as something better tackled collectively.

CSIC is also keen to support collaborations which bring in knowledge from sectors like manufacturing, oil and gas and aerospace, many of which are already highly automated. Together with key Scottish and UK partners, we are involved in a project which draws on manufacturing sector expertise which has just received significant funding from the UK Government’s Transforming Construction Industrial Challenge Fund.

Another exciting opportunity is the possibility of collaborating with us through our Innovation Factory, a breeding ground for ideas which allows companies access to leading edge production, robotics, timber engineering and AR/VR equipment. We also have in-house expertise to assist in the development of new products and production processes. The facility is also being used to train and upskill employees and students – our future workforce – on the technology and its potential.

We want to hear from any company or sector which may have products or processes to benefit the construction industry. l Lucy Black, head of business relationships at CSIC.

A common misconception is that collaborating is costly and timeconsuming