Of invisible times
and clever ways

Mr Krause, why should I as a construction company spend money on construction logistics?

That's a good question, one that is frequently asked. Fundamentally, one must understand the following: You're essentially spending most of this sum anyway. Consider supplying a construction site with power. You need the electrical installation either way – whether it's provided by a constructions logistics company or executed as an individual trade, like the structural work. However, the key difference is that the construction logistics provider doesn't have individual trade-specific interests, but rather views tasks from the overarching needs of the construction site. This means they typically optimize both performance and costs. In essence, you're cutting costs in various places and centralising them with the logistics provider. And the portion you spend on their coordination invariably pays for itself.

Another example is the construction progress. Only about one-third of working hours on construction sites are spent productively. The remaining two-thirds are spent on secondary tasks – workers spend this time on transportation, disposal activities, searching, waiting, or simply moving about. This distracts them from their primary tasks and hence from making construction progress. For illustration, imagine a container setup placed inefficiently on the construction field. As a result, the walking distances on this site increase by a minute. While a minute may sound insignificant, each worker accesses this container multiple times a day for breaks, to use the facilities, etc. This single worker then accumulates an estimated 10 extra minutes of walking daily. On a large project with perhaps 300 workers, this multiplies: 10 minutes become 3,000 minutes or 50 hours. Thus, you lose over 6 full working days because of a single extra minute of walking, all due to inefficient planning! Now, imagine if the inefficiencies were even greater.

Let's also discuss waste disposal. When a craftsman, under time pressure, must decide between making progress and cleaning or tidying up his workspace, he'll often continue working. The result is a classic, but avoidable, conflict of interest. The construction site isn't cleaned; leftover materials increase accident risks. Such obstructions, even by third parties, can delay construction schedules. This leads to mounting time pressures and costs, potentially spiralling negatively. Construction logistics prevent such developments. It makes these hidden times visible, optimizing processes for all involved. We ensure that the trades can fully concentrate on their primary tasks. A more efficient project progression means a shorter duration and, in the long run, reduced costs for you as a client.

Sustainability is a buzzword. How can a construction logistics company support me in this?

By using a logistics provider, you're enhancing the entire construction process from an ecological standpoint. With a disposal concept tailored to your project, you can drastically reduce construction waste. Achieving a mixed waste rate of less than 10 % is feasible.

Furthermore, the logistics provider actively manages construction site deliveries, minimising waiting times on or before entering the site, consolidating material flows, and cutting down on misdirected deliveries. Appropriate measures can then be taken on-site to promptly address transportation in the loading or unloading zones. This avoids congestion, even extending beyond the construction site into public traffic. All these measures help mitigate negative impacts such as air pollution, noise, and inner-city traffic.

Additionally, a construction logistics company can assist you in meeting various environmental requirements in areas like noise protection, pollutant emission, and waste treatment, enabling you to achieve sustainability certifications like LEED, DGNB, BREEAM, or Green Building.

Supply shortages, price hikes, skills shortages – challenging times for the construction industry! How can construction logistics provide solutions?

Historically, construction logistics primarily focused on optimisation, which is still crucial. The real challenge now is to avoid waste and utilise available resources as efficiently as possible. With unlimited resources, it's easy to identify areas for optimisation or even tolerate some wastage. This parallels the skills shortage issue. If you find your project lagging, you could deploy more personnel. But this only works if you have enough skilled workers. Otherwise, the question becomes: «How can I achieve the same quality and speed as today with fewer or even shrinking skilled resources?» This is where construction logistics steps in. The key lies in boosting productivity – a domain where the construction sector still has much room for improvement.

Returning to the initial question – why invest in construction logistics? Precisely for this reason: nowadays, construction logistics establishes conditions that allow for construction with capacity available in the shortest time possible, at the lowest costs, with minimal energy expenditure, utmost efficiency, resource conservation, and minimal land use. In short, we handle all peripheral concerns, so the client can focus on the main task: building with optimal productivity, quality, cost-efficiency, and sustainability. Companies that recognize this gain a distinct competitive advantage, both now and in the long run.

Would you like to learn more about our services and how we can assist with your construction project? Please get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you.

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