Coreslab steps up excellence by digitalising processes

By Eamonn Ryan

Coreslab continues to build on the excellence that it has established across the precast-concrete value chain by innovating new ways of improving productivity, efficiencies and precision.

The company has embarked on an extensive digitalisation drive to ensure that it remains ahead of the curve. All administrative processes spanning the generation of customer quotations, manufacturing instructions and sequencing of production through to quality controls and the final dispatch of the various precast-concrete elements to site have been digitalised and automated to various degrees.

“We have taken our cue from among the best international precast-concrete manufacturers and developed these processes to make them uniquely our own and relevant to the markets that we serve. By further streamlining our processes, we have been able to significantly improve the provision of cutting-edge suspended-concrete slab solutions to our many customers,” Hennie Meyer, a Director of Coreslab, says. Meyer and Tian de Jager, a Director of Coreslab, are at the forefront of this digitalisation drive, which was already partly implemented by March 2020 and has since also been refined and perfected, with more improvements in the pipeline.

The specialist functions of the various group divisions, including the transport of the elements to site and the project management of the installation of the suspended slabs, have also been integrated into the system. In doing so, all steps in the precast-concrete value chain – starting from design of the optimal layout of the suspended slab solution through to the co-ordination of the installation teams to the many different worksites – can be monitored at any given point in time. This information is also used to improve processes wherever possible.

Moreover, the company has successfully harnessed Building Information Management systems to facilitate quick and seamless detailing, while also enabling the creation of fabrication and erection deliverables from comprehensive and accurate models. Revisions are handled automatically, which includes the updating of all relevant documentation and data. This extensive information is quickly and easily shared among team members, and it is also used to generate reports, such as bills of material. Moreover, important information can be extracted directly to Excel and other relevant documentation used by the company. This has further improved efficiencies and productivity at the company’s state-of-the-art operation in Polokwane, Limpopo. Here, quality hollow-core slabs are manufactured and then dispatched to site where they are seamlessly installed by the company’s teams to make light work of concrete slab construction for multi-storey residences through to large private property developments and government social infrastructure projects.

The benefits of this solid investment made into process improvements are already being realised by the company as is evidenced by its healthy order book for hollow-core slabs.

“It demonstrates confidence in Coreslab’s ability to deliver according to expectation. Our value offering has always been to remove the risk associated with constructing concrete slabs for property owners and their professional teams, while also providing a faster, as well as more cost-effective and efficient method. Our digitisation drive has only improved our ability to honour these expectations – whether from the home builder, developer, engineer or contractor,” Meyer concludes.