One of MAT’s construction industry clients had some concerns about building a plant which included mechanical and electrical equipment. Their specialist expertise didn’t include industrial processes and they wanted to ensure they provided the best for their client.
This is their story:
“We’re a civil engineering company and take on large construction projects on a design and build basis. Recently, our clients have been asking us to take on responsibilities for installing mechanical plant as well.
“We’re experts in civil construction, and our detailed knowledge of mechanical and electrical plant is mainly building services.
“Process plant is different and more involved than what we’d expected, and fortunately the quality of our structural work meant our client stuck with us, even though we lacked some competence in some other areas.”
“So we didn’t lose credibility, we discussed whether we could justify having the expertise in-house, but the diversity of these projects made it unrealistic to have a permanent employee, and the scale of any projects, would soon overwhelm our internal team, meaning we’d be doing the same again, but on a more emergency basis.
“However, consultants are expensive, there was paperwork that we didn’t understand, and many discussions went over our heads. We didn’t want to pay heavily for something that wasn’t needed, and we needed an external consultant who actually took responsibility for themselves.
“We searched for a company that we could believe is working in our interests, who both understood the mechanical and electrical aspects, but could also explain it to us in terms we can relate to. Because of the long-term nature of our projects, we needed a commitment for the duration, and we wanted access to that knowledge, but didn’t want to have to pay for someone just to sit around in case there’s a question.
“We’ve seen previous key sector experts recycling someone else’s work and charging a premium for it, so that knocked our confidence that they were concentrating their efforts on our own needs.
MAT was recommended by one of the Civil company’s suppliers and we were brought in to provide an interface between the Main contractor and their subcontractors and also to give controls and functionality advice.
With our additional expertise in managing projects from the concept through to handover, we quickly showed our understanding of the practical steps required, and the need to soundly establish a firm scope and specification to minimise disruption and extra cost throughout.
We were soon representing their position for agreements with their Client, their process consultants and sub-contractors, because they noted that we could make decisions, understood the scope and had a realistic knowledge of everyone’s skills.
Our client still had their own in-house personnel, but we brought the advantages of access to wider skills in the relevant fields, and of communicating with the specialists to quickly understand and convey what the recommended solutions are.
At first, everyone thought that we were just an exclusive and limited service to the client, but we quickly showed that our interests were firmly in making sure that the overall project and our client were a success.
Our goal is not just to deliver within a narrow specification, but to look for further ways to benefit our clients in ways that pay back.
If you feel your business could also benefit from making some changes for the better, then contact MAT for some no-obligation professional advice and we’ll help to get you along the road to greater success too.