30 July 2015

Costain, in conjunction with JCB, the construction machinery manufacturer, recently held a Supply Chain Seminar to see how it can reduce its consumption of gas oil.

The recent event at JCB's World Headquarters in Staffordshire was attended by senior leaders from 14 plant suppliers including Speedy Hire, A-Plant and L. Lynch Plant Hire and Haulage. From Costain, there were representatives from innovation, supply chain management, store managers, SHE and plant coordinators from the Company’s main gas oil consuming sectors.

The event looked at alternative energy sources and what a future construction site might look like. It also examined how a more integrated approach to transport, using telematics, might help to reduce future gas oil consumption. Telematics is an interdisciplinary field encompassing telecommunications, vehicular technologies, road transportation, road safety, electrical engineering such as sensors, instrumentation and wireless communications, and computer science.

Following a welcome and introduction from Damien Canning, Costain’s Carbon Manager, and Tim Embley, Costain’s Group Innovation and Knowledge Manager, the event focused on four discussion areas: The Future of Power Generation on Construction Sites; Bio Fuel, Barriers and Opportunities with Alan Tolley, JCB’s Director of Engine Programmes; Telemetry with David Midgley, JCB’s Group Telematics Manager; and Power Generation On Site with Jonathan Graham, JCB’s Director & General Manager, Power Products.

JCB continuously tries to improve the fuel efficiency of its equipment for the benefit of its customers, both for environmental sustainability purposes and lower overall cost of ownership. Since 2010, it has improved fuel efficiency by 35% across its product range, which has saved its customers one billion litres of fuel globally. JCB was therefore an obvious choice in helping Costain address the issue of reducing gas oil consumption on its projects.

“Costain’s gas oil consumption per £m of revenue doubled during 2014, driven largely by fuel intensive projects in the Highways, Rail and Water sectors. Just two of our Highways projects consumed around 30% of all directly procured gas oil. Based on those figures, we wanted to hold an event to see how we can halt, and reverse, the increase we experienced in 2014,” said Damien Canning.

Tom Rasmussen, General Manager at JCB, added: “We were delighted to host Costain and their supply chain partners to share our latest innovations around fuel efficiency, and give our views on what the low carbon future of construction equipment will look like. JCB continue to innovate in this area as it fully recognises the importance of resource efficiency to Costain, their supply chain partners and its customers.”

The event was applauded by Costain’s supply chain partners. Steven Sutch, Head of Sales at L. Lynch Plant Hire and Haulage, said: “There was clear evidence from the outset that all parties want to achieve an agreed set of environmental and cost objectives. The day gave me a better understanding about how new innovations can enhance and support our efforts to meet those objectives.”

The inspiration for the event came from a year-end Carbon Report compiled by Costain. The report identified gas oil consumption as an emission stream that required management. From there a group of Costain’s SHE graduates worked to identify potential opportunities for further exploration.

The SHE graduate team tracked gas oil consumption across two sites for three months to identify where fuel was being consumed. They also obtained telematic data to develop an insight into average idling times and fuel burn rates. These insights demonstrated the potential £ and Carbon value of developing a comprehensive system for obtaining and interpreting telematic data for all plant operating on Costain’s sites.

“As a result of the ongoing work from our SHE graduates, we then worked with JCB to collaborate on the development of a supply chain day for internal stakeholders and our plant suppliers, with the aim of generating shared value for us, our suppliers and our customers. Research such as this and the subsequent supply chain collaboration is at the heart of improving resource efficiency within our sector,” said Damien Canning.

 

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