We take space and product into production through fitted furniture and interior components to enable bespoke solutions to best meet our clients’ needs. Our manufacturing based processes ensure our products are deliverable and cost effective compared to off the shelf solutions.
Mass Customisation
Traditionally customisation and low cost have been mutually exclusive. Mass production provided low cost but at the expense of uniformity. Customisation was the product of designers and craftsman. Its expense generally made it the preserve of the rich. To-day, new interactive technologies, like the Internet, allow customers to interact with a company and specify their unique requirements which are then manufactured by automated systems.Whilst this may at first seem complicated and beyond the average consumer, there are various ways to hide the technical details. In some cases the process will be handled by your staff, a third party, or intermediary.
Off-Site Manufacturing
The potential benefits of off-site manufacture are considerable. Much of this benefit and added value is indirect, and the initial investor may not be a beneficiary. While the cost issue remains unresolved, supporters of OSM argue a broader case based on social and environmental issues.
The key benefits of OSM are:
- Certainty of programme and quality, through simplification of site operations, reduced dependence on weather and the reduction of defects, based on controlled factory-based assembly processes.
- Programme Opportunities to compress project durations and reduce risk by transferring work off site and by simplifying site operations and on-site snagging. The downside of programme compression is that more work needs to be completed pre-contract and earlier design freeze dates are required.
- Quality Quality is derived from standardised processes, factory conditions and off-site pre-testing. Areas where OSM has the advantage include thermal performance and air infiltration, where regulations are becoming more demanding. One of the benefits of the factory process is that improvements developed on one project can progressively improve the basic product.
- Whole life cost Enhanced specification standards and build quality can also reduce occupancy costs related to energy use, defects and repairs. However, the benefits of good whole life performance can be offset by high costs of adaptation or the risk of redundancy if buildings cannot accommodate change of use or modification.
- Sustainability Gains relate to product performance, waste reduction and the reduced impact of construction activities on site such as noise, minimal ground disturbance, and vehicle movements.
- Safety, working conditions and recruitment. Transferring work off site into a controlled environment improves safety and can potentially attract a new workforce.
Productisation of Space
Many spaces be they hotel bedrooms, GP consulting rooms, veterinary surgeries, school science laboratories or many other examples, all can be reproduced.
The development of pre-engineered solutions can bring benefits to the procurement of traditionally bespoke spaces. The design knowledge gained in one project can be bought to the benefit of future designs. The supply chain can contribute to the whole process to drive down costs and add detailed innovation to drive up value.
