What is being built?

What's behind the Bayer Construct's record-breaking build speeds?

Published

2023. 11. 16. 10:26
We found exemplary operational elements, both in terms of company philosophy and technology, when we asked Márton Koprás, Investment Director, about the group's efficiency strategy.

As one of the curiosities of the Hungarian construction industry, the Bayer Construct group has now reached the point where its companies cover the entire vertical of the sector, from property development and design through manufacturing and construction to sales and operation. We discussed the resulting efficiency with Márton Koprás, Investment Director, at the Hungarian company's headquarters in Sóskút.

What takes months in other places, takes a week or two in theirs

„The owner, Attila Balázs's basic idea was that if all the companies involved in a construction project were part of the same group, we could eliminate a number of factors – such as delays due to expectations or quality issues – that would reduce efficiency,” recalled the director. „Today, we have reached the point where 60 per cent of the raw materials for the homes we build are produced in our own factories, which is a significant factor in increasing efficiency.”

He also put the process in context. "It's worth thinking about the fact that our gravel pits serve our concrete factories and the concrete plants serve the precast plants and the construction, but what and how they concrete is determined by our own designers, but with direct instructions from the construction."

We can intervene in the process wherever we want: if it looks like we need to speed up the project a bit, for example, the designers start to design the other part of the building as well, and the mine and factory reorganise their work. While in other places such a changeover would take months, here it can be done in a week or two."

Waberer's logistics centre in Ecser (July 2023)
Photo by Mihály Erdei/magyarepitok.hu

He also gave a recent example of flexibility: "When the industrial flooring at Waberer's hall in St. Escher started to be concreted, our concrete plant indicated that for maximum quality, a smaller aggregate size was needed for this phase of the work. In response to the request, our mine quickly rebuilt the gravel classifier and changed the maximum fraction from 16-32mm to 16-24mm by replacing the fibres. We could not have done all this so easily and quickly with an external company." He said these seem like small things, but they make a big difference in the final settlement of a project.

Efficiency is all about planning and thinking ahead

He pointed out that the most critical point in the efficiency value chain is the internal design office of the Bayer Construct.

"If we didn't have a large in-house structural design team here, the whole production and construction process would not be able to move at the same pace. After all, the key to efficiency is planning and thinking ahead. We need to know exactly what we want to do and exactly what elements we need, in what sizes, with what specific requirements."

He stressed that the design team already develops the structural framework of the building at the concept stage to make it as suitable as possible for prefabrication. "The design drawn up in the office in Salskút is directly received by the machines in our factory in Biharkeresztes without any human intervention. On this basis, the machines know what needs to be produced, the plans do not have to be re-adapted into other systems by engineers, but, apart from a few human control points, the production runs automatically, for example in the case of a reinforcing steel reinforcement for a precast concrete element."

They use immediate feedback to drive efficiency

He highlighted human resources as another key factor of efficiency. "You have to find the best people for every position. The whole process depends on them: if we can communicate effectively and quickly between different areas, the whole project process will be faster."

He gave an example to illustrate this. "If a foreman on the construction site can't place the element, he calls the factory and says something is wrong. The same immediate feedback happens backwards and between all areas in the group. There's no politeness or subtlety in this process, but that's the way it should be: the phone comes ringing and you know immediately where the fault is. It's not a tension-free process, but the result is that everyone does their job better." He stressed that this kind of company culture ensures immediate feedback and correction of errors, which greatly drives efficiency and guarantees the high quality of the projects implemented.

Márton Koprás Production Manager of Bayer Construct Zrt.
Photo by Mihály Nagy/magyarepitok.hu

All departments are aware that they are playing in the same team

He said that there is a healthy degree of competition between the different departments, but at the same time everyone is aware that they are interdependent and therefore strive to work together. "No one forgets that we have to work together next week, and in that respect we are better off than the average general contractor, who may not be in a joint project next time."

A further way to encourage collaboration is to invite members of the different departments to visit the project after completion, as a team-building exercise, including people who might not otherwise get to the construction site during their work. "This also has a purpose, so that, for example, when an accountant sees an invoice, he knows what he's talking about, what's behind the numbers and the terms."

Motivating opportunities for development and advancement

He also highlighted the role of quality as another key element on the road to efficiency. "We don't compromise on this: there is no such thing as choosing a machine that is 20 percent less capable because it is cheaper. We are always trying to get the technology that will give us the best value for money." He added that they may have a higher initial cost, but they may not pay for themselves until later, as they can deliver better performance. "Overall, we should not skimp on technology."

In addition, the fact that workers can work with new machines has a positive effect on work morale.

"People like to use new and visibly efficient machines, it's important that they don't have to repair a machine, but can instead work with it all day. From this point of view, the German construction culture characterises our group".

Concrete mixing plant in the ZVK project in Zugló
Photo by Mihály Erdei/magyarepitok.hu

He stressed that investment in technology always pays off. "At the same time, we do not automate processes to work with fewer people, but to achieve higher performance with the same number of people. Accordingly, in many cases we retrain people whose previous work we have been able to replace."

He added that this labour turnover also exists across the Bayer Group's businesses, providing many opportunities for advancement and development. "It motivates people, as it is linked to the fact that outstanding performance is regularly recognised and rewarded by providing a new opportunity."

Twice the speed with half the workforce

Our newspaper has presented several examples of the continuous efficiency improvements achieved by the Bayer Construct group over the years. For example, it took only four months (!) to complete the topping-out ceremony at the Platán Garden apartment building in Balatonboglár: prefabricated elements, a special formwork system and a unique reinforced concrete mesh structure also sped up the work.

A similarly exemplary project was the Napfény Resort apartment building in Balatonlelle, where reinforced concrete mesh construction was used for the first time not only in Hungary but also in Central Europe. In this process, the installation of reinforced concrete was replaced for the entire wall structure, thus doubling the construction speed with half the usual workforce.

We can also mention the giant project in Zugló: seven office buildings and one residential building will be constructed in the Zugló City Centre over a period of two and a half years.

Inclusion of a bark slab in the ZVK project in Zugló
Photo by Mihály Erdei

Today they design their projects using only prefabricated elements

In addition to the above, the Investment Director of Bayer Construct also reported on other achievements. "For example, our Bay Iron reinforcing steel plant has been able to significantly reduce the number of workers required on site by now producing complete ironwork for walls at the plant. The on-site manpower required to install one tonne of iron has been reduced by a third to a quarter."

A similar example he described was the slab formwork for a particular floor of a building in general structural construction. "For monolithic concrete, we do formwork and ironwork and then we pour it in concrete, which takes a week. But if we come to the site with a 5cm-thick slab of bark slab, which we just shore up and pour concrete over, it's a huge speed-up. Of course, the changeover was not without its challenges: people had to get used to the fact that the system was built a little differently from what they were used to, and that it was a permanent surface that could no longer be modified. Steps like this may cause some friction temporarily, but after a few months they significantly increase efficiency."

He stressed that the projects currently on the drawing board are all assembled with prefabricated elements. However, efficiency gains can be seen even when broken down by division. "In our earthmoving division, GPS-controlled earthmoving machines now prepare the ground virtually autonomously, without manual levelling. Compared this to when surveyors used to walk the field continuously with the leveler moving ahead of the machines, the difference is huge."

Prefabrication at the Biharkeresztes plant
Photo by Mihály Erdei/magyarepitok.hu

An idea worth a treasure can come from any level

However, the impact of the ideas of those working in the field should not be neglected. "It is very important for us that all levels of the work activity are involved in brainstorming for more effective solutions. A prerequisite for this is, of course, that they receive feedback on these and that we give an opportunity to all these innovative ideas. Our experience is that there is a lot to be gained from such small optimisation proposals overall."

In conclusion, he said, it also greatly increases the efficiency of the company that those who currently do the intellectual work in management and construction management have also worked at the level of the physical workforce, so they can draw on practical experience of a problem. "When a manager in the office talks about a project item, he knows exactly what it is because he has done it. That also helps a lot to find quick and efficient solutions for a sub-task."

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