Just-in-time delivery of materials and products becomes more and more important in our daily rush hour world. What this means for the working process, how much logistic work and what preparations are involved is explained by the specialists from A.S.T. Bochum, based in Germany.
"We are specialist suppliers in the civil engineering sector and cover all possible fields of construction: drill & blast, TBM, microtunnelling, specialised civil engineering, ground freezing, geothermal projects and all the resulting associated requirements", is how Guido Emanuel and Christian Wieczorek, the two owners of A.S.T. Bochum GmbH, describe their company. Twelve employees are now working permanently in Bochum but when the workload peaks, additional trained personnel can be taken on, mainly to prepare or put together orders. They emphasise that their success is based above all on the team they work with.
Technical dealer since 2005
Everything started in 2005 as dealers and suppliers of goods in the field of valve, hose and tunnel technology, and the company has developed until today into a technical dealer with a range including special products for tunnelling. The A.S.T. team has many years of experience in all fields of tunnelling. This competence is supplemented by the specialist knowledge of the employees, who come for example from the fittings industry. This is especially helpful when offering advice, for example when complicated welding tasks have to be undertaken.
Delivery including documentation is standard practice
“Worldwide delivery including all documentation is meanwhile standard practice for us. There are now more than 10 000 articles in stock for dispatch from Bochum. Our media are concrete, water and compressed air. The range starts from a diameter of ¼" and continues up to 500 diameters. It includes all types of valves, fittings and hoses. We are also the original equipment manufacturer suppliers of machines and equipment from numerous well-known manufacturers of small and large machinery in all fields of underground construction", explains Christian Wieczorek. Consideration of special needs, like special valves, ready-made hoses or even small-scale steelwork is included. The programme is continuously added to and extended.
When an order has been placed, delivery from the central warehouse in Bochum only takes the time needed for transport, although A.S.T. Bochum also develops store concepts for construction sites in order to noticeably shorten transport times, for example to Chile. A container with material from Bochum still needs several weeks to reach Chile or Qatar. In an emergency, however, material can also be sent by air.
Regular visits
"Our team visits projects and sites, machine producers and branch offices of construction companies at regular intervals. The state of the project determines the substance of the visit and the necessary topics that are dealt with. This takes place several times a year. We do the same with the works that produce for us. In this way we have up-to-date information from all sides", says Guido Emanuel. Christian Wieczorek adds that this procedure is decisive for the trust and above all the quality, without which no-one could be successful in tunnelling in the long term.
Increasing demand of special parts
The demand for special parts is ever increasing. "Our partners have very widely spread fields of business and we are part of it with our programme. With more than 10 000 articles in our range, discussions are naturally necessary. This can also be quite complex from case to case", explains Wieczorek about the extent of product and application advice. "In many areas, we have articles made for us – currently about 40 to 50 % is specially produced for us. We specify to our works how the articles have to be made. Tunnelling is very demanding regarding the quality level. We also have some fields on the other hand, where standard products can be delivered."
Projects all over the world
A.S.T. Bochum currently has projects in South America, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and all over Europe, such as in Alto Majpo (Chile), Suez Canal crossing (Egypt), Doha Metro (Qatar), Stuttgart 21 (Germany), Grand Paris (France), Follobanen (Norway) and Koralm (Austria).
These sites are supplied continuously and as required with hoses, pipes, fittings, and special solutions. How the employees of a project on the other side of the world experience and receive their order is described by Christian Wieczorek: "Our procedure can be very nicely described through using the example of the Doha project. First of course we naturally read over the specifications for the project and discuss it with our partners. We undertake immediate research and search for a suitable local business partner. At the same time, we get in touch with contact partners on the project and ask about the first technical details. We then visit on site to find out at ground level what the project is like. We build up the stores from the start in collaboration with our partners and look after the project continuously. After the award of the construction contract, we put the puzzle that is the project together piece by piece and prepare a quotation and a supply concept for that specific customer."
Time is the critical factor
Time becomes more and more a critical factor for every construction site. In particular spare parts or the basic supply of material are very important. On the contract in Qatar, Guido Emanuel explains the problem. "The construction volume for the section of the Metro in Qatar that we are concerned with is about 1.5 billion Euros in a construction period of three years. That is, when the work continues non-stop, 1.4 million Euros a day. An average of 60 000 Euros is built in or processed each day. You can work out very quickly how expensive a stoppage is, if something is not there or inadequate quality leads to a construction stop. We know this from experience and know that in such cases express dispatch is sometimes more expensive than the price of the goods. In relation to stoppage costs, however, this is a lesser cost factor and thus justified. Breakdowns or emergencies such as a water inrush cannot be planned for but are very cost-intensive."
Only immediately means “just-in-time”
Regarding such figures, the answer to the question, what A.S.T. Bochum understand under "just-in-time" is very logical: "Just-in-time" naturally means "immediately". We have a very flexible structure in this regard. We have very high requirements for our working quality and for our products but working to DIN ISO would be fatal for our flexibility. Goods are dispatched from stock. Emergencies are normally picked up immediately by a courier and delivered. For our partners, we can be reached 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. We cannot expect our partners to wait for office hours in the Central European Time zone or to consider our public holidays. Luckily technology comes to our assistance here and with a mobile telephone; the office is always at hand. In this way we can almost always make a direct decision and start work." Please visit http://www.astbochum.de/ast/index.php?lang=de
Written by
Dipl.-Ing. Roland Herr, International Freelancing Journalist, Bangkok (Thailand)/Wetzlar (Germany), herrroland@t-online.de
