Enemærke & Petersen has developed a new digital ordering method for building projects, which has now been nominated for the Digitalization Award 2023 at the Building Awards. The preliminary results of the method’s pilot project show: Less waste of materials, that time is saved on the project, fewer errors and a better working environment for the craftsmen.

Enemærke & Petersen are currently building 500 homes in Køge Kyst for PensionDanmark – an extensive project that requires great accuracy in ordering materials. In a collaboration between Enemærke & Petersen’s process and digitization department and the construction management in Køge, a digital ordering method has been developed. It combines quantity extraction from a BIM model with a delivery system. The system then allows for more precise ordering of materials.

A little too often on gefühl

“In the construction industry, materials are ordered a little too often based on emotion, says Enemærke & Petersen’s project manager Stine Christensen, who works on the new construction of Køge Kyst every day and continues:

This method gives us the opportunity to confirm or deny our hunches and actually act on the basis of facts.”

The preliminary results show that the pilot project results in less wastage of materials, saves time on the project, results in fewer errors and a better working environment for the craftsmen.

Quantity specialists and construction management in close collaboration

The digital ordering method has been developed by Stine and a number of colleagues at the construction site on Køge Kyst over the past year. Here, process and quantity specialists Katrine Voigt and Vaishnavee Sasitharan and process supporter Joachim Skovbogaard have worked closely together with Stine Christensen and construction manager Søren Constatin Brun. Together, the quantity specialists and the construction management have developed a method to extract material quantities from the BIM model and process them and transfer them to a digital delivery system, so that the suppliers get more precise figures and measures of what and when to deliver. The suppliers are informed about the materials they have to deliver no later than a week before and thus have a greater opportunity to deliver correctly and within the time frame.

Simplify the product ordering process

“The purpose of this quantity extraction process is to relate to the construction in a database-based manner and thereby simplify the product ordering process.”

Tells Katrine Voigt, who is part of Enemærke & Petersen’s Process and Digitization department, which supports the construction sites.

At Køge Kyst, Katrine has worked closely with construction manager Søren Constantin Brun and he explains about the process they have gone through together:

“Katrine has helped us translate the construction manager’s language into data language. We combine the work descriptions with the BIM model and from there the digital solutions can take over the time-consuming work of measuring the entire building. This has previously been a time-consuming manual process. That data is transferred then to a delivery site, which gives us and the subcontractors an overview of which materials we have to buy in for the construction. The method means that we can minimize material waste and detect early if there are errors in the drawing material.”

Sampak in IKEA style provides minimal material waste

Construction manager Søren Constantin Brun says that the material packages the construction site now receives also result in both improvements for the climate and the working environment.

The material packages are somewhat reminiscent of the self-assembling packages that we know from IKEA:

“Craftsmen on the building site now have assembled packages delivered to their location with a range of the materials to be used in that space. Most of the materials are pre-measured, meaning fewer of them have to be cut on site. How we reduce construction dust and noise nuisance and we get less material waste, which is better for the climate. At the same time, delivery to the craftsmen’s location and the more precise measurements mean less heavy lifting, which improves the working environment for the craftsmen.”