Coates Industrial Solutions team is helping UGL to optimise a year-long construction project at the Callide C Power Station.
Engineering specialist UGL was appointed as the major subcontractor to IWC to reconstruct two cooling towers at the Callide C Power Station in central Queensland.
CS Energy, through its subsidiary Callide Energy Pty Ltd, owns Callide C in a joint venture (JV) with IG Power (Callide) Ltd.
This project is set to be one of the largest fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) cooling towers in Australia, and given the project’s scale, duration and complexity, UGL required a well-established and experienced industrial solutions provider.
Coates was chosen to manage UGL’s tooling, equipment and consumables, establishing an on-site tool store in September 2023. So far, more than 17,000 hours have been worked and 330,000 transactions have been completed.
THE CHALLENGE
Meeting the equipment requirement
Asset owners and major contractors like UGL are accustomed to planning, scoping and delivering complex industrial events such as shutdowns and outages, over a short period of time. However, the unique design of Callide C’s new cooling towers created significant engineering, manufacturing and construction challenges, making it difficult to anticipate the equipment requirement across the 12-month schedule.
UGL Procurement Officer Adam Oetting said, “As this is one of the largest FRP cooling tower constructed in Australia, there were a lot of variables that we could not plan for.
“Despite the changing requirements and regional location, we were able to rely on Coates to adapt and to consistently and quickly deliver on what was needed.”
Supporting a large temporary workforce
With an additional 250 to 300 contractors on site each day, there was significant demand for tooling, consumables and equipment.
Coates Shutdown Manager Andrew Fisher, said, “During the peak construction phase, Coates’ tool store managed an average of 1000–1200 transactions per day – double that of a typical shutdown.
“Without access to technologies like SiteIQ and the support of an experienced team, this volume of transactions would not have been possible.”
Supply chain constraints
Supply chain issues continue to put strain on major events worldwide, but because of the huge cost associated with downtime, running out of gear was not an option for UGL. To maximise cost efficiency, it was also important not to order more than what was needed.
“UGL saw value in having a provider with the experience to manage consumables conservatively, while ensuring they had what they needed to start work each day,” Mr Fisher said.
THE SOLUTION
Coates’ end-to-end tool store solution encompassed more than 7000 different items, including:
- More than 900 Coates and customer-owned tooling variants
- More than 800 different consumable types
- A total of 130 customer-owned and hired mobile plant, ranging from booms and scissor lifts, to lighting towers
- A custom-designed warehousing solution on site
All assets were managed 24/7 using SiteIQ, supported by an experienced team of Coates personnel – which included two tool store controllers; a consumables co-ordinator; a full-time mechanic; and Andrew as project lead.
“Trust, integrity, flexibility and the capacity to deliver were important factors in choosing an equipment provider for this project,” Mr Oetting said.
“Having worked together previously, we had experienced Coates’ fleet, regional footprint and ability to hit the ground running, and Coates has again proven to be a great fit for UGL.”
THE IMPACT
Finding efficiencies
Coates’ tool stores do much more than track and allocate equipment.
“One of the most important parts of our job is helping customers to use their assets in the most efficient and cost-effective way,” Mr Fisher said.
“Given the significant equipment and labour cost for this project, Coates’ ability to interpret a huge amount of data to help find these efficiencies was essential.”
As part of a continual focus on improvement, Coates created customised daily reports to optimise UGL’s safety, tool time efficiency and use of consumables.
“I can be quite particular about what we need from our reports, but Coates listened, took on feedback, and returned the data and insights that we needed,” Mr Oetting said.
“This allowed me to step back from micromanaging this part of the project and gave me one less thing to think about.”
The right people and expertise
Much success comes from having the right people on site, because a business is only as good as those that represent it.
“UGL needed an equipment provider with the experience to pivot and deliver on ever-changing requirements, but that only comes with experience,” Mr Fisher said.
“It was also important for Coates to bring a team to site that could create positive experiences for each tool store engagement with contractors.”
Flexible and responsive support
To reduce downtime, Coates had to adopt different ways of managing the return and re-allocation of tools.
“Due to the high volume of transactions, returning every asset between use would’ve cost us two hours each day at a significant cost to the project. Instead, we designed lock-box systems for certain gear to be allocated to groups for the day, allowing them to work more efficiently,” Mr Oetting said.
“Coates was happy to make these changes and to accommodate the way that we needed to work. We’ve also experienced Coates’ ability to think outside of the box and to turn pretty quickly – which you wouldn’t expect from a business of this size.”
Find out how Coates can enhance the delivery of your next major industrial event here.
Featured image: Coates.
