The first studies on construction hubs date back to 2014. The results were startling and led to follow-up questions and studies. The huge construction task and the tightened laws and regulations around nitrogen mean that the construction hub is now back in the spotlight. How do stakeholders such as TNO, VolkerWessels, Bouwend Nederland and TKI Dinalog look back on the various studies and their impact on the further development and adoption of construction hubs in the market?
It is great to see how research eventually finds its way into new policies.
Space and emissions constraints
Construction logistics accounts for about a third of total city logistics. Given the huge - mostly inner-city - construction task facing the Netherlands, that percentage will only increase. At the same time, infrastructure and logistics capacity in cities is limited and climate, environmental and road safety ambitions are under pressure. To create room for growth in the construction industry, an efficiency and sustainability drive is therefore needed. The construction hub is one of the possible logistics solutions.
Control towers and construction hubs
The Platform Logistics in Construction already researched innovations in construction logistics between 2010 - 2014 and saw the necessary savings potential. They shared best practices and applicable measures, but the findings were mainly theoretical in nature. To gather practical insights, TKI Dinalog therefore launched a follow-up study with a consortium in 2014. Under the title Cross Chain Control Centres (4C) in construction logistics, they investigated improvement opportunities in construction logistics processes, through the deployment of construction logistics control towers and construction hubs.
Startling improvements
The results were startling. In the Utrecht test site, a VolkerWessels construction project, the use of a construction hub reduced the number of transport movements during dismantling by almost 70%, with a corresponding reduction in CO2 emissions. Productivity on the construction site increased by up to 40%, construction costs fell ánd there were fewer complaints from the surrounding area. "The results were really an eye-opener that made everyone think: wow!", states Ivo Agricola, head of concept development for construction logistics at VolkerWessels Materieel & Logistiek. "Now, years later, we arrive at the same reduction percentages and even see that there are still optimisation possibilities."
Chain cooperation
Siem van Merriënboer, senior consultant at TNO: "Another finding was: to get a grip on the chain cooperation necessary for an efficient construction hub, you need control towers. However, the necessary, supporting ICT for this was still lacking." This prompted TKI Dinalog to launch a follow-up study (2016-2018), experimenting with various ICT tools in two construction projects. It provided important user experiences and a better understanding of ICT needs. The pre-existing vision of 4C in construction logistics was developed into the envisaged control tower construction logistics, along with a set of functional requirements.
To get a grip on the chain cooperation necessary for an efficient construction hub, you need control towers.
After that, things went quiet for a while. "Despite the positive effects of the building hub, for a while it did not succeed in putting together a broadly supported consortium for a follow-up study," Van Merriënboer recalls. The increase of building in inner cities and mandatory nitrogen restrictions changed this. The research 'Fundaments of a Construction Logistics Control Tower', by a new consortium, resulted in an action plan for implementation of construction logistics control towers and a roadmap for scaling up within the Dutch construction sector in 2024. Thus, the studies contribute concretely to the further sustainability of construction.
Proof of concept
To arrive at widely supported solutions, TKI Dinalog's studies are always public-private partnerships, involving knowledge institutions, market players and governments. "The combination of scientific research and direct cooperation with companies in practice is really of added value," experiences Niels Sneek, programme manager at TKI Dinalog. "It gives researchers a platform to test and validate new insights and interim results. It is precisely the applied, practice-oriented nature of this type of research that matches the needs of the industry and the government."
It is a challenge to bring those different worlds together.
"Bringing these different worlds together is a challenge," Van Merriënboer believes, "but it does lead to a common story. Market, research and government reinforce each other." Agricola agrees: "Such studies ensure that we not only look at our own business, but also at the social interest. That is important, as is measuring and working with real data. By having a neutral third party provide insight into the results, we avoid everyone shouting something based on their own perspective or feelings. Researchers present the facts only when they are there and do so in a nuanced way."
"Our conclusions and mathematical models are always thoroughly tested and validated," says Van Merriënboer. "That ensures an accepted proof of concept of a theory or system. We demonstrate that it works. That is the first step. Then we often use models to show what the impact could be. With such predictions, you hope to persuade parties to actually apply it in practice."
"Studies like this make it possible to invest in all kinds of innovations together in a safe, responsible way," believes Arjan Walinga, policy advisor on chain cooperation at Bouwend Nederland. "To develop as a sector. On a project or individual basis, this is difficult to achieve. Eighty per cent of our members belong to SMEs. They have neither the time nor the money for such extensive studies. Development often starts with large companies, but for us it is very important that it then lands with SMEs."
The deployment leads to reduced waiting times and congestion, and thus better deployment of equipment and personnel.
Because of the increasing challenges in more and more inner cities - safety, crowds, unforeseen work - we are already seeing more squeezing and rising costs. So working with construction hubs does not have to become more expensive in the future, but we do have to adapt a lot of processes. And that transition, that's where it pinches." Van Merriënboer: "One of those processes that makes it difficult is that the benefits of a construction hub differ for each chain party. Earnings are made mainly through higher productivity on the building site, but the investments are in the logistics process, while the logistics costs are already included in the cost price of building materials. So you have to agree on that."
Agricola: "Another factor is that construction is always project-oriented. You are always dealing with a new project organisation and every conversation about the construction hub starts again from scratch. We sometimes say: 20% of our work is facts and data and 80% is convincing people. TNO has measured the impact of the construction hubs: those are facts. We have a growing network of ambassadors who have applied our Building Hub in a project. But convincing the rest of the sector to do things differently: that is the challenge for us.
Impact of investigations
As VolkerWessels was convinced of the benefits, they developed a new business model, the white label BouwHub, which is accessible to any builder. "We now have operational BouwHubs in a number of cities and may eventually expand this network to cities where there is sufficient demand from the market," Agricola said. Walinga was surprised by this development: "I didn't think construction companies would start offering white label construction hubs. It would be illogical to have a separate construction hub for every project, but I wondered if they would dare to let competitors in."
The construction hub concept was also picked up outside the consortia. "Because of the studies and publications, you notice that there is more attention for it and that it is taken up as a solution direction," Van Merriënboer reports. "This prompted several contractors to start their own construction hub in complex inner-city construction projects. In addition, in Amsterdam, for example, a study was carried out on the potential of construction hubs in combination with waterborne transport. And Top Sector Logistics is investigating why construction hubs are used or not and how their use can be stimulated. What the exact impact of research is is difficult to ascertain, but that it has a positive impact on a more efficient and sustainable construction process is certain."
Sneek observes another important development: "You now also see, for example, that provinces and municipalities are increasingly including in their requests for information that a construction hub must be used to achieve the policy goals for clean and emission-free construction. While that was not an issue at all when we started the studies. I think that is a very nice and concrete example of how research eventually finds its way into new policy. Good policy also requires good research."
Scaling up construction hubs
The question is how to scale up construction hubs. "The biggest task will be to get construction hubs used by SMEs, for smaller deliveries," Walinga believes. "For this, parties need to stand up that bring together white label flows of goods. The alignment will then probably be in software systems. It would be great if there is a kind of 'parcel service' for the small builder, which - because there are large flows - is super efficient. The lion's share of contractors belong to SMEs, so there is a big impact to be made there."
The biggest task will be getting construction hubs to be used by SMEs, for smaller deliveries.
Van Merriënboer looks for it more in regulation. "Companies must be given a push by regulations to think about innovation and logistics optimisation. Recent research by TKI Dinalog shows that 75% of transports will soon no longer be able to enter city centres because of zero-emission zones. So companies have to start thinking smarter.
Construction hubs and shared logistics can be solutions in this, along with the use of control towers."
"We will have to work on this issue: there is no doubt about that," Agricola believes. "We see increasing complexity on and around construction sites, in locations around which people live, work, go to school. The results of studies show that construction hubs contribute to more efficient, cleaner and safer construction. I also see construction hubs as an important link in the transition to zero-emission zones: after all, we would then need to replace far fewer trucks with a zero-emission variant. Therefore, let us now put the most time and energy into implementing the knowledge we have gained about construction hubs."
TKI Dinalog is contributing to this as an independent institute for logistics knowledge development in the Netherlands, in the Mobile Tools and Construction Logistics programme of Top Sector Logistics. This is where the follow-up research on construction hubs takes place. Sneek: "But in addition, within this programme we also deliver concrete do's and don'ts, tips and tricks and fact sheets for policymakers and contractors, based on practical experiences in the various Living Labs. This nicely demonstrates the translation of multi-year research into validated, practice-based solutions."
From research to everyday practice
"For me, that is the common thread in our work at TKI Dinalog," Sneek believes. "On the one hand the research and on the other hand the translation to the contemporary context. We were able to play an important role in the construction hubs by carrying out an initial exploration with knowledge institutions and the construction sector at an early stage. Through research, practical experiments and roll-out, we have set the flywheel in motion and are contributing to scaling up and accelerating the societal transition; the transition to clean and emission-free building. At the start of this project, we had no idea how important this would become, but it is now the new reality. It is a good example of how we can provide a solution to that with multi-year research, together with industry and governments."
