A source close to the deal said that O鈥橰ourke asked representatives from Unipart to visit the site after the trade contractor became concerned that its construction of the 200 m high tower鈥檚 concrete service core was falling behind schedule.
O鈥橰ourke confirmed that it is in discussions with Unipart about improving efficiency but refused to comment further. However, it is understood that O鈥橰ourke entered into talks with the car part supplier last autumn. The source said that Unipart would advise on improving the efficiency of manufacturing and assembly processes, and would train O鈥橰ourke managers to implement the Japanese management techniques revered by the car industry and Sir John Egan.
O鈥橰ourke started on site at Citigroup last year and has now built the concrete core of the 42-storey tower to the 12th floor. It has 30 weeks of its programme remaining.
The lower half of the tower, designed by Canary Wharf architect Cesar Pelli & Associates with Adamson Associates, is due to open in the last quarter of 2001, with the remaining floors due to open in the first quarter of 2002.
Unipart is an expert on kaizen 鈥� the Japanese management technique pioneered by Toyota.
This promotes continuous improvement and constant reduction of waste. Most car manufacturers use kaizen or a variant of the technique.
Last summer, Unipart formed an alliance with QS Gleeds to provide off-the-shelf call centres. Unipart is co-ordinating efforts to reduce suppliers鈥� production times and contractors鈥� assembly times. The aim of the alliance is to reduce lead times for call centres from 15 months to just six weeks.
The Design Build Foundation has also taken an interest in Unipart. Design Build Foundation director Barry Holmes was due to lead a dozen industry leaders on a visit to Unipart鈥檚 headquarters in the Midlands. Holmes said the trip had been organised to find out how Unipart鈥檚 manufacturing and logistics expertise could be transferred to the construction industry.
O鈥橰ourke, which had a turnover of 拢188m in the year to 31 March 1999, is also keen to improve its pre-tax profit margins, which stood at 3% in the same period. Although this marked a significant improvement on 1998鈥檚 figure of 1.4%, O鈥橰ourke wants to break the 5% barrier and considers waste reduction a crucial part of delivering extra profit.
