Kirby Engineering & Construction

Kirby Group Engineering has always been committed to bringing value to its clients through innovation, collaboration and problem solving. The company’s project delivery approach in the pharma, life sciences and med-tech sector is no exception. It involves early engagement with all the stakeholders to bring about the utmost understanding of client needs and to ensure that an end product is second to none. Kirby has partnered through the years with numerous clients in the pharmaceutical sector and sees a bright future ahead with the continuation of investment in the sector in Ireland.

Working within the pharmaceutical sector is a major part of Kirby’s M&E output with an advanced level of multi-industry collaboration at play on every project. Significant technological advances in recent years have meant that about 40% of Kirby’s construction work on pharmaceutical plants is off-site, which generates efficiencies and brings enhanced control over health and safety measures.

Coordination of projects
The coordination of these projects from pre-construction stage right through to sign-off is complex and multi-faceted. Operations Director at Kirby, Mikey Ryan has been working on pharma projects for over 15 years and says the level of detail cannot be underestimated: “The complexity of services, from the chemicals being used

to the electrical installation requirements is huge. These projects can be very demanding and require a lot of experience and knowledge. No one works in isolation, we collaborate with BIM engineers, other project stakeholders and of course with the client to make sure everyone is on the same page. We want to be sure that the finished project creates easy access for the end user, with ongoing maintenance being vital after sign-off.”

Advanced technology enabling off-site manufacturing
Much of Kirby’s work on pharma projects is done at its off-site premises in Athlone, County Westmeath, which offers the dual benefit of saving time and reducing on- site risk. The company is also planning to build a facility in Portlaoise, where large modules will be constructed and transported straight to pharma sites.

Mark Danaher is Associate Director of Technical Services at Kirby, who also heads up the Digital Construction Department. A large amount of his work involves streamlining processes on projects using advanced technology: “With our off-site work, we’re reducing on- site hours by moving some of our staff into a manufacturing facility. Space tends to be at a premium on pharma sites, so we’ve created a controlled manufacturing environment, which brings efficiencies and minimises safety and quality issues that can traditionally appear on construction sites.”

Mark says that rapidly evolving digital technology means that projects that were once quite labour intensive can be done far more efficiently. “We are using state-of-the art software to carry out 3D modelling at our offices in Limerick, Galway and Dublin. These 3D models are shared directly with our operations teams in real time through our Digital Construction Hubs, located on construction sites. We also use robotics on site, so for example if you wanted to set out large equipment or services, we can locate the geo-coordinates directly on site from the 3D model by using a robotic total station. This utilises an automated laser guided system, allowing our teams to pinpoint the exact location of our installations, which reduces the need for old fashioned measuring tapes. We are also doing a lot of work with site data. Digital tools allow us to feed live data from site back to the

office in the form of project dashboards. This allows for more informed decision making on the project by our management team. These digital interactive tools are all about time savings and cutting down on manual work.”

Successful projects
One of the recent projects that Mark has worked on with Kirby includes a pharmaceutical facility in County Meath. The project involved installing mechanical pipework, which required a high level of interaction and coordination: “The key for pharma clients is to reduce, wherever possible, on welding, cutting and chopping on site, and completing as much of the pipework and system creation as possible off-site. For that particular project, we modelled all of the mechanical pipework, we sent it to an off-site manufacturing facility, the modules and piping components were then manufactured and brought to site.”

On this project, the main contractor also approached Kirby seeking solutions to help with builders works on site. “Rather than waiting for all stakeholders to complete their drawings, we utilised the live model to set out the builders work element with our robotic total station. By doing this we helped the main contractor save time on site and achieve project milestones.”

Mark also highlights another project that Kirby worked on in Athlone, which had a significant element of pharmaceutical components. “We were dealing with heavily congested piping systems. We utilised our 3D modelling capability to co-ordinate the piping allowing us to create large piping modules. These modules were manufactured in an off-site facility and delivered to the construction site when needed. Due to the complex nature of the piping it was essential that we manufactured the pipe in a safe controlled environment ensuring the highest possible quality of work. By building digitally first, we ensure a ‘right first time’ approach to construction,” he added.

Collaboration at the heart of project management
Mark is keen to point out that when it comes to pharma projects in particular, collaboration is key: “My team would be right in the heart of working with the manufacturing facility team, the design team, the in- house Kirby engineers, the planners and site installation team. We really believe in planning and collaborating as much as possible to alleviate issues before they arise. There are also many other factors that need to be taken into consideration, such as the CSA (Civil Structural Architectural) elements, as well as additional services like electrical and fire safety. Changes at any point could impact M&E services so everyone needs to work together as early as possible.”

Ireland as a pharma hub
Mikey Ryan says the fact that Ireland is a med-tech and pharma hub has meant that Kirby has worked extensively in these fields, with the company having roughly 30 recurring clients in the sector: “We’ve worked on sprinkler pump houses, mechanical plant rooms, electrical switchrooms, data rooms, piping skids and also containment modules. They’re the same services you’re more or less dealing with on all the projects but slightly different designs. We’ve been quite lucky to work with some great pharma companies, particularly in the West of Ireland and in Leinster. It’s a fantastic industry for Kirby to be involved with. We really like to understand the product from the end user perspective and a lot of what’s being manufactured at these plants is life-saving,” he said.

While the technological advances in pharma at M&E level have been vast, Mikey believes that, although he’s seen much change over the past 15 years, he feels other aspects of the industry have been constant: “You’re still working with pipes and cables as you did in the past. But the big difference is in the digitisation, which has been a massive game changer. With the Hololens 3D software we use, you can see within the millimetre whether things are correct or incorrect. The level of technology and digitisation is becoming more advanced all the time, it’s amazing progress. And yet, for all the wonderful improvements and innovation, you still need fitters and electricians who can carry out the on-site work too,” he said.

Mikey envisages a bright future within the pharma sector: “We definitely see many more projects on the horizon in the Irish market. There is currently fantastic investment in the sector, which is a good thing. Obviously, there’s a strong demand in the data centre sector at the moment but we’re equally as involved in pharma and med tech, and we see this side of our business continuing to grow well into the future.”

Share:
© Civil & Construction 2023