Digitising construction with Rebar 4.0

The UK construction industry is triggering a digital revolution in the steel reinforcing supply chain with Rebar 4.0. The project is designed to ensure future buildings are “made smarter”.

Transforming Rebar production

The benefits of the Rebar 4.0: Supply Chain Made Smarter project include:

• Robotic fabrication
• The digital exchange of greenhouse gas emissions data
• Closer collaboration between sector partners who are responsible for sourcing and approving rebar.

The £10 million project is being funded by the government, Made Smarter Innovation programme and the UKRI Innovation Hub. It is being delivered by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The results from the project will be game-changing. It is an important step towards digitising the UK construction and manufacturing industry.

Buro Happold is delighted to be a project partner. We are working alongside CARES, Midland Steel and 3D Repo to pursue collaborative digital solutions. This supports the UK construction industry’s golden thread of information. This is critical to the sector’s long-term digital transformation.

What is Rebar 4.0?

Rebar 4.0 explores the feasibility of sharing digital data from the production of reinforcement bar in the steel mill from 3D robotic steel fabrication to live project sites. This ground-breaking digital twin will feed into Building Information Modelling (BIM) systems to support the golden thread of information for safety in construction.

As a result, this locks in improved long-term building resilience. Data is stored at both the design and delivery stages. Therefore, it can be reviewed at any point in the project life cycle.

For private and public sector clients, additional benefits include:

• Greater clarity around product assurance
• Material provenance
• Access to sustainability data
• Timely project delivery.

Digitisation increases efficiency on construction projects

Buro Happold’s Dr Al Fisher highlighted the project’s potential for significant efficiency and safety gains during construction. This capability is invaluable as remote working practices and distributed teams are increasingly common.

One of the biggest challenges we continue to face as an industry is persistent, reliable tracking and retrieval of design information throughout the entire construction process. This project addresses this issue. It relates design data from the earliest intent through to the fabrication and installation information on site. This supports the safe and efficient design and delivery of our projects.

Dr Al Fisher, Head of Computational Development, Buro Happold

The implementation of this digital supply chain will radically transform how the industry manufactures, delivers and services products. As UKRI Director Chris Courtney commented, the project will deliver a productive, sustainable and flexible manufacturing sector and enhance the future of our work. For example, the transition from paper-based documentation to online data and digital workflows will optimise the industry.

This point was echoed by Founder and Managing Director of Midland Steel Tony Woods. He identified the project as “a major step forward in the digitisation of the paper-based systems currently used in the construction industry. The process enables information to be transferred more efficiently directly from 3D BIM with full traceability throughout.”

The results of this project will be a world’s first and an industry game changer for decades to come. It will attract new talent to our industry, which is the lifeblood of construction.

Tony Woods, Founder and Managing Director, Midland Steel

Effective collaboration improves digital workflows

The Founder and CEO of 3D Repo Dr Jozef Dobos paid tribute to the effective collaboration between all the project partners. In addition, he emphasised the role played by Rebartek in integrating robotic innovation into the reinforcement fabrication process. The CEO of CARES Lee Brankley noted that “the sector is finally on course for a new age of supply chain built on digital transparency.”

By collaborating with all project partners, we have designed and mapped out a process of how to link the enabling and core data flows together within this complex supply chain. Bringing digital assurance solutions to complex projects will transform processes across the whole construction supply chain, significantly improving the flow of information while achieving valuable efficiencies for all our stakeholders.

Lee Brankley, CEO, CARES