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Celsa decided to shift its focus towards total costs in order to take a more active role in the customers' processes, understand their needs and develop products and services that cut project duration and costs on site. After comprehensive research, the company concluded that the implementation of building information modelling (BIM) would open new doors, and provide their customers with more cost effective processes and services which could ultimately cut costly waste and add value to projects.

WHAT IS THE ACTUAL COST OF REBAR?
What prompted the need to redefine its rebar production and installation process? Evidently a recent study published by Chalmers University and Celsa Steel Service about the cost of rebar. The report looked at all of the factors that affected reinforcement costs - manufacturing, transporting and assembly on site. It found that fabrication of the rebar represents a mere fraction of the total cost. Shipping one ton of rebar costs about US$61-110, handling it on the construction site between US$511-1845, whilst the average price of one ton delivered in 2010 was US$758.

The variation in results may partly be explained by differences in projects and their logistic conditions, but the largest difference lies in how the material is handled on site. There is obviously room for improvement then. According to the study, up to 45 percent of the time that rebar installers spend on site consists of inactivity - wasted time that could be saved, aggravated by rebar material being moved to intermediate storage locations on an average 2 to 4 times before installation. From this, it is plain that enabling contractors to plan production and improved cooperation with rebar providers can lead to better material flow, with the potential to create financially meaningful savings.

HALLANDSÃ…SEN TUNNEL
Justification for the decision was established on one particular project, when Celsa provided rebar for the two 8.7-kilometer railway tunnels in Hallandsåsen, in Sweden, with its 19 connecting tunnels. After utilising Celsa's Tekla model, the designer and builder Skanska-Vinci consortium decided they didn't need to build a sample section of the collar on the cross tunnel and later demolish it - a normal procedure for similar projects, the cost of a test section being a significant contribution to costs compared to the price of the reinforcement.

Additionally, Celsa saved both cost and time on site for their customer because the 3D model used highlighted some simple errors - rebars being too long, for instance - early on in the design process.

CHOOSING TEKLA
Celsa Steel Service chose Tekla Structures because of the software's flexibility and proven status as one of the best BIM tools available for creating and managing concrete and reinforcement models. They also wanted to customise it. "Much of our business development builds on Tekla as the core software, to which we can add value and therefore become more competitive," says Thomas Eriksson, Technical Advisor at Celsa.

Celsa uses Tekla in a number of ways: First of all, it is used to create 3D models from the consultants' drawings, which are subsequently used to implement quality control. It facilitates product selection, and can then be used to illustrate tenders and solutions for customers and, finally, provide assembly instructions. With a 3D model, even welders understand more fully where and what to weld! "it is simpler to discuss if we have the 3D model in front of us than it is with drawings," says Thomas Eriksson.

BIM FOR COLLABORATION AND INVOLVEMENT
Celsa Steel Service is working towards a process in which all project participants, clients, consultants and engineers, contractors and suppliers become fully involved, able to work transparently towards the shared goal: low total cost, fast assembly times, a low carbon footprint and a good work environment.

To achieve this, the company believes that two components must exist: first, the tools to create, share, visualise and exchange data in real time, and secondly, competent people and companies with the same mindset to share the same goals. "BIM and Tekla Structures represent the tools, ideas and visions that we believe must exist to develop the reinforcement process and be more cost efficient," says Tore Bexér, CEO of Celsa Steel Service.

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