Celsa Steel Service focuses on the total cost of reinforcement

In the construction industry that has been criticized for low increase of productivity, Celsa Steel Service operates in a different way than the majority of its competitors in reinforcement manufacturing. The total cost of reinforcement for the builders not only includes the money paid for the steel, but also logistics and assembly.

Celsa decided to shift focus towards the total cost 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, Celsa Steel Service concluded that implementing Building Information Modeling (BIM) internally and providing customers with BIM services would open new doors: more cost effective processes and services which could cut costly waste and add value for the customers.

Choosing Tekla

Celsa Steel Service chose Tekla Structures because of its flexibility and proven status as one of the best BIM tools for creating and managing concrete and reinforcement models. Also, they wanted to customize it.

- “Much of our business development builds on Tekla as the core software. We can add value to our products and are more competitive,” says Thomas Eriksson, Technical Advisor at Celsa.

How Celsa uses Tekla?

Celsa has many uses for Tekla: They create 3D models from the consultants drawings, do quality control, choose the products to use and illustrate tenders and solutions for customers and provide assembly instructions. And with a 3D model, the welders understand more easily what to do.

-“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 strives towards process in which all project participants, clients, consultants and engineers, contractors and suppliers work fully involved and transparently towards the shared goal: low total cost, fast assembly time, low carbon footprint and good work environment. To achieve this, the company believes that two components must exist:

• First, tools to create, share and exchange data in real time and to visualize data.
• Second, 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.

BIM in practice

-“BIM is more than just a model, it is the whole process. To improve things, you have to work long-term with your partners, but in construction business the way to work is short-term, it ends after one project. BIM and Tekla have helped us to get closer to our customers and see the entire process, not just the product. It is inspiring,” says Eriksson. This is how it happens.

• In tendering phase, a draft model visualizes possible solutions and some errors of 2D drawings.
• Celsa details reinforcement in 3D with Tekla Structures. Typically the team finds and fixes a lot of costly errors.
• The team exports the model to Tekla BIMsight. On site, the staff can identify time saving solutions or redesignpotentially hazardous ones with it.
• The team uses an extension for organization, labeling and color coding of the rebar. Information exports to Celsa Steel Service ERP and production system.
• Order information is imported to the Tekla model.
• Celsa utilizes the model for reinforcement production.
• The design team creates assembly instructions and sends the information-packed model to site.
• Celsa delivers, sorts and color marks rebar according to the information in the Tekla model.

Project: Celsa at Hallandsåsen tunnel

Celsa provided rebar for the two 8.7-kilometer railway tunnels in Hallandsåsen, and 19 connecting tunnels. After utilizing Celsa’s Tekla model, the designer and builder Skanska-Vinci consortium decided they need not to build a sample section of the collar on the cross tunnel and later demolish it. The cost of a test section would have been significant compared to the price of the reinforcement. Additionally,  Celsa saved both cost and time on site for their customer as thanks to modeling they found early some simple errors, like too long rebar.

BIM development

Celsa actively develops its processes. With Tekla Structures and new applications, the company can provide digital receiving control service and allow reinforcement workers report assembly progress in real time. The progress can then be visualized in 3D to ease planning and gain project overview.

“The cooperation between Tekla and Celsa Steel Service is just as important as the cooperation within the company. It is very important to have close contact to Tekla’s development as we get feedback on issues like what is possible and what is not,” says Thomas Eriksson and continues: ”The fun thing with Tekla is  that we never experience a dead end – we always find new way to develop things, interact with other software solutions, create new type of drawings.”

European reach

Celsa Group is one of the major steel producers in Europe, with other Celsa Steel Service companies offering services similar to their Nordic counterparts. Celsa Steel Service in the UK has great interest in the way BIM is used in Sweden. Cooperation regarding development in the Celsa Group, sharing and benefiting from each other’s experiences, is important.

About Celsa Steel Service

Celsa Steel Service is one of the major reinforcement suppliers and producers with annual sales of more than 600.000 tons at the Nordic market, of which over 350.000 tons manufactured as welded elements, carpets, special or standard mesh and Cut & Bent.

The green steel

Celsa Nordic provides the Celsa Steel Service companies in the Nordic countries with reinforcement from the steel mill in Mo, Norway. The mill has one of the world’s cleanest processes for reinforcement manufacturing with a neat carbon footprint at only 360 kg CO2 eq. per produced ton of reinforcement.