Industrial Resources - News

To remain competitive in today’s global marketplace, the coal industry must invest its capital effectively to constantly improve operational efficiencies. In 2019 Industrial Resources designed and built an addition for a West Virginia coal preparation plant to increase its raw feed capacity from less than 900 tons per hour (tph) to more than 1,200 tph, a 35% to 40% increase.

Industrial Resources is a design-build contractor that has successfully designed and constructed many processing plants and material handling systems for various industries for more than 75 years. The storyline for this upgrade is how the design-build contracting approach assured a successful project that achieved both objectives: the effective use of capital and improved efficiency.

In today’s global market place, the Coal industry must spend its capital and maintenance dollars effectively to remain competitive.

“Design Build Contracts” (DBC) consistently deliver projects that meet this goal.

Performance guarantees can be more effectively achieved, and many of the questions of responsibility that arise between the design, construction and commissioning phases of a project can be eliminated. Expanded collaboration between the Owner and the Contractor in planning, budgeting and scheduling that occurs during the procurement process and prior to the costs and commitments associated with a final design is also an important advantage.

So, what are the significant differences between more conventional construction contracts and DBC that result in these advantages, and when do they work best? 

The Advantage of Using a Turnkey Company    

A large proportion of industries have chosen to perform their capital investment projects by hiring out engineering, fabrication and installation using different contractors for each service. The coordination efforts are then up to the owner’s management staff, who may not have much contracting experience.

There are often many issues that arise between engineering, fabrication and installation companies in this process. Many of these issues could be eliminated along with minimizing coordination effort by using a turnkey company, such as Industrial Resources and West Virginia Electric.

THE NO POINTING GAME – DESIGN BUILD PROJECT DELIVERY

By:  Raymond Perr P. E. Director of Business Development