UK Exel joins the Built Environment
The construction industry’s largest independent supply chain body in the UK, Collaborating for the Built Environment (Be), has been joined by the world’s leading logistics company, Exel. In a move that signals its commitment to providing modern supply chain management practices to the construction sector, Exel becomes the first logistics company to join Be which has a membership of over 100 leading organisations across the widest spectrum of the design, build and supply side of the industry.
“Be excited us due to its forward thinking attitude towards innovative and smart solutions that will deliver better value to clients and their end users,” explains Mike Holley, General Manager at Exel. “Logistics is an extremely significant, but as yet not fully recognised, part of the total construction supply chain. Both the direct costs of logistics –such as transport, storage, handling and inventory– and indirect costs –for instance, delays, damage, shrinkage and additional labour– represent a considerable part of any construction project. There are, however, many proven ways to substantially reduce these costs.” A recent DTI Partners in Innovation Report estimated that poor supply chain management currently accounts for GBP19 billion of avoidable cost annually.
Be was formed out of a merger last October between The Design Build Foundation and The Reading Construction Forum with the objective of creating a single, multi-disciplined industry-owned body providing the credibility and resources to lead radical improvement in the built environment.
Commenting on Exel’s decision to join Be, Don Ward, the Organisation’s Managing Director, says: “This is a real opportunity to integrate a totally new perspective with the thinking of our existing members. There is no doubt that there is great opportunity for our industry to manage projects better and to add value and we are anticipating many challenging debates with Exel in the months to come as to how new, leading edge logistics practices can help deliver a stronger industry.”
