Our Prefabrication Process: Video Transcript

Narrators: Gratte Brothers | Building Services & Engineering’s Managing Director, Remi Suzan, and Prefabrication Manager, John Gray.
Visual: Gratte Brothers logo against a white background.
Visual: A bird’s eye view of equipment being winched onto a lorry from the Gratte Brothers prefabrication facility.
Visual: a welder at work.
Remi Suzan: “Prefabrication is a method of working where we take components and assemble them away from the site, in a controlled environment.”
Visual: two engineers lifting equipment into place in the prefabrication workshop.
Visual: head and shoulders shot of Remi Suzan speaking.
Visual: two engineers placing a piece of metalwork into a unit.
Visual: head and shoulders shot of Remi Suzan speaking.
Remi Suzan: “Every project—be it large or small—will have elements of prefabrication in it, some more than others.”
Visual: a welder at work.
Visual: a forklift moves equipment around the warehouse.
Visual: head and shoulders shot of Remi Suzan speaking.
Remi Suzan: “Prefabrication shouldn't just be thought of as large-scale modules, but also things that we can do such as; Lighting distribution boards;”
Visual: an engineer checks equipment.
Remi Suzan: “Power distribution boards; Lighting and luminaires pre-wiring; Cables; Valve assemblies on pipework; Plant skids”
Visual: an engineer tightens equipment with two spanners.
Visual: head and shoulders shot of Remi Suzan speaking.
Remi Suzan: “Every project will have an element of prefabrication in it, which we want to do here, and at Worthing.”
Visual: An engineer reviews blueprints.
Visual: a head and shoulders shot of John Gray speaking to camera.
John Gray: “The benefits of Worthing are priceless. The work produced there—their fabrication abilities—are second to none.”
Visual: a welder at work.
Visual: John Gray and a second employee review technical designs on a computer screen.
Remi Suzan: “Every project is a series of interconnected events. One thing can't start until something else has been completed.”
Visual: a welder at work.
Visual: head and shoulders shot of Remi speaking.
Remi Suzan: “So, often with M&E (mechanical and electrical), we can't start until a room is ready for us.”
Visual: a man walks along a line of equipment in the prefabrication workshop.
Visual: a welder at work.
Remi Suzan: “and that could be from weeks to months before we’re in a position to start.”
Visual: head and shoulders shot of Remi speaking.
Visual: several shots of engineers using machinery to build components.
Visual: head and shoulders shot of Remi speaking.
Remi Suzan: “We can use that time here. We can build components—80 to 90 percent of that room—off-site. So, when the builder is ready for us and gives us the keys, we can literally be in there, and the work is completed within days, rather than weeks.”
Visual: an engineer runs checks on a piece of electrical equipment.
Visual: several shots of employees at work around the workshop, moving and checking equipment.
John Gray: "It brings many benefits, such as:
• Accidents without a doubt are down to minimal - maybe just cuts and abrasions.
• We’ve got a couple of guys here in their sixties who thrive working here. They’re not talking about retiring - they’re actually working with the younger lads, passing on their skillset."
Visual: head and shoulders shot of John Gray speaking.
Text on screen: John Gray, Prefabrication Manager.
John Gray: “which I feel probably would’ve been lost had it not been for this process.”
Visual: a team of 3 employees winch a prefabricated unit into position in the workshop.
Visual: an employee marks up a printed technical drawing.
Remi Suzan: “We used to look at a project and think, “What can we prefabricate?”
Visual: head and shoulders shot of Remi speaking.
Remi Suzan: “Today, we try to look at a project and ask ourselves, “What can’t we prefabricate?”
Visual: Remi and John walk along a line of equipment, inspecting and discussing.
Remi Suzan: “An example of something quite minor but very simple would be just the average distribution board”
Visual: head and shoulders shot of Remi speaking.
Remi Suzan: “Where previously the distribution board would be delivered to site, hung on the wall, and then the electricians would wire it”
Visual: Remi and John close the metal door of a unit.
Remi Suzan: “We can now prefabricate that distribution board on a steel panel here in Chelmsford. We can wire it, loom it, test it, and then deliver it as a single component that just needs to be screwed to a wall.”
Visual: Remi and John walk along a row of preassembled units.
Visual: several shots of employees preparing units for transportation.
Remi Suzan: “We’ve been prefabricating for probably twenty years now, but this is different in that we’ve now got two dedicated units.
Visual: head and shoulders shot of Remi speaking.
Visual: footage of metal rods stacked on shelving.
Remi Suzan: “Wastage is much reduced because all materials are kept on-site. We use what we need, and any offcuts are stored to be used on another part of the build.”
Visual: machinery drilling a hole in a hard surface.
Visual: an employee carries surplus materials across the workshop.
Visual: an employee works on part of a prefabricated unit.
John Gray: “Somewhere like here, where we can control materials, we can save 25% of what we’d normally supplying on the job. Nothing gets wasted.”
Visual: head and shoulders shot of John speaking.
Visual: an assembly line of prefabricated units in the workshop.
Visual: several shots of a lorry being loaded with prefabricated units.
Remi Suzan: “Prefabrication brings many benefits to the business, including:
• Productivity is greatly increased because we have everything that we need in one location.
• Health and safety is improved because we work in a controlled environment.”
Visual: head and shoulders shot of John Gray speaking.
John Gray: “Without a doubt, we have the skillset. That’s what makes it easier to work with”
Visual: over the shoulder shot of an employee working at a computer.
Visual: head and shoulders shot of John Gray speaking.
John Gray: “They guys that we have, they innovate. They come up with ideas we hadn’t even thought of to make things easier.”
Visual: an employee operating an angle grinder.
Visual: head and shoulders shot of John Gray speaking.
John Gray: “The guys have pride in what they do. They can actually see what they’ve built here turn into a finished product on the job site”
Visual: a welder at work.
Visual: head and shoulders shot of Remi speaking.
Remi Suzan: “By combining Gratte Brothers’ engineering expertise with our controlled environment, we maintain the Gratte Brothers quality that everyone knows and expects.”
Visual: the Gratte Brothers logo against a white background.