ALEC is committed to the expansion of its regional and project footprints throughout 2023 and beyond, Barry Lewis, MD of construction at ALEC, tells Economy Middle East.
ALEC Engineering and Contracting is part of the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD). Amid a construction slowdown resulting from the economic fallout of Covid-19, the company set about exploring new ways to further diversify its business. ALEC also sought to innovate its way to new opportunities that would sustain its growth momentum, Lewis says.
READ MORE: UAE’s ALEC furthers engineering regional expansion
The growth trajectory took the company into new markets, such as Saudi Arabia. It resulted in the establishment of new lines of business such as ALEC Data Centre Solutions. The move also catalyzed M&A activity at ALEC, specifically through the acquisition of Target Engineering.
The revamped growth strategy was two-pronged, encompassing both new regions and new sectors.
Procurement priorities
ALEC addressed extant supply-chain problems by taking a fresh look at its sourcing strategies and adapting them to fit current market conditions.
Countries known for their strong industrial bases – Turkey, for example – have come forward to fill market gaps and serve as alternatives to traditional hubs like China.
Emerging market risks, such as that posed by interest rate fluctuations, are having a significant impact on procurement decisions. As a result, there is greater scrutiny over the viability of projects as investment decisions are reoriented to suit contemporary economic conditions.
READ MORE: GCC construction sector prepares for significant growth
The rising interest in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles – among private individuals, investors, and regulators – has become a major driving force in funding decisions.
For construction organizations to be successful in their ESG programs, they must look at the entire lifecycle of every project. They must also look inward at the day-to-day corporate practices that occur in isolation from site projects.
The end game should be to have in place a formal scoring matrix that introduces strong, industry-wide incentives by rewarding higher-performing contractors with preferential consideration during a tender, Lewis says.
Technology at ALEC
Technology has a critical role to play in the regional industry in the realm of ESG compliance, as platforms are ideal focal points for monitoring and evaluation of large amounts of data. Ensuring that the scoring system works would be problematic without strong, reliable automation.
“The technology field is known for the high velocity of its evolution. Digitalization is, in many ways, a journey without destination,” Lewis explains.
“Accounting for this ongoing nature, ALEC has adopted a careful, iterative approach. We continue to make significant strides in standardizing and refining that approach. The goal is to ensure that our contribution to digital construction and information management are relevant to the here and now.”
READ MORE: A new energy storage solution installed at UAE’s solar power station
“We use BIM [building information modeling] processes to virtually design each project, allowing us to future-proof the entire lifecycle ahead of time. This helps with identifying sourcing and coordination issues that may not yet have occurred. And during the construction phase, we use AR and VR tools to give on-site teams seamless and intuitive access to these virtual designs.”
“Our on-site virtual models are backed up by collaboration platforms. These allow the entire project team to assemble in a cloud-based environment, with some team members in offices, and some on-site. Teams that work together in this way, viewing models and drawings and discussing them in real-time, address issues more comprehensively than in the era of half-understood memos and hastily barked instructions.
“These new approaches are having a fundamental impact on the way our industry operates,” Lewis explains.
“We are dissolving age-old silos that traditionally place barriers between disciplines, departments, and companies. We’re replacing them with a ‘one team’ ethos that unites designers, project managers, and a range of other stakeholders and contractors along the entire supply chain.”
