Various large-scale custodial projects

Pioneering the highest quality HybriDfMA 'system build' solutions for structures and facades, PCE deliver world-class quality across the design and build process.

With leading expertise in modular construction and 50 years of Modern Methods of Construction experience, the employee-owned company ensure industry-leading client value through data driven insight, cutting edge automation, and optimised, flexible structural and facade systemised solutions. PCE utilises a ‘kit of parts’ DfMA (design for manufacture and assembly) philosophy, benefiting from standardisation coupled with a hybrid of materials and construction techniques, offering enhanced safety, quality, speed, and value across all build sectors.

As a design and build specialist, PCE coordinate all the design, no matter the size of the project. As such, they have an internal design team as well as a multidisciplined installation team. In their work, they focus on off-site manufacturing. To be able to deliver large-scale projects efficiently, they developed unique HybriDfMA systems that are based on pre-determined, optimised ‘kits of parts’ that are both repeatable and scalable, whilst maintaining the flexibility to configure components to a clients unique needs. This is why their in-house design team works on standardisation to maintain exceptional quality, and why the highest quality manufacturing is crucial to successful project delivery.

Throughout project delivery, coordinating manufacturing process on such scale is both complex and challenging. In order to be able to deliver their jobs significantly quicker than typical traditional building methods, PCE built its manufacturing model centered around a flexible offsite approach, underpinned by the latest in digital innovation and manufacturing technology. Also, by the nature of these large-scale projects, for example HMP Fosse Way was a 10-month manufacturing period producing nearly 14,000 offsite components, supply needs can vary significantly.

In their quest to standardise the process to be able to deliver quality projects timely, PCE was looking for a partner to support them. They already had relationships with other CFS clients from the precast industry.

However, they decided to bring CFS into the process earlier. First, CFS was able to deliver specific changes to their products to support PCE’s proprietary designs. They also used their technical knowledge to work with PCE on various scenarios to deliver detailed documentation including product data, test data, and imagery to allow for easy specification of products by engineers and make the coordination between several precasters easier to maintain the required quality.

Lastly, CFS being both reseller and manufacturer also means they can provide flexible stocking to enable full flexibility of the projects PCE is working on.