Christine: Nikiel: Overseas bridge-building pays off

Despite the downturn, infrastructure projects still need to be built, says Maunsell AECOM's NZ general manager Dean Kimpton. Photo / Dean Purcell

When engineering firm Meritec merged with global engineering giant AECOM, the Kiwi company knew it faced some cultural challenges. However the issue wasn't about replacing All Blacks posters with portraits of the AECOM president; it was about getting to grips with being part of a global company.

Understanding how to take advantage of the bigger company's resources was "something we had to work on" says New Zealand general manager since 2007, Dean Kimpton.

The Kiwi company, now called Maunsell AECOM, could have built its web of contacts more quickly, he says. At that time AECOM was growing rapidly and at first the Kiwi firm "struggled" to make those international connections.

"Your success is predicated on getting those relationships working quickly so you can transfer knowledge and ideas and work. It's a critical success factor in getting the major jobs."

It obviously found a way. Maunsell AECOM recently won contracts for two of its biggest projects ever, for infrastructure work in Bangladesh. It will be the lead agency designing the proposed 5.58km Padma Bridge, which will connect the country's southwest with the capital, Dhaka, and carry a railway, 500kV power supply cables, communication infrastructure and a major gas pipeline.

The company has also won the contract to manage and supervise a proposed 360MW gas-powered combined cycle power plant in Haripur, 22km southeast of Dhaka. During the four-year project, the company's Auckland office will help the Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh design and specify all machinery and equipment. Funded by the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, among others, the projects are worth a combined $59.4 million.

The Padma Bridge contract is something of a coup for the firm because it confirms the decision to join the global giant, says Kimpton.

"When you start to go global for expertise for a bridge that size you come down to a small pool of designers who can actually do bridges of that complexity. Part of the decision to join AECOM was that we knew it would give us the capability to win infrastructure projects of this scale."

And thanks to previous jobs in Bangladesh, the company had built up a good reputation in that part of the world.

Its first job was the 1786m Paksey Bridge, a strategic road connection across the river Padma in northwestern Bangladesh, completed in May 2005.

The company is also working on bid evaluation and construction supervision for the National Load Dispatch Centre, from where Bangladesh's power network is managed, for which it also did the design and preparation of bid documents.

"The only way to develop a successful relationship with a client is to show them you can deliver. [For] the big ones, you've got to have worked for [the client] before, or they need strong knowledge of your capabilities."

Kimpton says the company had to undergo some "tough changes" to certain processes and now has more robust financial risk management processes, more rigour in its approach to certain markets and a more strategic approach to business development and managing key relationships. For example, staff can now tap into the expertise of their global AECOM colleagues via online resource Knowledge Works.

The Kiwi company has undergone several major changes in its 90-year history. Set up in 1919 by Ralph Worley, the Worley Group changed its name to Meritec in 2000. In 2002, with annual revenues of $50 million and 400-odd staff, it was clear that further growth required a major structural change. The firm, which had offices in Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch, was neither small enough to focus only on New Zealand nor large enough that it had the capital to invest and win these major projects, says Kimpton, and decided to look for a global partner.

It teamed up with Los Angeles-based AECOM and forged close ties with AECOM-owned company Maunsell in Australia, Asia and the Middle East.

As well as the Bangladesh projects, Kimpton counts the North Shore City's $110 million Rosedale outfall tunnel, work for the Indonesian state-owned electricity authority Perusahaan Umum Listrik, and a decade-long "preferred consultant" relationship with New Zealand grid operator Transpower among the company's successes. It has also worked on a number of power generation or supply and transport projects in Laos, Nepal, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Now staff are engrossed in the detailed design of Auckland's rail electrification for state-owned rail network manager Ontrack, an estimated two-year job.

Seven local and international companies tendered for the complex $500 million project, but Maunsell AECOM's point of difference was its ability to do all the work from New Zealand, says Ontrack's project manager for the job, Murray Hood. The company was the only one to recognise that the narrow rail corridor meant a one-size-fits-all approach to designing the 3500-odd masts (which feed electricity to the trains) would not work. Another plus was that the company had subcontracted some of the work to British engineering, construction, services and investment business Balfour Beatty, which has a good record, says Hood.

While Kimpton can't be specific about local turnover, he says staff numbers have increased by just over 10 per cent in the past seven years and now sit at about 440. AECOM's own revenue hit $11 billion during the end of last year and it employs some 45,000 staff.

Despite the recession Kimpton is positive about the future, saying Kiwi firms are especially competitive right now thanks to the exchange rate.

"A New Zealander is coming in at a charge-out rate of about 50c in the dollar if you're competing against, say, a British designer. Dollar for dollar we represent the best value in the world right now."

However, business will be flatter and more competitive, he admits, which means an increasing need to innovate and "look after" clients.

New Zealand is in an interesting position, he reckons, having delayed many infrastructure projects such as Auckland's Northwestern Motorway connection at Waterview.

"Things still need to be built. The recession is not going to make those problem go away."

And the company makes sure the recession doesn't stop it from rewarding its staff.

Those who go the extra mile might win cash, movie or dinner vouchers, or even a day off. A recently launched monthly innovation award was created to increase innovation in the business itself.

And when staff aren't working, their non-chargeable time is now "investment time" for developing their skills in software or technology training.