Atkins has appointed Rami Mansour as Head of Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) and Eugene Smethurst as Head of Lean to lead the company’s drive to help increase the efficiency of design and construction across the infrastructure sector.
Rami will help clients understand the suitability of different modern methods of construction (MMC) systems to their projects, whilst looking at a sliding scale of standardisation within their designs. Eugene’s role will focus on applying lean techniques from manufacturing and other industries into the infrastructure sector, ensuring lean processes are embedded in the way Atkins delivers its services.
Rami joins Atkins from Capita where he led the civil and structural engineering team and the multi-disciplinary consultancy on a number of volumetric MMC residential schemes. Eugene joins Atkins from Arcadis where he led the company’s process and automation business. Eugene brings to Atkins cross-sector experience in the application of lean techniques, training in Japan before working in manufacturing for Honda and on major rail projects in the UK and abroad.
On his appointment Rami said: “Thanks to government backing and incentivisation, there’s never been as much interest or investment in DfMA and MMC which – while positive – has led to a very crowded marketplace that can appear confusing and impenetrable to clients. My aim is to help our clients understand the suitability of all the MMC typologies available to them and to guide the decision making process to help them decide whether MMC is right for their project and if it is, to select the system or systems, that will provide them the best outcomes.”
Eugene said: “Lean has a crucial role to play in the transformation of the infrastructure sector, but it must be put front and centre of our thinking. Before looking to use digital tools, for example, we must remove waste by implementing lean processes which can result in time and cost savings of up to 60%.”
Mike McNicholas, Managing Director – Infrastructure at Atkins, added: “These appointments are an important step as we continue our transition to a more digitally-enabled, efficient future. By focusing on DfMA and lean, we will help our clients deliver more efficiently, increasing overall productivity for the infrastructure sector and UK PLC.”
Pictured: Eugene Smethurst (left) Rami Mansour (right).
