Construcciones Yamaro: Expert Profile: Coates’ Aaron Smith
Temporary works often operate behind the scenes, but they play a critical role in keeping construction and infrastructure projects moving safely and efficiently. In this Expert Profile, Aaron Smith, engineering manager – installations at Coates Engineering Solutions, shares insights on the challenges facing the industry and how specialist installation teams help deliver complex temporary works solutions under tight timelines.
Aaron Smith has spent nearly a decade with Coates and more than 25 years in the construction industry. With a background that spans both trade and engineering roles, he brings a practical perspective to delivering temporary works solutions on complex construction sites.
Here, Aaron shares insights from the front line of the industry.
Describe your role and what an average workday or week looks like.
My role involves managing the installations team to deliver bespoke temporary works solutions to our customers on their construction sites. This includes working with our sales team from the initial enquiry to fully understand our clients’ specific needs and working with our design engineers to provide a custom-tailored solution that meets our clients’ expectations. Our highly skilled installations team then takes these solutions and installs, commissions, dismantles and decommissions them on our clients’ sites.
My team can provide our customers with solutions for water management, including wellpoint dewatering and water treatment, temporary structural propping, synchronised jacking and structural support for ground shoring of small to large excavations using our very own product range.
What are some of the biggest challenges your customers are facing right now?
I’ve been in the construction industry for close to 25 years, working my way from a trade background to my current role at Coates. During this time, the challenges have remained consistent – cost pressures, labour shortages, timeline challenges, minimisation of variations, site space limitations for water treatment equipment and minimising construction/installation delays.
Customers can often overlook temporary works requirements, increasing the pressure to provide a cost-effective design that can be installed and removed in very tight timeframes. Providing cost-effective and efficient solutions to customers has become more critical than ever in the current economic environment.
How does your team help customers overcome these challenges?
Our installations team is made up of qualified riggers and water treatment technicians who proactively work both in the branch and on site with customers to ensure the installation and commissioning process and removal process is as seamless as possible.
We’re often under pressure to work to tight customer deadlines while coordinating with other contractors on site to achieve our objectives.
Can you describe any interesting industry trends or technology you’re excited about?
The biggest innovation we have seen to date is the introduction of BIM (building information modelling) for temporary works. While BIM is widely used in architectural and structural design, its uptake has been comparatively slow for temporary works.
Coates has a library of free BIM models of our most popular propping and bracing equipment and we have seen engineering consultancies in particular utilising these models and incorporating our equipment into their designs.
What’s your favourite thing about your role or the industry you support?
My favourite thing about the role is the team we have developed. I’m most proud when I see them achieve the completion of our projects within the tight timeframes and budgets. It may sound like an old cliché, but I enjoy sharing my passion for what we do with my son. When I am driving down the road with my family in the car, I can say to my son, ”We worked on that project,” and explain to him how we helped our client in some way achieve their goal.
Another aspect I really enjoy is the innovation in our product offering. We have our own product range, which is re-usable and sustainable. As a business, we are continually looking for ways to innovate, with new products like the Quadshore propping system.
For more on how Coates Engineering Solutions can support upcoming projects, visit coates.com.au/specialist-solutions/engineering-solutions
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