Efficiency meets precision: Successful technical planning and pre-assembly at Bayer AG

In a highly demanding project, Sikla worked with various contractors to deliver an impressive performance at Bayer AG in Wuppertal. The focus was on cross-trade bracket installation, which required not only technical sophistication but also precise coordination between all parties involved. The project impressively demonstrates how well-thought-out specialist planning as a service and intelligent pre-assembly can optimise processes and drastically reduce construction times.

Complexity meets coordination

The challenge was clear: five companies were working with different systems (Siconnect and siFramo) towards a common goal. Logistics was a critical factor here. A narrow delivery window and Bayer AG's strict logistics system required precise planning. In order to streamline the processes for all parties involved, the necessary orders from all executing companies were summarised on a weekly basis.
Deliveries were coordinated via a logistics portal with a one-hour time slot – a fixed delivery day. Orders were processed up to two days before delivery, otherwise they were carried over to the following week's delivery. The reason for this strict scheduling by Bayer AG was to avoid inconveniencing residents in the neighbouring residential area in Wuppertal with years of delivery traffic congestion caused by lorries.

Technical planning as the key to success

Sikla took on the entire technical planning of the pipe supports – particularly for the technical centre and the routing. The focus was on cross-trade supports in areas with a high degree of installation complexity. Most of the planning was carried out using AutoCAD. The technical centre, which spanned an entire floor, was planned as a further assignment in Revit and with the then new SiCAD4Revit plug-in.

Pre-assembly as an efficiency driver

One highlight of the project was the consistent pre-assembly. Everything that could be planned and pre-assembled was prefabricated – a total of 1,567 brackets, mainly for the pipe routes, the brackets for ventilation, electrical, sanitary, heating, cooling and special gases on the floors. The results speak for themselves: (ring) corridors up to 200 metres long were fully assembled in just 1.5 weeks – a fraction of the time originally estimated.

The anchor rails, which were designed to fit the planned construction thanks to early planning considerations, achieved a utilisation rate of nearly 95%. Furthermore, the anchor rails provided by the client, in combination with the simple fastening of the pre-assembled structures, ensured resource-efficient progress on the construction site.

All other structures that could not be pre-assembled were delivered as ready to use, which greatly increased efficiency. Pre-assembled means that mounting rails and threaded rods for ventilation duct brackets, for example, were cut to length and packed together per bracket. On the construction site, all that was left to do was unpack, assemble, anchor and move on.

Innovative fastening solutions

The development of brackets that also served as a basis for maintenance platforms in shafts was particularly innovative. These structures not only met static requirements – as verified by external engineers – but also enabled a maintenance-friendly infrastructure. The cross-trade bracket thus became the supporting idea for the entire shafts.

Conclusion: A project that sets an example

The project at Bayer AG shows how well-thought-out technical planning, close construction site supervision and intelligent pre-assembly can become a true best practice. The cross-trade bracket was not only a technical highlight, but also a symbol of successful cooperation and process optimisation. Sikla is certain that this project sets standards for future large-scale projects in the pharmaceutical industry.