Nestlé

Who

Nestlé is one the world’s largest food and beverage companies, with more than 2,000 brands ranging from global icons to local favourites, they are present in 191 countries.

Challenge

Goodman needed to upgrade the roof insulation at Nestlé's Arndell Park facility, however the standard practice of using a mobile crane to undertake the job was deemed unsuitable due to a number of logistical and WHS concerns. These included:

• Nestlé's 24 hour/5 day a week operation – restricting work to the weekend due to WHS concerns and risk mitigation
• Crane assembly time restrictions – it would take approximately 5 hours to set up and a further 5 hours to disassemble, limiting use over the weekend
• The manual transfer of heavy material across the roof
• Large labour force required on-site to use a mobile crane, and possible access restrictions for emergency vehicles if required.

Solution

Faced with the above concerns the team decided that an alternative method of supplying roofing material to the work area was necessary. After investigating the use of aviation equipment, overcoming initial customer concerns and statutory approvals, the use of a helicopter was approved.

The following benefits were taken into consideration:

• Delivery and setup is immediate, similar with de-establishment
• Labour force is reduced due to new material being placed directly adjacent to works area and redundant sheeting taken from the roof on the return trip
• Material transference is inherently quicker as the loading and removal process is performed in approximately 3 hours
• Immediate evacuation is possible in the case of an emergency

Results

The use of aviation equipment overcame logistical issues and resulted in multiples benefits around time savings, WHS and cost savings; including:

• A reduced workforce due to the helicopters ability to transfer materials to the exact location
• A shorter delivery time for the works to be completed
• Less physical stress for works
• A smaller team of on-site roofing contractors and labourers