Laing O'Rourke leads way in IT savings

Laing O'Rourke should be seen as a role model for the way it is taking advantage of electronic technology to save costs, said Tom Dengenis, chief executive of Asite Solutions.
"Construction is a commodity market and the only way to win is to take the lowest cost position," said Dengenis. "Laing O'Rourke thrives on having better information gathering and having it running further through the business system. It's a model for others."
O'Rourke announced last week that it is to buy 17% of construction software group Asite's shares. Asite users can "pick and mix" its 15 e-business tools, using as many as they wish, with the bonus that the Asite software has been configured to operate in conjunction with the contractor's legacy IT applications.
Critics have dubbed Asite's B2B construction hub "vapourware". "A year ago, that's what it was," agreed Dengenis, "as everything was outsourced. But now we have our own intellectual property and it is no longer 'vapourware'. If it was, would Laing O'Rourke have committed?"
Laing O'Rourke will be granted share options in Asite from B&C Plaza, a holding company owned by Asite director Robert Tchenguiz.
"The top contractors have taken a forward position in IT over the past five years," said Dengenis. "They see the need to have data moving through their business relationships electronically and Wates has the honour of being the first to state its desire to become completely paperless.
"Having improved their IT systems internally, leading players are now looking to go outside their own business, and here's where Laing O'Rourke is leading the push."
In Laing O'Rourke's Heathrow T5 project, benchmarking has shown savings of 70% on the cost of tendering packages worth over £10m by using Asite's tendering system.
Dennis Johnson, finance director of Laing O'Rourke, said Asite Tender would now be rolled out across the whole group. "We are continuously increasing the number of suppliers that are able to trade with us electronically and moving towards our goal of full supplier integration by the close of 2004."