Balfour Beatty Engineering Services (BBES) has opened an off-site manufacturing and assembly facility in the West Midlands.
Branded 'Modular Systems +' the new 117,000 ft² manufacturing and assembly facility in Wednesbury, West Midlands is said to be the largest of its kind in the UK. Its focus is on the production of mechanical and electrical systems, including packaged plant rooms, corridor modules, service modules, riser modules, and modular electrical systems.

By creating Modular Systems +, BBES says it will be able to provide customers with substantial savings in terms of time and money. It will also offer a safer and more sustainable method of construction that is designed to also minimise waste.

Bob Francis, director of Modular Systems + at BBES, said: 'The Modular Systems + facility has been built to enable us to deliver our lean construction philosophy, reducing the number of hours needed on site, improving lead times and providing safer and more productive working environments.'

The site at Wednesbury was chosen for its location near to motorway networks and to create a streamline supply chain of component manufacturers to keep manufacturing in line with 'Just-In-Time' philosophy, which ensures each modular component is designed and built only when needed. The new facility is also in keeping with the company's corporate objective of keeping safety in mind with the 'Zero Harm' by 2012 policy through new working practices.