Capabilities
Seamless project delivery and operations with a single point of contact
At Factor UTB, the same people build the design, construct, commission, handover, train and operate. We have found this provides certainty of engagement with our clients, commenting that ‘all it took was one call’, in the instance of requiring an answer or to action a response during and after the project has been completed.
Design
Construct
Maintain
Operate
Carefully delivered project design
The design of our projects is completed carefully and deliberately to minimise the need for specialist contractors or trades for preventative maintenance and most service work. Each plant allows for specialist engineering support without site attendance (i.e. via remote connectivity) and is arranged so that support and maintenance services are transparent.
Commitment to robust treatment systems
Factor UTB is committed to supplying robust treatment systems to protect public health and the environment, the safety of Operators and, in the case of commissioned assets, to allow organisations to control their costs and manage infrastructure locally. We expect that clients will want to continue to work with us, but will design and document so that future service and support is contestable.
Construction
Factor UTB’s inhouse multidisciplinary construction team is a core strength that ensures alignment between design intent and delivery. This complete in-house civil, mechanical and electrical works capability ensures that complex water and wastewater infrastructure is delivered reliably, on time and ready for long term operational performance.
Our integrated construction management systems emphasise safety, durability and constructability, with each project delivered under a robust quality assurance framework supported by detailed as-built documentation, O&M manuals and commissioning records.
All infrastructure, whether pipelines, pump stations, or treatment process structures are constructed to Australian Standards and relevant SA Water Technical Standards, with inspection and testing carried out under independently verified ITPs.
Use of automation
Whilst Factor UTB builds for robustness of plant and systems, high-quality infrastructure will only continue to perform at optimum parameters if properly maintained.
The design of a Factor UTB plant allows process adjustments to be made through a modern SCADA system, for example, to increase or decrease aeration, anoxic periods or most other factors that affect the quality of the treated water. The plant will make most changes automatically within a preset design range envelope. The range of process parameters can be shifted so that if conditions change from those used in the design, the process can generally be changed to match the conditions found.
Operators in control
Treatment plants constructed by Factor UTB in 1999 are still operating, providing efficient and effective operation. Smart design, best practice construction principles and a documented preventive maintenance regime ensure longevity and ease of element replacement.
For a commissioned plant, you, as the Operator, have control; you can achieve targets and intervene to improve the process with the required knowledge and support, which forms part of the ‘handover, and train’ at plant completion.
Factor UTB can provide ongoing technical and full-service operational support.
Designed to limit external assistance
Most elements are designed to be serviceable by Factor UTB’s operations staff, only occasionally requiring assistance from external trade contractors. When things do not go as planned, alarms with descriptions of the problem and tools allowing diagnosis of the problem are available through the SCADA. The SCADA interface provides automatic control along with recorded operational information from all the components required to deal with any events. The system has a high level of redundancy, and the loss of operation of most individual components does not prevent operation. Almost no problem is ‘urgent’.
Service beyond build
For our assets, you can be assured that services and support provided post-construction to the end customer are just as important to us and continues beyond the initial project works, and can extend to a fully supportive, wrap-around Customer Service offering.
Active customer service
We actively engage with our customers on an ongoing basis to ensure services continue to meet expectations.
Factor UTB don’t just offer customer support, but a fully developed Customer Service aimed at meeting our customers’ needs and ensuring satisfaction throughout the lifecycle of the project works.
Customer portals
To that end, each scheme will have a dedicated web presence offering customers a portal to manage their accounts, pay bills, access to our customer charters and obligations, and a dedicated Australian-based call centre to respond to customer queries.
There will be emergency contact details to ensure an effective and timely response to any operational and service issues.
