Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
Roofing and waterproofing giant BMI Group has made a multi-million pound investment in a new Technology Hub as part of a major commitment to accelerate the integration of data and digital capabilities into the manufacturing.
The Hub, in Reading, Berkshire, is part of the move by BMI owner Standard Industries to transform the way roofing and waterproofing solutions are developed and delivered, representing a major step forward in digitising what is one of the largest and oldest construction sectors.
It is also part of the move to bring together a group of disparate companies into one BMI organisation, says BMI President- North John Sinfield. “Part of the investment will be inwardly focused on new ERP systems, new HR systems, new CRM systems, bringing a group that has, say 60 different systems, onto one single backbone,” he told BMJ.
“Standard Industries as a group absolutely understands the power that digitisation has as a disruptor in the construction industry and they invest heavily in digital platforms where they think that this can bring advantages to our customers, whether they be distributors or roofing contractors. This is about us asking what we can do to make our customers’ lives easier in terms of a digital proposition and also how we interact with them.
“It’s about building capability to work with our customers and develop and invest in disruptive technologies which are going to become more important in the future. We are also making sure that we have the technology right so that we can ensure our customers have the correct data in the correct format about our products.”
Rich Robinson, Chief Technology Officer at Standard Industries, said that a big part of the focus on digital transformation is about empowering the customer by taking the friction out of buying a roofing system. “The new BMI Technology Hub is part of our commitment to leverage emerging technologies and lead the way in becoming a truly tech-driven building materials and construction company.”
