CATRINA Alliance
The Curtin Advanced Technologies Research and Innovation Alliance (CATRINA) is a newly established industry and research collaboration alliance at Curtin University, established by Curtin with foundation partners Shell Australia and Woodside Energy. The industry-led alliance was formed following the success of the previous research program ‘Echo’ with over 40 industry partners.
The alliance strives to improve productivity in engineering, fabrication, construction and project maintenance. We work closely together with academics, technology providers, contractors and operators on a regular basis.
Other operators and multinationals are invited to partner with CATRINA to help drive research in lean practices, innovative technologies, building information modelling that benefit business and get projects delivered on time and on budget.
Our core activities Objective: 10% less waste – 10% more productivity.
- Education, technical and strategic research
- Productivity-focused research
- Accelerating industry adoption of new technology through proof of concept
- Delivering specialist course curriculum and programs
- Supervising honours and postgraduate students
- Specialist short courses and industry workshops
- International student exchange
- Technology exhibitions, showrooms and conferences
- Industry Lean simulation exercises
- International collaboration.
Current research programs Our research programs have a global footprint.
- Lean Construction for megaprojects links Radio Frequency Technology Identification (RFID) with Building Information Modelling (BIM), mobile computing and other innovative technologies to enhance the efficiency of the site worker.
- Lean Scaffolding investigates optimisation options to minimise scaffolding costs and improve efficiencies.
- Lean Maintenance for LNG optimises shutdown turnaround times for critical operational maintenance programs.
- Mercury Disposal investigate the optimal loading, transport, storage and disposal of highly hazardous materials for onshore and floating LNG facilities.
- Container Optimisation redesigns standard container usage for complex logistics environments in harsh conditions such as FLNG.
- FLNG Logistics Optimisation evaluates current and future practices to minimise deck space utilisation and optimal maintenance sequencing.
- 480 Hay St showcases the adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM) for this flagship 5-star hotel, the first to be built in Perth.
- Lean Warehousing and Logistics for one of Perth’s major resource logistics companies in the oil & gas sector introducing world’s best practices to WA.
- Major events co-hosted by our research team include the National Lean Construction Conference in 2015 and the Global Lean Construction Conference in 2015.
Lean Practice The core focus of Lean is to maximise customer value by streamlining processes and eliminating waste.
Waste can be found in many areas of a business:
- Transport – moving people, products and information
- Inventory – storing parts, pieces, documentation ahead of requirements
- Motion – bending, turning, reaching, lifting
- Wait time – for parts, information, instructions, equipment
- Over production – making more than is immediately required
- Over processing – tighter tolerances or higher grade materials than are necessary
- Defects – rework, scrap, incorrect documentation
- Skills – underutilising capabilities, delegating tasks with inadequate training.
Eliminating waste along entire value streams instead of at isolated points creates processes that need less human effort, less space, less capital, and less time to make products compared with traditional business systems. A Lean organisation understands customer value and focuses its key processes to continuously improve its effectiveness. The ultimate goal is to provide perfect value to the customer, zero waste and improved profitability.