The competition was held by the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) Civil Student Association with the theme "Optimizing Technology Utilization for Cost-Efficient and Sustainable Buildings in Era 4.0".

This competition encourages students to better understand the concept of sustainable construction and to explore various ideas as well as innovations related to effective, efficient, and sustainable project implementation methods.

Utilizing the knowledge they have mastered in the field of civil engineering, especially in the fields of construction management and engineering, the Kuya Kuyi Venture team created an innovation entitled "Lean Construction and Coefficient Changes Based on Actual Data".

In general, lean construction means minimizing activities that are not needed at a certain time in the construction timeline. For example, the process of minimizing warehouse functions in construction. "For projects, there is usually a warehouse. So, we minimize the use of warehouses by ordering materials two days before the work has started. So, there are no items piling up. The effect is that security posts can be reduced, in other words, the job desk to guard goods becomes easier," said Fajar.

In addition, they made changes to the coefficients based on actual data in the field. With this innovation, the three of them were able to reduce direct costs up to IDR 250 million and reduce indirect costs because the planned project duration was 11 days earlier than the initial plan.

This competition was held from October 2023 (registration) to December 2023 (awarding). The team was interested in registering because during their Practical Work (KP) activities, they often touched on project financing and series of construction works. Thus, they decided to register for this construction project planning competition.

The first stage carried out was the case presentation and "aanwijzing" (one of the stages in the tender process in the form of a meeting between the tender owner and the participants). The team said that the "aanwijzing" stage was carried out at the same time as the midterm week, so the team did not have time to dig up comprehensive information and only had a few important things. After that, the process continues with creating an offering document.

One of the difficulties faced was when creating a WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) and sequencing construction work because it required a lot of brainstorming. This took up a lot of time in the middle of ongoing lectures.

Moreover, the team experienced difficulties in the process of searching for Unit Price Analysis (AHS) data because it involved a variety of work and made the bid price below the Self Estimated Price (HPS) value. The team also needs to divide academic and non-academic time. Apart from that, the team received support through consultation and discussion with the supervisor, Prof. Ir. Biemo Woerjanto Soemardi, M.S.E., Ph.D.

The final presentation was held on Saturday (2/12/2023) at Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember Surabaya. Kuya Kuyi Venture presented the results of the innovations created to the jury. The series of events then continued with awards on Sunday (3/12/2023). After going through various stages, the team was declared first place in this competition.

They said that this competition was very memorable even though they experienced various challenges in the process. “Our trip from Bandung to Surabaya was also very memorable because we met incredible friends. When our team's name was mentioned in the 1st place announcement, we were very surprised and didn't expect it. Moreover, this is the first time we have won a tender competition," said Putri.

They advised other students who wanted to be involved in the world of competition not to be afraid to try and regret not doing something they wanted. Putri said, “Achieve the things you want and don't forget that many people support you in the process. If you ever feel that what you are doing is in vain, believe that everything will be worth it in the end."

Reporter: Nicholas Bayu Mahendra (Civil Engineering, 2021)
Translator: Hanifa Juliana  (Urban and Regional Planning, 2020)
Editor: Kezia Hosana