Nokia Hanoi Operations Factory

Focusing on humans to make technology thrive

Construction of the biggest single factory that communications giant Nokia has ever undertaken, executed to the highest standards with expertise and precision.

Scroll down
Close

Nokia Hanoi Operations Factory Project summary

Client

Nokia

Project value

£70m

Key partners

PTW, Arup, Davis, Langdon & Seah

Services provided

Project and programme management, Consult

Sectors

Industrial and manufacturing

Locations

Vietnam, Asia Pacific

Project timeline

Start date
February 2011
End date
September 2013
Close

Project story

Nokia’s largest single-build factory, an 85,000 sq m space in Bac Ninh Province, Vietnam, was built to help it meet Asia's growing mobile telephony market.

Our client wanted the facility built to European standards, with high levels of quality, sustainability and safety. To meet these requirements we had to share our expertise and raise the bar of the local construction industry.

Delivering a construction project of this size and complexity, within a challenging budget and a day ahead of schedule was an incredible undertaking.

To achieve this, we ran a tender process to select design and building contractors. With all bids in the tender process coming in over the client's target budget, our first priority was an extensive value engineering exercise - we managed to reduce costs with open communication and careful use of resources.

Investment in safety and quality training for the local workforce were just some of the many ways we ensured that we met the European standards required by Nokia.

Project stats

172,543 sq m site Nokia's largest-ever single-build construction
2.7m working hours, only one minor accident - unprecedented for Vietnam

Points of note

Bringing costs down

The project was completed US$3m under budget and a day ahead of schedule following our extensive value engineering exercise that ensured the client could meet its challenging budget. Alongside the chosen contractor, we reworked the design, creating a steel and reinforced concrete frame to reduce the amount of imported steel required.

Phased delivery

The factory has three main buildings, an amenities and training facility, and north and south production assembly halls. We phased delivery so that the north hall could start production while the south hall was still under construction.

Training the local workforce

When construction started, we trained the often unskilled local workforce, drawn mainly from Vietnam’s rural areas, to the level of expertise required. With the building measuring 19m high safety training was an important consideration, and so we set up a training school on site, with workers taught how to use double lanyards on harnesses to work safely at height and how to use mobile elevated work platforms. Welders were trained too, to keep works compliant with National Fire Protection Association standards.

Exemplary execution

We acted as construction supervisor on the project to ensure that every piece of work was delivered in accordance with the design and Nokia's standards. We met our objective of building Nokia a factory that is an exemplar of quality and safety for Vietnam, and the whole south-east Asia region.

“The consistent application of Mace systems and processes set the benchmark for teams within the Asia Pacific region. In a country like Vietnam where there is little regulation in place in regards to health, safety and the environment, these achievements are all the more remarkable in regards to the application of our systems and processes, including Safety first. Second nature.”

“I have found the Mace organisation, systems and processes to be exceptional. It has completely changed my perception of Mace and raised the bar on my expectations of a construction project management provider when running a large-scale project like ours. I also wanted you to know how critical your knowledge of electrical systems and power management has been to this project. I am concerned Nokia would not have achieved the level of quality and safety had you not been involved with the project.”