Scheduler a role of a lifetime for Kevin
By Kate Southam
Kevin Laidlaw has been in his job as a scheduler for steel reinforcing company ARC for 55 years and has no plans to retire anytime soon, which is good news for a sector where the average age of a scheduler is now 50.
Mr Laidlaw, 80, has worked on many well-know projects over the years including the Westgate Bridge, Melbourne City Link, the Melbourne Arts Centre and Crown Casino.
ARC manufactures and supplies steel reinforcing and fencing products to the construction industry.
As well as manufacturing and supplying materials, ARC offers its clients a range of services including “scheduling” and this is where Mr Laidlaw and the company’s other 52 schedulers come in.
“You need a set of architectural drawings and then you need the same engineering or structural drawings,” Mr Laidlaw says. “I need those two sets of drawings so I have all the information to order the materials and provide a plan for builders.”
The “Marking Plans” show the customer where all the reinforcement detailed in the schedule is to be placed in the finished building or structure. This process enables all the reinforcing elements to be manufactured, labelled and delivered and placed in their correct position in the formwork.
It is a vital role and intense, detailed work. Too much material would waste money and too little would delay a project.
ARC is looking for a new crop of people to train as schedulers. Mr Laidlaw says a good scheduler must have an eye for detail, the ability to work under pressure, a love of mathematics and excellent analytical skills, excellent communication, negotiation and customer service skills.
The job is learned over four or five years to build up the needed technical knowledge of the building and construction industry and ability to interpret structural and architectural drawings.
Mr Laidlaw started his career as a fitter at age 15 and then joined ARC at age 25 after misreading a job ad.
“I thought the job ad said mechanical experience, but it turns out they wanted structural experience instead – I had misread the ad,” he says.
He travels 2.5 hours a day to maintain a job he says he has never grown tired of. Each project is a challenge and can take anywhere from months to years to complete.
“This job keeps my mind active and challenged. It keeps me going.”
Originally founded as the Australian Reinforcing Company in 1920, ARC today employs more than 900 people in 40 locations around the country.
For more information on joining ARC as a trainee scheduler go to http://www.arcreo.com.au/careers
