The sun is certainly shining on engineering solutions provider Mainline these days as it has been announced that CEO Jamie O'Rourke has been nominated as an EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, in the International category. While earlier this year Mainline was again awarded Platinum Standard in the 2021 Deloitte Best Managed Companies Awards.
Speaking about the EY entrepreneur award, O’Rourke said he was “delighted and humbled to have been selected; it’s a huge accolade for Mainline and for me personally, especially given the quality of past and present finalists. Mostly however this proud achievement recognises the hard work all at Mainline have put in over the last several years, as we have built and transitioned the Mainline business towards a sustainable future”
Regarding the Deloitte award, O’Rourke said earlier this year, that it was a testament to how Mainline has demonstrated flexibility, excellence in operational performance, a culture of innovation, and a safe working environment for more than two decades. He said the award is down to the “strength of the management team but, more importantly, the persistence, focus, and hard work invested by each staff member across the organisation”.
Mainline operates in Ireland, the UK and Scandinavia, provides a wide range of services from the design and build of substations, to construction of airside aviation infrastructure, to turnkey wind and solar energy solutions.
Design and build service solutions
- Wind farms
- Airfield installations
- Solar Farms
- Substations
- Gas Fired Power Plants
- Turbine installation and maintenance works
- HV cable installation
- Testing and commissioning
- Electrical design
- Water metering
- Water network build and maintenance
- Telecoms network build and maintenance
- Civil works associated will all of the above
“At Mainline we deliver projects that matter, positively impacting clients and communities around the world through our energy and engineering solutions,” says a company spokesman.
A Mainline meter investigation team working on a client site at Little Island, displaying best practices in confined space. The team working with all SHEQ procedures in place are Eamon Cooney and Slawomir Sip. The intrepid duo also resolved the issue for the client
Juggling Scandinavian construction projects with contracts closer to home
In a 2021 interview with the Irish Examiner, O’Rourke outlined how extreme weather conditions come as part and parcel of the daily challenge for the company on its first (73-turbine) wind farm project in Scandinavia, Hästkullen wind farm in the Nysäter wind park.
Currently delivering a €10m-plus contract to provide power and communication infrastructure to a similar scale 69 turbine wind farm project in northern Sweden, much of the work is being carried out in near Arctic conditions for extended periods of the year, said O’Rourke. The project is part of Europe’s largest onshore wind farm in the Markbygden Cluster and involves the installation of more than 350km of power and fibre optic cabling.
The first of 69 turbines which the Mainline team on our Markbygden project in Sweden recently 'terminated' (ie, cable installed up through the wind turbine base and terminated/connected into the turbine)
“Things outside of our control often impact us, and we must deal with them and still deliver,” said O’Rourke, as he explained the extreme climatic conditions. On the Hästkullen project for example, the construction programme changed from predominantly summer work to the majority of the project having to be completed during the winter period, which in northern Sweden runs from November to April.
“When you are digging and blasting rock across mountainous terrain for almost 100km of trench, it can be somewhat challenging logistically. Then throw in two metres of snow on frozen ground, and you can appreciate some of the obstacles we faced.”
He credits a great team on the ground and finding the right local partners as key to the successful outcome: “Developing and maintaining strong relationships is a vital part of Mainline’s culture, enabling us to deal with difficult situations in a very challenging environment successfully. These strong relationships enabled us to deliver a completed project to another satisfied client, and to then move on to our next project in Sweden.”
North Runway project
Mainline is also the lead electrical contractor in the new North Runway project at Dublin airport, an element of national infrastructure that will significantly increase the capacity of the airport. Work includes over 340km of primary runway cable, instillation of aviation lighting and signage, as well the 2 Substations.
“The North Runway is definitely one of the more complex projects we have undertaken, with the challenge relating to the number of moving parts outside of our direct control,” says O'Rourke.
"Essential aspects of the project, such as design and access to the different areas of the site, are not within our direct control. On a project of this scale, elements can become ‘fluid’ for various reasons, and this can have knock-on effects, for example, in the procurement of materials, if the design changes.”
'At @mainlinegroup we encourage and award staff, who take action against an unsafe act or condition. We commend our latest Stay Safe Card winner Ross Kelly, who identified and removed a potential hazard on our Dublin airport site. Ross was awarded a tablet from PM James Ryan'
Now complete, the key is always in managing risk, he points out: “We do this by having open and honest conversations and working in collaboration with all involved to find the best solution.”
Mainline’s tactically advanced approach gives it a competitive edge – particularly on large-scale projects with multiple moving parts and interfaces. “The question becomes one of risk and, in particular, managing risk, often in what would be considered by some as a chaotic environment.”
"In simple terms, systems and processes coupled with key performance indicators all supported by the necessary software, enable us to monitor this risk and identify any potential issues well in advance. It’s basic but essential – identify an issue early, then taking action as close to the issue as possible, can significantly reduce the impact.”
Digitalisation and quick decisions
Mainline’s operational ethos of continual improvement includes an ongoing supplementing of its system and process via a company-wide digital transformation programme, supported by Enterprise Ireland.
The @mainlinegroup who successfully installed a 67-tonne reactor at the ESB substation in Co Kerry
O’Rourke says: “We have developed a numbers (KPIs) business built around standard process’ and controls. KPIs allow all in the business to focus on what the board consider to be the most important things for the business. Most importantly up-to-date KPIs facilitate quick decisions from a risk management perspective and quick informed decisions save money.
"To facilitate this, and generate as many of the KPIs automatically and effectively as possible, we have invested in and completed a significant Digital Transformation programme.”
Background
Having grown up in a business household – Jack O’Rourke’s bar in Abbeyfeale – O'Rourke was a witness to commercial life lessons from an early age.
“Perhaps my enduring life lessons were learnt from my parents during many years behind the bar counter and on the bookmaking circuit as a youngster with my dad” – the late Jack O’Rourke.
“In the bar, we learned to always ‘picture yourself outside the counter looking in’. Essentially look through your customers’ eyes, and engage genuinely with people. This coupled with the real-time risk analysis approach of bookmaking, engrained three things in me: 1) attention to detail; 2) customer service; and 3) risk analysis – all of which play an important part in Mainline’s DNA.” Although he is quick to point out, that attention to detail needs to be measured against a ‘progress not perfection’ approach.
Lessons learnt and and honing the culture
O’Rourke says he has benefited greatly from coaching, and in doing so learnt that one of the most important things we can do when something goes wrong is ask ourselves have we got 'clean hands' (ie, was I in any way a contributing factor), and/or what external factors influenced the issue. By doing this you start from a place of learning, with the goal of 'continuous improvement', as opposed to 'blame'.
"This 'clean hands' approach enables us in Mainline to genuinely operate a ‘no-blame@ culture'. It’s a fact that mistakes will happen, so we see them as an opportunity to learn and improve, and we share these learnings regularly across the business.
"It is very much about getting the right people onto the team: our genuine no blame culture, coupled with the flexible working solutions we offer, regardless of location, helps us attract the team members to the company.”
When asked to offer some advice to his fellow engineers starting out in their careers, he says that as in Mainline, it is about relentless continuous improvement, and that when possible "we should always seek to learn from those who have been there and done it, and when faced with uncertainty lean on their knowledge, and trust your gut, to make informed choices".
L-R: Jamie O'Rourke, Mainline CEO, and Dee Kehoe, CPD director, Engineers Ireland
In this vein, Mainline was recently awarded the much sought after CPD Accredited Employer Standard by Engineers Ireland in recognition of its continuing professional development (CPD) strategy.
O'Rourke says: “We are delighted to achieve the CPD Accredited Employer Standard from Engineers Ireland. Recognising and developing talent is one of our key values here at Mainline, and CPD accreditation will further enable us to structure our learning and development initiatives.
"The reputation that comes with Engineers Ireland’s CPD accreditation will also play a pivotal role in our talent attraction and retention strategy, demonstrating our commitment to continuous improvement, and the continuing professional development of each member of the Mainline team."
Looking to the future and the planned growth of the company, O’Rourke says there is a clear strategy to triple the business towards €100m turnover in the three- to five-year term, focused primarily on the domestic and international renewables markets, "with Mainline delivering projects that matter, and positively impacting clients and communities around the world".