BildGroup has grown into one of Australia’s leading service providers for the road profiling, civil construction and road maintenance sectors. Roads & Infrastructure sits down with BildGroup’s senior management to learn how the company continues to innovate.
Drawing on more than 40 years’ experience in the road profiling and civil construction sectors, BildGroup has grown from six to 650 employees, while also developing nationally.
Initially founded as Road Profilers Australia in 1979, the business was re-branded as Bitu-mill by Stephen Graham and his son Matthew in 2003.
The Grahams’ eyed expansion, growing the profiling business and adding rural civil, asphalt paving, landscaping, metro civil, urban and micro-stabilisation entities to Bitu-mill’s portfolio.
In 2021, the company was rebranded to BildGroup, now compromising two operating businesses in Bitu-mill and BildCivil.
As BildGroup COO Domenic De Fazio explains, the enterprise now represents more than road profiling.
“We are now made up of 13 different business units (departments) and our growth can be attributed to unifying many small businesses together,” he says. “But profiling still remains a core facet of BildGroup. We would still identify ourselves as one of the largest profiling businesses in the Southern Hemisphere.”
“Stephen Hill, our CEO, was brought in to focus on the civil aspects of the business and where we could take that. And over the last 10 years that’s where we’ve seen most of our growth and that’s where the business has really started to excel.”
Building a foundation
Instrumental to BildGroup’s growth has been the reliability of its services. With 13 different disciplines, De Fazio says that retaining and growing a customer base cannot be achieved over-night.
“When it comes to our customers, our philosophy really is to look for long term sustainable relationships,” he says.
De Fazio adds that internal investment has also held BildGroup in great stead, investing not only heavily in plant and equipment, but also in people. He says that BildGroup’s landscaping entity, BildLandscapes, was originally presented as a concept by a BildGroup employee, before it received financial support from the company.
“Success through investment in people and backing their ideas is key. If you’re willing to do this then you’re likely to achieve long-term benefits,” he says.
BildGroup is also uniquely positioned in the market, with many of its competitors also acting as clients due to the many disciplines the company operates in. De Fazio says that finding a balance is crucial.
“We place a very high value on partnerships and are mindful that competing against our clients can be challenging. We’ve got this relationship with people, where we’re working for them and they’re working for us,” he says.
“Getting that balance right and maintaining those partnerships is critical. It’s something we’ve been able to do really well.”
The rise of Bitu-mill
BildGroup’s Bitu-mill business focuses on providing profiling services for roads and pavements, asphalt paving and also equipment hire.
According to BildGroup, Bitu-mill is the largest road profiling business in Australia, with profiling teams nation-wide. Bitu-mill houses “state-of-the-art equipment”, which not only aim to increase accuracy, but also reduce noise and emissions.
Another key focus of Bitu-mill is pioneering new technologies, such as 3D machine control, which removes the need for a surveyor by positioning a machine using a digital design. Digital files are uploaded into the machine. From there, the 3D system automatically controls the apparatus’s hydraulics, improving the accuracy and reliability of the machine’s height and slope, which are constantly updated.
Information such as depth, slope and the position of the machine are relayed back to an onboard screen for operators. When compared to conventional methods, 3D profiling reduces asphalt overuse, as well as survey and traffic control costs.
Derek Thomas, Bitu-mill National Profiling Manager says 3D profiling also provides safety benefits.
“We’re also making the worksite safer by removing the number of on-foot staff at each site where 3D profiling is being deployed,” he says. “We’re very innovative with our equipment and new machines. We’re always trying to make changes and further developments.”
“By moving into the 3D machine control market, we’re using total stations to ensure millimetre accuracy in our pavement works.”
The system has proven to be effective in multiple projects nation-wide.
Albert Park’s F1 Circuit resurfacing saw the use of two machines equipped with 3D profiling, to complete more than 68,000m2 of milling for a new track design. Two 3D profiling machines have also been used for the resurfacing of Alice Spring’s Airport.
“With that technology, we can achieve results which were unobtainable when using conventional equipment,” Thomas says.
BildGroup also typically has 35-40 on-going projects across the country, with the potential to cater for more major infrastructure projects.
“We don’t want to be a tier one company, but we want to offer our clients the best of what a tier one has to offer with the service and relationships of a family company,” De Fazio says.
Maintaining modernisation
An important aspect of achieving continued innovation and success in the civil construction market is having the ideal equipment provider, Thomas says.
Since 1999, BildGroup’s Bitu-mill department has used Wirtgen Group machinery.
Thomas says the ideologies and machinery desires of Bitu-mill closely align with Wirtgen Group, a key reason for the sustained professional relationship.
“We’re both passionate in the same way,” he says. “They’re very innovative and they always want to be at the forefront of the market. We’re constantly upgrading our machines to continually improve what we do, so we work closely with Wirtgen to find the right equipment options for us. Most of their machines now have 3D capabilities when they arrive as well.”
De Fazio concurs, saying the partnership has helped Bitu-mill to modernise its fleet and service.
“We are excited by every new innovation, and we try to embrace it whenever we can,” he says.
“The difference with Wirtgen is that we’re able to work with them to take full advantage of these innovative features. Many companies purchase machinery from Wirtgen Group, but some may not fully realise a machines capability. I believe that maximising this innovation is one of the many strengths of BildGroup.”
What’s next?
De Fazio says BildGroup are eyeing further growth, with plans to complete another acquisition in 2022. He says that continuing to deliver on BildGroup’s “quality” service will continue to lead the company on “the path to success”.
“We have to continue to satisfy expectation, in terms of quality, safety, be competitive, maintain strong partnerships and continue to develop our people, business and brand. What we’re trying to achieve is very multi-dimensional.”
This article was originally published in the July edition of our magazine. To read the magazine, click here.
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