WSP is proud to have supported Nestlé in the construction of their pioneering Plant-Based Meal Solutions (PBMS) manufacturing facility in Malaysia. The first of its kind in Southeast Asia, the new facility will cater to the rising demand for plant-based foods around the world. 

As EPCM consultant, WSP provided architectural, civil, structural, MEP and fire engineering design services as well as tender support and construction management for this GFA of 55,000 sq. ft facility located within Nestlé’s existing Shah Alam Industrial Complex in Selangor.

Design for a complex facility

Our engineering design was tailored to meet the varying requirements of the production process, the local authority regulations, fire compartmentation, hygiene and a range of room temperatures. The design also required integration of the MEP utilities with the wet production area, the main process area, raw material warehouses, a chill raw material warehouse at 0^oC freezer, packing hall, frozen finished goods warehouse at -25^oC, finished goods and loading/unloading area as well as the production office and the tank farm to the utilities rooms. 

3D laser scanning provides data for BIM

With limited as-built drawings of the existing building available, WSP adopted an innovative 3D laser scanning solution to capture the existing building geometry and MEP services in order to incorporate the new plant’s design. The resulting point cloud data was used as the basis for a BIM model deployed from preliminary through to detail design phases to ensure an effective design, planning and construction programme. 

The BIM model assisted our client with space planning within the constraints of the existing plant, particularly with relation to the operational requirements of the project, the production machines and their associated MEP services. We also incorporated 3D models from various equipment suppliers to optimise space planning. 

In addition to the building mechanical system, our design team developed various Utilities Process Flow Diagrams (PFD) and Piping & Instrumentation Diagrams (P&ID), which were then translated into a 3D model for better visualisation of the utility and process piping flow. The P&ID was crucial to every stage of the utilities system development and, now, to the operation of the plant.

Using BIM for such a complex project benefited both our client and the WSP designers by providing a 3D overview from the outset to deliver an optimum design that would minimise expensive and time-consuming changes later in the project. It also made for better coordination between all the design trades and equipment vendors by detecting any potential clashes before construction start. 

Box-in-a-box

Fitting the PBMS plant within the confines of the vacant building involved the demolition of existing internal walls, floors, staircases and the relocation or removal of existing mechanical, electrical and piping systems. 

To enable the various room temperature requirements, WSP used pre-cut, pre-finished insulated panels to create partitioning walls and ceilings. This saved construction time and labour costs thanks to the quick installation provided by the system.  

An extremely fast-track project

In order to meet Nestlé’s PBMS production requirements the finish date for the plant was cast in stone. Despite the project’s complexity and the challenges presented by the COVID pandemic, the plant was finished on time, on 16th December 2020. WSP achieved this through introducing innovative ways of working, including online tendering, dividing the construction site into separate working zones for the safety of the contractors, and managing the construction sequence to take into account delayed authority approvals caused by the lockdown.