Setting Standards

Since recovering from the pandemic, the Asia Pacific construction market has risen to become a world leader, with Euromonitor estimating it will likely account for 40 per cent of the global industry’s output value by 2030. Supported by a sustained period of Chinese investments, particularly into its infrastructure, the region has also accelerated its adoption of technology, both out of demand and necessity. Driven by the increasing requirements for higher standards of safety, project efficiency as well as greater awareness of global sustainability initiatives, a growing number of construction companies have switched strategy to long-term growth over short-term expenditure, and with it a transition towards digitisation and durable products and systems. As a result, top-tier engineering and construction companies have seen an uptick in demand by being able to immediately meet the international standards for quality and safety, while simultaneously providing the digital tools that enhance the project delivery.

Since establishing a strong presence in Asia Pacific, Doka’s local teams have been heavily involved in many of the region’s most challenging projects, ranging from the Aurora Melbourne Central, where its self-climbing formwork and engineering solutions aided the delivery of the city’s tallest tower, through to the Dwarka Bridge, India’s largest cable-stayed bridge. It is, however, its Ringlock scaffolding system which has proven to be one of its most popular products.

Doka formed an initial partnership with scaffolding manufacturer AT-PAC in 2020 to deliver comprehensive global construction site solutions for formwork and scaffolding. In 2023, Doka completed the 100% acquisition. Launched as the company’s modular scaffolding system, Ringlock has since been tried and tested across the international markets on a variety of projects in different climates, where its versatility has proven to be highly effective, regardless of project scope, while remaining fully compliant to the highest standards of safety. With applications including rebar scaffolding, trench bridge, stair towers, rolling scaffolding, suspended scaffolding, birdcage scaffolding, shoring and façade scaffolding, Ringlock’s most noticeable advantage is its ergonomic design. By requiring only a few components, the system not only keeps installation quantities down, but also makes it up to 50 per cent faster to assemble when compared to traditional scaffolding systems. Additionally, up to 80 per cent of the components can be used for different applications, which comes with further cost benefits. In terms of quality, Ringlock structural components go through a hot dipped galvanisation process, meaning greater durability, no matter its environment.

As a result, Ringlock became the world’s first non-European scaffold system to secure DIBt (Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik) approval, Germany’s leading technical authority for construction products, while also meeting the European Standard for safety, EN12810.

Commenting on Ringlock’s appeal and success in the APAC market, Stuart Whittam, Business Development manager, Doka – Singapore and Emerging Markets (SEA) said, “While many of our more advanced products have seen a steady increase over the past few years, Ringlock has ramped up significantly with our region now being responsible for more than four thousand tons of material. This isn’t just attributable to the system’s globally recognised safety standards, or its easy-to-handle application for site teams, but because Doka was already a trusted and respected brand in the region. As a result, Ringlock has become a value-added extension as part of the company’s broader vision to become a one-stop-shop, which includes formwork, scaffolding and engineering solutions under one roof.”

In addition to Ringlock’s general features, the system is further supported by two highly valuable add-ons, namely servicing and reconditioning which further extends the durability of the product and Hi-Vis®, a scaffold management system that monitors a project’s scaffolding requirements in real-time, including resources, labour and material deployed on site.

By understanding the long-term demands of the market, Doka has successfully positioned itself as a long-term, regional partner, whose products, systems, and ethos align with the present and future outlook of the APAC construction industry and where Ringlock is concerned, beyond construction and into the maintenance and repair of the region’s treasured, historic buildings and buoyant oil & gas sector.