Adeline Leung of Smart Technology Global on bending perceptions in rebar construction
While most girls grew up playing with Barbie dolls, Adeline Leung grew up around a different kind of “bar”—rebar, to be exact. “I come from a family of rebar subcontractors, so I remember using construction drawings as recycled paper for studying,” says Leung, who is currently the vice president of Smart Technology Global (STG).
STG is one of the five Civil Engineering and Development Department-approved prefabrication yards in Hong Kong that supplies steel rebar to construction sites. Short for “reinforcement bar”, they are a vital component of the construction industry, providing strength to concrete structures such as foundations, buildings and bridges.
“Hong Kong people’s first impression of the rebar industry is that it’s labour-intensive, male-dominated, lower-educated and dangerous,” says Leung, who insists that’s not the case. In fact, the rebar industry involves many kinds of roles.
Behind the bars
There’s the bar bending scheduler, who defines the quantity and types of rebar required for a project, including their length, shape and bending angle; and bar benders, who cut and bend the rebar according to the scheduler’s plan. The riggers and signallers are responsible for lifting and carrying the rebar, whereas bar bender fixers secure the rebar once it’s at the construction site.
According to Leung, misconceptions about the rebar industry prevent a lot of talented young people from entering it, resulting in an ageing workforce. STG took it one step further and decided to transform the industry “from manual [labour] to automation and smart manufacturing”. In November 2021, just a few months after it was established, the company moved its operations into the Yuen Long InnoPark.
“We approached Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) from the very beginning, as we are just a construction company” Leung explains. “HKSTP provided us with the facilities for innovation and new industrialisation.”
Upskilling focus
From its base at Yuen Long InnoPark, STG was able to successfully apply innovation to manufacturing, or “innofacturing”, and transform the business. “We reduced the accident rate by 90 per cent and injury level by 80 per cent,” she says. By switching to a digital control panel, accuracy errors also went down by 80 per cent while productivity increased two- to five-fold.
Thanks to these upgrades, STG now attracts a wide range of people from different backgrounds to work at the company. “Our employees are from different age groups, genders, races and educational backgrounds,” says Leung, who is passionate about promoting equality and diversity in the workplace. Her other goals include improving the image of construction workers through new technology, working towards sustainable development, and ultimately creating more housing for residents by speeding up construction through rebar products.