Client: Colum Davison
Location: UK
VinZero Partner: Cadline
Industry: Cloud & Construction
Autodesk Solutions: Autodesk Auto CAD, Autodesk Revit, Construction Cloud
OVERVIEW:
E+I Engineering is the largest electrical switchgear manufacturer in the UK & Ireland, that pioneers unique in-house integrated power solutions tailored to each individual client project. The company believes that their people are their best asset and have invested in a highly qualified and experienced team of Chartered Engineers to work in their manufacturing facilities across three continents. With over 30 years’ experience in delivering high quality integrated power solutions, their team are experts in providing technical services, project management services and unrivalled customer support for every client project.
E+I Engineering has a proven track record in consistently delivering projects to the highest of standards. They boast a varied portfolio of successfully completed projects across the globe, specialising in mission critical power distribution for industries such as Data Centres, healthcare, industrial and Transport. With 30 years’ experience in the field, their team provides specialist technical services, unrivalled customer support and project management throughout the entire project.
BUILDING A COMMON DATA ENVIRONMENT:
Working within a Common Data Environment (CDE) has become increasingly important to E+I Engineering. The company has been quick to transition away from paper-based processes and siloed ways of working, both internally and when working with partners, customers and suppliers. It was looking for a CDE that would enable it to access data from anywhere at any time and build a truly collaborative environment.
PROJECT OUTCOMES:
One of the goals E+I Engineering was looking to achieve from its implementation of Autodesk Construction Cloud was to enhance its own capability by focusing more on creating its own BIM content. It is planning to also make this content available to clientswho can access it from the E+I Engineering website. Davison highlighted thebenefits of the new solution. “It enables you to create a comprehensive historical record,” he said. “You can roll back and see the timeline and all the various versions of design models. It is also a good central repository for us at the design stage, enabling us to look after Excel and DWT files and share information between the BIM department and project engineers. We can also capture information from site and feed it back into Autodesk Construction Cloud.”
PUTTING SOLUTIONS IN PLACE:
Working with Cadline, E+I Engineering has now implemented many of the modules that make up Autodesk Construction Cloud. These includes Autodesk BIM Collaborate, which allows the company to carry out clash detection in the cloud. That helps it to complete effective designs when it receives models in from other disciplines and other agencies, by enabling it to create a federated model which pulls together allthe different models highlighting any clashes, and also creates related reports.
Another key model E+I Engineering is using is known as ‘Autodesk Build’, which is used for onsite activities. This enables the company to see the documentation that is in the field itself on a mobile device but also to interact with those devices and report any data from a checklist or a commissioning sheet back into the cloud, so that it is all stored in a central location.
TAPPING INTO THE BENEFITS:
For E+I Engineering, the biggest benefit of using Autodesk Construction Cloud is that it stores data in the cloud, and users can therefore access that data from anywhere at any time, and therefore continue to be productive, when working remotely, or from home, or as part of a wider business ecosystem. A collaborative design approach based on Autodesk Construction Cloud enables users to have their design model in the cloud and share it widely. For E+I Engineering, this capability allows their designers across the world to all access the same model for example.
FUTURE FOCUS:
Cadline and Autodesk are now working on ways in which Autodesk Construction Cloud products can be used to address the wider business challenges E+I Engineering has. The electricalmanufacturer is itself looking at making further improvements including creating documentation, barcodescanning -and linking that through to the actual design data. It is looking at quantification. It is also considering how it could potentially connect Autodesk Construction Cloud to other business systems. Finally, it is focused on opportunities to adoptAutodesk Construction Cloud in other areas as well as looking at other Autodesk design software tools that could potentially bring benefits to design and engineering. It is a design future defined by opportunity, with Autodesk Construction Cloud at the heart of it.