Smart Solutions Category: CAD/BIM Software

Saving Money and Extending Reach Through Partnership with FARO & Ferguson

For the past five years, FARO and Ferguson have embarked on a partnership that benefits both: With FARO equipment, Ferguson has transformed its business model and streamlined workflows—saving time, money, and labor—while FARO continued to gain a foothold in the industries that Ferguson supports. Ferguson plc’s success relies on the company’s ongoing commitment to innovation and its desire to partner with companies like FARO that are dedicated to delivering the very best that reality capture hardware, software, and software as a service (SaaS) has to offer.

When Ferguson plc was founded in 1971, lasers—the technology that underpins so much of the measurement machines that FARO produces and that third parties like Ferguson, the largest U.S. distributor of plumbing supplies, PVF, waterworks, and fire and fabrication products increasingly relies on—were only in the theoretical stages. In the decades that followed, lasers, in effect, took over the world, embedded into billions of products on land, sea, air, and space.

Today, by accurately and quickly capturing the as-built condition of a physical space and rendering that space in a 3D digital domain via point-cloud conversion, Ferguson and its customers can better ensure proper alignment and placement of a wide variety of physical assets, from the very small to the very large. Connected to cloud-based services like FARO’s Sphere XG, these data can be shared, tracked, and monitored by key project stakeholders anywhere in the world, all in real time.

Learn more about construction management SaaS and how it can benefit your business from this Ferguson blog post.

Ferguson relies on a host of FARO equipment, including eight FARO Focus Laser Scanners, the new FARO® Orbis™ Mobile Laser Scanner, FARO® BuildIT Construction Software, and access to the recently upgraded Sphere XG, a cloud-based digital reality platform that provides users a centralized, collaborative experience across the company’s reality capture and 3D modeling applications. Through Ferguson, FARO has a powerful opportunity to provide a trickle-down impact on numerous subindustries that Ferguson supports, such as the following:

  • Plumbing
  • HVAC installation
  • Waterworks
  • Fire and fabrication
  • Residential and commercial building projects
  • Government, infrastructure, and municipalities

“If you think about any construction environment, you’re going to have measurements from point A to point B,” explained Keith Alcorn, a Ferguson engineering specialist and reality capture manager. “And what scanning allows us to do is to go on to an existing jobsite and collect the data from that environment. It’s gathered in its entirety, where field operators can come back, bring the data into a controlled environment, the shop and office, and then start 3D modeling through and around that scan, because it collects everything from the flange of a pump over to the existing connection of a valve.”

In addition to hardware like the FARO Focus Laser Scanner, which includes Hybrid Reality Capture™, powered by Flash Technology™, a scan mode that combines the accuracy of a 3D scan with the speed of a panoramic camera, and FARO Orbis, powered by GeoSLAM’s proprietary SLAM algorithm, allow Ferguson and its subcontractors to take 360° panoramic photos for general site documentation. Used as part of what Alcorn calls a “field audit kit,” site documentation can take place much earlier in the project scouting process and in a far more coordinated manner than what was once possible.

“It kind of makes us sticky with the client—the likelihood of a customer staying loyal to a brand—and then we just carry the client with us through the whole process,” Alcorn said. “And then when we start going down the road of using LiDAR scanners, like the Focus, using the larger format scanners, we’ll scan the environment and then we inevitably will model in that environment, and we can bring it all together in Sphere XG.”

Arguably it is this all-in-one hardware, software, and SaaS ecosystem that Alcorn and the Ferguson team admire most. In addition, data uploaded to FARO’s cloud platform are wholly owned by the company performing the upload. As a result, customers have full access to viewing and managing the data.

While it is difficult to quantify how much time, money, and labor FARO technology saves Ferguson and their customers, Alcorn estimated that the collective gains are significant, describing it as a mass multiplier effect. If Ferguson can gather the information faster and more accurately, they can get that data into the shops faster and provide their customers with a more expedient return.

Watch the FARO webinar, “Five Tips for Maximizing Profitability With 3D Reality Capture.”

Ferguson recently renewed its partnership with FARO for another three years. Together, the two industry leaders hope to shape the future of 3D laser scanning and the infrastructure, plumbing, appliances, HVAC, fire, and fabrication industries they help support.

While a single ecosystem of hardware and software is where the current conversation lies (versus the siloed nature of data collection), future discussions revolve around building single devices that can essentially “do it all.” Anticipating such developments, Alcorn said he supports “the increased use of scanning and reality capture in such a manner that anybody can use it in any circumstance.”

For more information, visit www.ferguson.com and www. faro.com.

Rethinking How Work Gets Done

A decision to expand their workspace led J.M. Brennan to use Stratus to create a digital workflow that dramatically improved efficiency on the shop floor. After about two months, the investment had paid for itself with tremendous time savings, primarily in spooling. Integrating Stratus into the workflow not only transformed internal processes but also overall efficiency.

Justin Harer, director of construction operations at J.M. Brennan in Milwaukee, has more than 20 years of expertise at the company, where he started as an intern. He oversees all engineering, design, building information modeling, virtual design and construction, and shop fabrication for prefabrication activities. He explained how the adoption of Stratus fundamentally reshaped J.M. Brennan’s operations, beginning with the shop layout.

“A few years ago, we realized we ran out of room in our shops because of our increased utilization of prefabrication,” said Harer. “We decided to expand our shop, specifically for copper and PVC fabrication. Stratus was a pivotal part of reimagining that space around a digital workflow.”

J.M. Brennan updated workstations to integrate with digital models. They ensured screens were large enough so that workers could view them even from the end of a 20-foot pipe. All inputs were made wireless, allowing for seamless operations even when working at a distance.

Field operations have also seen a shift with Stratus. All field foremen are equipped with iPads® to ensure high-speed connections and easy access to digital models and spools. This shift has eradicated the need for paper plot spool drawings; instead, everything is now purely digital.

Regarding the return on J.M. Brennan’s investment in Stratus, Harer remarked, “The payback period was less than two months, primarily due to time saved in spooling. Given that we were previously spending 10–20 minutes per spool, reducing that time to less than 30 seconds was revolutionary.”

Implementing Stratus was a methodical journey. Initially, it involved intense labor, as the team had to create all reports and workflows from scratch. In today’s setup, new users benefit from prebuilt templates, making the onboarding process significantly faster and smoother.

While change is not always welcomed, the integration of Stratus into daily operations has led to substantial improvements for J.M. Brennan. The key was gradual implementation and training—starting with projects and teams open to new methods before expanding more broadly.

Harer concluded, “Our construction industry needs to evolve and keep up with technological innovations to remain efficient and competitive.” J.M. Brennan’s experience demonstrates that investing in digital workflows like Stratus is not just about buying new software— it is about fundamentally rethinking how work gets done, leading to better outcomes and future-ready operations.

For more information, visit www.stratus.build.

Pairing Scanning Technologies to Boost Productivity

Different jobs require different tools—not to mention the software to accompany the hardware options. The 3D reality capture solutions available today can work together to create a perfect blend of technologies to optimize your workflow efficiency and productivity.

The Need for Speed

Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) enables mobile scanning of indoor, outdoor, and subterranean environments. Problems can arise when an autonomous or semi-autonomous device needs to identify its geospatial location in real time without the aid of the Global Positioning System (GPS) or other global navigation satellite system, while creating a map of its surroundings and placing its location on that map. SLAM technology solves this challenge by using computer algorithms and light-ranging technology like LiDAR (light detection and ranging) plus 360° cameras to perform both functions simultaneously. The technology is useful where GPS triangulation is difficult or impossible, such as in certain engineering and construction settings.

Increasing Accuracy

Mobile scanning complements stationary reality capture achieved through terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). Laser scanners like the FARO® Focus Premium Laser Scanner, now with Flash Technology™, are perfect examples of what fixed position scanning can achieve.

Read FARO’s guidelines and best practices for laser scanning: https://knowledge.faro.com/Hardware/Focus/Focus/Laser_Scanner_Best_Practices

Even with the speed and accuracy of stationary laser scanners, increasingly accurate mobile scanning—like that provided by the FARO Orbis Mobile Scanner—can be a critical time-saver, because it better captures hard-to-reach locations efficiently. At normal walking speeds of 2 to 4 mph (3.2 to 6.4 kph), a SLAM mobile scanning system can capture data up to 10 times faster than traditional TLS methods alone.

Cloud Software Enhances Productivity

Once the data are collected with the right 3D measurement tool for the job, the information must be processed through the right software. A cloud-based solution like the FARO Sphere® XG Digital Reality Platform allows construction, operations, and geospatial professionals to upload, view, measure, analyze, and share reality capture data in a single environment.

A platform solution can integrate data from a wide variety of capture methods, including stationary scanning, mobile scanning, iPhone LiDAR scanning, and 360° photo capture. It also can consume data from standard industry file formats and integrate with several of the industry’s most popular building information management (BIM) and project management platforms.

A cloud-based platform allows for real-time collaboration and project oversight; the ability to scan, upload, and share reality capture data; and secure storage of historical data throughout the project lifecycle. Efficient software is a vital component of a balanced 3D reality capture toolkit.

Watch this webinar for more details on building a 3D reality capture toolkit: https://www.faro.com/en/Resource-Library/WebinarPresentation-Recording/Perfect-Blend-of-Reality-Capture

Improving Profit Margins

The efficiency gain from a 3D reality capture workflow has a significant productivity multiplier effect. More locations can be scanned faster, with fewer personnel onsite and less risk of data gaps, so repeat site visits are reduced or eliminated. Enhanced throughput and project-to-project agility (thanks to speed, accuracy, ease-of-use, and portability) can translate into important new business opportunities in existing and yet-to-be-tapped markets.

SLAM technology like that in the FARO Orbis Mobile Scanner attempts to unite the accuracy of stationary laser scanning with the portability of quick mobile scanning solutions. An ideal workflow features stationary scanning for highly granular work, plus a mobile scanner to quickly map and measure natural or as-built environments.

For more information, visit www.faro.com.

Helm Group, Inc. Streamlines Work, Wins Jobs with Autodesk’s BIM 360

Helm Group, Inc. (formerly Mechanical, Inc.) combines leading technology like BIM 360 within Autodesk Construction CloudTM with Lean construction principles to implement new design, engineering, and construction methods. For example, by fabricating multitrade skids in an offsite fabrication shop, Helm Group increases collaboration and drives efficiencies to deliver highly complex projects while achieving certainty in cost, schedule, and quality. BIM 360 enables the coordination and data sharing that allows the fabrication to be so accurate that, once it arrives onsite, all that is necessary is to lift it into place and install it.

Known for their commitment to innovation, Helm Group has gained this reputation not by being on the cutting edge, but by remaining on the “bleeding edge.” They are always trying out the latest technologies and approaches, looking for the most effective way to get the job done. Unfortunately, being on the bleeding edge has side effects.

“You try all the new things, and you can get fatigued by it,” said Travis Voss, leader of innovation technology at Helm Group. “It’s application fatigue.”

“We wanted to pull back from all the heavy focus on trying each latest and greatest thing and look more holistically at what we were doing,” said Voss. So Helm Group adopted BIM 360, which they use as a common data environment to unify and simplify data across the project lifecycle and improve communication and collaboration across teams.

With a strategic approach to developing its tech stack to specialize on large-scale industrial projects, here are eight ways that BIM 360 helps Helm Group win more work by achieving Lean workflows and simplifying and streamlining the digital exchange of information across project teams.

1. Puts Data Into the Hands of Everyone Who Needs It

BIM 360 is a one-stop shop where teams can get the latest project information. With connected data across the project lifecycle, teams spend less time looking for information and can collaborate and communicate more effectively, reducing project risk and improving quality.

“We struggled with making sure our field personnel had the most up-to-date information in the palm of their hands,” said Jeff Knoup, vice president of operations at Helm Group. “Before BIM 360, if you needed information, you would have to go to greater lengths. If you were on the third floor of a building, or the 20th floor, for instance, you might have to go all the way down to the job trailer, open up your laptop, get on the network, and look up the information you need. Now, we can access that information from anywhere on the jobsite.”

Voss added, “BIM 360 is also a powerful tool for our virtual design and construction (VDC) department to use when we’re doing design work for other companies. We can easily share models and documents between our team and partners within a platform that we are already comfortable using within our workflows, allowing our design work to fit into their processes seamlessly.”

2. Appeals to Sophisticated Customers

Knoup pointed out that Helm Group likes to go after highly technical, industrial projects that many firms cannot handle. The buyers at these companies are sophisticated, and they expect similar sophistication from their partners.

“Owners want full visibility into the project to see what’s getting done in a given day, how many linear feet of pipe you put up each day, how many pounds of ductwork, etc. Unless you have a technology solution to help you track and produce that information, the owners will pass you by,” said Knoup.

Voss noted that using BIM 360’s 3D modeling capability makes the bid process more effective. “We get into some of these bid meetings, and we show off,” he said. “We not only traditionally showcase our work, but we share our designs via augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) headsets while we’re talking about data sharing. It appeals to those sophisticated owners.”

3. Helps With Materials Tracking

In highly technical work such as in the biopharmaceutical industry, materials tracking is critical. “Every weld has to be documented,” said Knoup. “All of the owner-supplied equipment has to be checked in against specs and fabricated into spools and assemblies before being brought to the jobsite.”

Tracking the quantity and level of detail necessary on a highly technical project would be a very labor intensive, manual process without BIM 360. It facilitates the tracking of materials as they enter and leave the fabrication facility and while they are inspected and installed.

4. Makes Projects Leaner

“We use BIM 360 to integrate with other partners in our fabrication tracking,” said Voss. “Part of Lean is eliminating waste, including wasted time. Integration eliminates trips back and forth to the trailer. It eliminates phone calls back to the office to ask questions. It eliminates confusion over versions.”

Voss also said that Helm Group shares its centralized data hub and its VDC process in a third-party fabrication add-on, which helps push fabrication to the shop.

“It provides the shop foreman and the shop manager, as well as the field foreman and the field manager, what they’re going to be receiving, so they can prepare for it. It gives them good insight so they can remotely comment and share their thoughts on what we’re building in the shop, so they don’t have to do any rework in the field,” Voss explained.

5. Integrates with AR Applications to Make Walk-Throughs More Effective

Owners understandably like to walk through the space as it develops to see where their equipment will go, where their systems will be installed, and how the structure will support it. Some walk-throughs can be conducted via VR, but Knoup said the best use of the technology is using AR during a physical walk-through.“

We had one customer building a food processing plant, for which we did a bunch of the sheet metal and piping work and some platforms,” said Voss. “We put AR glasses on and walked them around the space. They had previously spec’d out the work, but while walking through it with AR showing them how the space would be used, they discovered that their carts wouldn’t fit under a certain platform and that other platforms weren’t high enough for someone to be able to reach what they needed to work on. It seems like a small detail, but it saved them thousands of dollars because we could change the design based on what the customer really wanted before anything was installed.”

Voss said Helm Group has countless similar examples, in which they discovered that other contractors installed things incorrectly or designs had failed to account for a real-world application. Discovering these things during walk-throughs substantially reduces rework and provides owners with peace of mind.

6. Improves Accountability

In addition to reducing rework, the AR technology integrated into BIM 360 creates a trail of accountability that saves money and ensures everyone is held responsible for their commitments.

“We had a situation where a space had been modeled, coordinated, and signed off on, but a plumber came in and ignored the model, putting in plumbing where the ductwork was supposed to go, and then refused to take it down,” said Voss.

Redesigning and recoordinating fabrication around the contractor’s use of the space would have cost thousands of dollars. Helm Group’s team used AR glasses to walk the construction manager and owner through the site and show them what the plumber had done and what a big deal it was. As a result, the contractor and owner held the plumber accountable, demanding that he rip out his plumbing and piping and put it back in its proper locations per the model. “They would not have had a feel for how big a deal this was if they couldn’t put the glasses on,” said Voss.

7. Easy to Use and Versatile for Critical Workflows

Autodesk and others’ technology is critically valuable in helping Helm Group stay at the forefront of their industry. However, it can also be a stumbling block if it’s not implemented thoughtfully.

“BIM 360 is a very versatile software,” said Voss. “We knew it would give us all the communication with the field that we need, and that one dominant platform where everything would reside. But we can’t just roll it out and expect folks to pick it up and learn it on their own. We have to develop a workflow and a training module to train people to the workflow.”

Some software vendors, said Voss, treat the sale of the software like the last interaction necessary. But what they need is a partner who will help them implement the software to work the way they need it to work.

“That’s been one of the benefits over the past two years of working with Autodesk,” said Voss. “They’ve gone from software provider and reseller to a partner.”

Knoup added, “There’s so much functionality in software that it’s important to figure out your workflow, how you want the software to interact with your workflows, and then have a partner that helps you build a training module to train your people specific to that workflow.”

8. Makes Impossible Timelines Possible

“We take a very deliberate and patient approach to creating the tech stack the way we want it,” said Voss. “And then we have to deploy it very rapidly.” Sometimes, he continued, the timelines on technical projects would be physically impossible to meet if all of the labor and materials had to be on the jobsite. Everyone would have to be present and working simultaneously.

Fabrication takes enormous amounts of labor off the jobsite and into the fabrication facility’s controlled environment. This enables vast amounts of work to be completed simultaneously and then assembled very quickly onsite. With BIM 360 for coordinating and sharing data, the fabricated materials are accurate and ready for installation.

Helm Group’s strategic partnership with Autodesk showcases what is possible for industrial construction projects and maps a blueprint for faster, Leaner, more effective outcomes.

For more information, visit www.autodesk.com.

FARO’s Laser-Based Reality Capture Tools Cut Limbach’s Labor Costs

New Technology Opens Doors to New Business Opportunities

FARO Technologies Inc.’s FARO® Focus S 350 Laser Scanners “are really allowing us to send one guy in to a project and capture in a few hours what a team of people used to do over the course of a week—field measuring, documenting, etc.,” said Mark Lamberson CPD, national virtual design and construction manager of Limbach Holdings Inc.  

Limbach reaped the benefits of reality capture technology’s significant advantage over traditional measurement devices in terms of speed and accuracy when they completed a 3D laser scanning project earlier this year for a meatpacking business in downtown Detroit.  

By taking the initial steps in embracing a service-side reality capture component, the company documented the site and provided Revit® models to ensure that a new piece of bulky equipment would fit in the physical space. This type of documentation is especially important in cities like Detroit, where century-old physical structures lack their original blueprints, and even in newer buildings, where upgrades and additions no longer match what was first constructed.  

Earlier this year, in addition to two FARO scanners, Limbach purchased FARO’s SCENE Software, As-Built™ Software, and WebShare Cloud, a suite of three programs ideal for site documentation for building structures as well as plant and MEP systems that include piping or HVAC. Combined, the hardware and software solutions have helped the $568-million revenue company streamline costs, enhance the efficiency of their workflows, accelerate project completion, and, perhaps most importantly, navigate the ongoing health and safety restrictions related to COVID-19.  

“COVID has required organizations, especially those like construction that are so labor-intensive, to rethink certain processes of their business,” said Kipp Ivey, a FARO applications business development manager who has been a technical advisor to Limbach for the past 10 years. “You think about it, certain states have restrictions to prevent access to particular facilities. Even certain companies now have the authority or right to determine how many people are allowed in a structure or building at any given point. COVID has now made companies think, ‘How do we mitigate human interaction and minimize the number of people that have to go onsite?’” 

Post-COVID Building Prospects 

Even as material costs for lumber are up from last year and logistical logjams challenge numerous supply chains, federal stimulus money combined with pandemic savings has increased opportunities for the engineering and construction industry. For companies like Pittsburgh-based Limbach, taking advantage of those opportunities means a dedicated push toward upping their efficiency gains while reducing their per-project spend—all without loss of accuracy or quality control. Recently the publicly traded company, which specializes in integrated building systems with expertise in the design, installation, management, service, and maintenance of HVAC, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and control systems, sought to improve its MEP workflows by incorporating 3D laser scanning and reality capture solutions into its business model.  

Increasingly, profiting from the “new normal” means selecting talented team members from all over the country, Lamberson explained. In a post-COVID economy in which companies seek to minimize the number of staff onsite for a project and also reduce their liability in case an employee falls ill or is injured on the job, the best-suited engineer might be in Ohio for one project and Florida in another. It is that type of staffing deployment precision that 3D laser scanning and reality capture technology help enable. “So the scanner is grabbing every detail, and I can share that file with all 10 branches of the company so that we can leverage the best people for the job,” Lamberson noted. 

Thanks to the highly granular detail FARO’s Focus scanners capture (collecting millions of data points for point cloud generation in only a few minutes per scan), not only can Limbach document a given facility, they can provide a variety of additional customer services, including the following: 

  • Logistics planning for newly selected equipment 
  • Supplemental engineering documents on how best to connect the equipment to building services 
  • The ability to return to the site to take subsequent scans, transforming a single scan of an as-built environment into a “living document,” updated to match any changes made  
  • Site validation for off-site prefabrication to mitigate risk when fabricating assemblies for older facilities and enhancing the effects of industrialized construction 

Automation Appeal   

While naysayers might conclude that some of the post-COVID, technology-enabled health and safety improvements will wane in importance as the months progress, Lamberson is more optimistic. The new efficiencies and targeted deployment of personnel will persist. Time savings and money savings are not pandemic-specific. And as the world has noted, COVID safety protocols have radically reduced the incidence of other illnesses and absences.  

For these reasons, the new normal is here to stay. So if one employee onsite can do what three could do previously, it stands to reason that automation’s potential will increase. This is where the future lies—autonomous and semi-autonomous reality capture where a drone, operated remotely hundreds or perhaps thousands of miles away, can perform the same tasks a single human can onsite today. It is a future Lamberson and Limbach Holdings Inc. are eager to embrace.

Learn how to get the most out of FARO’s As-Built, SCENE, and WebShare software in these recorded webinars: 

For more information, visit www.faro.com.

PypeServer Software Saves A&R Mechanical Hours Every Day

A&R Mechanical Contractors, Inc. credits PypeServer software with dramatically improving efficiency in its fabrication shop; pipe cutting tasks that used to take hours can now be done in 10 minutes or less. Justin Powers, A&R’s virtual design and construction (VDC) and fabrication business unit manager, oversees work across the spectrum from contract award to field installation. He described his company’s typical workflow and tools and the impact of integrating PypeServer software.

A&R’s VDC projects are detailed by tradespeople using Revit with Fabrication components. These VDC designers work closely with project superintendents to ensure that the model is accurate, constructible, and efficient. A coordination manager compiles clashes, runs meetings, and keeps the schedule, while also maintaining a single point of contact for a project. After sign-off, spooling is completed using BIMPro (from MSUITE), and exports are sent to PypeServer for nesting and pipe inventory. Lastly, spools are uploaded to FabPro (from MSUITE) for shop data and schedule tracking. A&R Mechanical uses a TigerStop cutting table for hangers and small-bore piping and an HGG machine for larger-bore steel piping. 

A&R selected PypeServer software for its interface and usability. Powers explained, “For us, the most crucial aspect of the software is usability. If the operator in the shop cannot operate the software reliably and without frustration, no amount of efficiency gained will be worth it in the long run.” 

Powers noted that installing PypeServer was easy, but the learning curve was steep. “I believe this was due to being one of the first to utilize PypeServer with an HGG Machine,” he pointed out. With support from PypeServer’s staff, A&R got everything working as promised. “I have complete confidence that as new ideas and solutions are suggested, the PypeServer team will work with us to ensure that our machine is operating at peak efficiency and precision,” said Powers. 

“With PypeServer, … tasks that took a couple of hours before can now be done in 10 minutes or less.” 

— Justin Powers, VDC and Fabrication Business Unit Manager, A&R Mechanical 

The effort has already paid off for A&R. “With PypeServer, the shop operator is no longer manually entering the pieces into the profiler,” Powers explained. “Instead, our exports are done efficiently and are stored on the machine for use at any time. Now, we can nest multiple spools and even whole projects on one piece of pipe. Tasks that took a couple of hours before can now be done in 10 minutes or less.” 

PypeServer has proven to be an excellent value for A&R’s fabrication process. Powers pointed out some specific gains: 

  • The efficiency and speed with which the operator can begin cutting following spool assignment 
  • The availability of custom parameters, such as negative root gap (allowing A&R to lengthen a piece to account for a land being ground onto the pipe) 
  • The efficiency of nesting across multiple projects and spools 

Powers acknowledged that being one of the first shops to integrate HGG machines with PypeServer software came with many bumps and challenges. Still, he credited the PypeServer team for putting in the extra time and effort to get A&R’s machine working as efficiently as possible. “PypeServer is a true innovator and leader in the space, and we couldn’t have done it without them,” said Powers. 

For more information, visit www.pypeserver.com. 

Strategic Mechanical Expands Prefab Capacity Using PypeServer Technology

With PypeServer technology, Strategic Mechanical, Inc., has sped up its fabrication processes and opened up new avenues for prefabrication. Strategic Mechanical serves clients throughout California; its 70,000-square-foot shop in Fresno, CA, includes an HVAC sheet metal shop, pipe fabrication shop, industrial metals fabrication shop, and electrical prefabrication. In this Q&A, Miro Telesmanic, vice president of operations, describes how Strategic Mechanical put PypeServer to work.

What did your typical workflow look like before you brought in PypeServer’s workflow tools? 

In our geographic area, the use of building information modeling (BIM) is still fairly new, so our projects often vary greatly. At any given time we have a mixture of projects ranging from fully modeled and coordinated to those that are 100-percent field layout with minimal design drawings. Many projects fall somewhere in between, depending on time constraints, manpower availability, and personnel skill sets. Regardless, our go-to method has been to generate spool drawings and push as much fabrication as possible to the shop, so we started 3D modeling as a way to generate the necessary drawings for prefabrication.

For both piping and sheet metal fabrication, we typically relied on paper to get the job done. Our virtual design and construction (VDC) department created drawings from a model, while our field foreman might send in hand sketches or isometric line drawings along with a bill of materials. When going through our VDC department, the completed model would get signed off, and the spools would be broken down by system, area, floor, etc. Then the detailers would create stacks of 11” by 17” paper spool sheets and send them to the shop for dimension verification and fabrication. Our pipe shop crew would then cut the piping and gather the fittings to create the assemblies.

One of our first automation efforts was for hanger fabrication. We had a cold saw collecting dust in the corner, so we purchased a TigerStop to feed it. The VDC department would pull hanger spools from our modeled work and then create the spreadsheets that the TigerStop needed to cut and label effectively. After cutting, fabrication tracking was done using more spreadsheets. It all worked, and it was a great first step, but it took hours to create and manage all the spreadsheets, so it was still a labor-intensive and error-prone process.

What is the workflow like now that you are using PypeServer’s Connect add-on for Revit, Cloud service, and Lyte software for three different TigerSaws?

We’re starting to prefabricate a lot more small-bore pipe using PypeServer. PypeServer Connect, Cloud, and Lyte have increased the pace at which we can go from a fab-ready model to fabrication, and we’ve been able to eliminate the need for any hand takeoff.

Until recently, we would only prefabricate a small percentage of copper, because we spent most of our resources on the larger, welded hydronic piping systems. Copper and cast iron would be considered a field responsibility to fabricate and assemble. Now, Revit provides the total required length of pipe we’ll need, and, with a few clicks, PypeServer Connect sends our cut lists via Cloud directly to PypeServer Lyte on our TigerSaws, no spreadsheets necessary. This has allowed us to spool and prefab 2” and smaller piping that we would have fabricated in the field before, because the time required to annotate and dimension 11” by 17” spool sheets for the shop outweighed the time to build it in the field.

Sending the cut lists through Cloud also makes it easy to keep track of progress. As Lyte sends work through the TigerSaw, it automatically updates Cloud on a cut-by-cut basis. Now, we can easily monitor every step of the fabrication process without having to manage spreadsheets.

Feedback from the field running jobs this way has been overwhelmingly positive, and PypeServer will be used on all our fully modeled jobs moving forward.

Are you using PypeServer to prefabricate other components?

PypeServer has completely changed the way we export hangers to the fab shop. In the past, we spent a lot of time in Revit to ensure that data exported to spreadsheets were in the exact order and with the exact column titles needed to ensure that each hanger tag was populated with the correct values. PypeServer has completely eliminated the need to build a spreadsheet in Revit. The Connect plug-in pulls the assigned data out of Revit, and Lyte puts it where it needs to go using a label template.

In addition to streamlining the workflow, PypeServer Cloud has also prevented us from accidentally fabricating the same hangers twice by flagging duplicate assemblies and keeping them off the cut lists. On a recent job we fabricated roughly 5,000 hangers using PypeServer’s workflow and achieved 95-percent accuracy on hangers showing up correctly in the field—not duplicated or missing. And the missing ones were most likely user or modelling errors. This has helped us make adjustments to how we draw hangers in Revit to better match our fabrication process, and we expect that accuracy percentage to climb on future jobs.

We’ve also found that we can easily send multiple types of hangers to the shop, including single clevis hangers on all-thread rod and trapezes with strut and all-thread, without having to worry about the correct lengths getting cut in the wrong material. PypeServer has really streamlined how we send hangers to the shop for fabrication, and we’ll be using their tools on many jobs in the future.

Have you realized any savings in time, labor, or materials? What kind of payback period do you expect for your PypeServer tools?

We are not great at tracking metrics, but there is no doubt that our process of going from BIM model to cut pieces has improved drastically. Between not having to maintain spreadsheets and sending cut lists directly to the machines via the cloud, the VDC department’s time spent has gone down dramatically.

Moving all jobs and orders to the PypeServer Cloud is also a great improvement. Now we can see job status at a glance, and there’s no more accidental double cutting.

As a company that isn’t 100-percent focused on BIM work, we couldn’t justify expensive, BIM-centric fabrication software. At times, we may have less than 20 percent of our work in BIM, but even then, PypeServer’s price point is easily justifiable in terms of return on investment.

Try out PypeServer’s ROI calculator to estimate how much your fabrication shop could save.

Do you have any further improvements planned for your fabrication processes?

We’re constantly optimizing our fabrication processes in order to stay competitive and maximize efficiencies. We started with PypeServer Lyte for our TigerSaws because that’s where most of our work was being done at the time and the payback would be fast.

Our next step will be to get PypeServer Enterprise for our Vernon pipe cutter so we can improve its nesting and tracking capabilities using the same Connect and Cloud integrations that we use with Lyte for our TigerSaws.

We’re also looking closely at welding cobots, like the Novarc system, to help address future skilled welder shortages. The PypeServer workflow already integrates with them, and I’ll be diving further into this technology in the upcoming year.

Do you have any advice for other organizations looking to improve their fab shop productivity?

I have really enjoyed the Fab Conferences that MCAA hosts. It is a phenomenal opportunity to meet folks from all over the nation, outside of your competition area, with whom you can share ideas and concepts. It always surprises me how many little things you will pick up when touring other mechanical contractors’ fabrication facilities. It’s not just the big-ticket machinery that improves productivity, it’s also the simple tricks and tools people put to use that can greatly improve efficiency and productivity.

When it comes to finding the right equipment or software, it’s important to test out systems and see how they serve your purpose. Presentations always look good, but until you actually get your hands on the product and test it in your process, you don’t really know if it’ll work for you.

It’s also important to partner with companies that make it a priority to keep improving their products. PypeServer has been phenomenal about listening to and incorporating suggestions we’ve made. We have a direct line of communication with their developers, and, hopefully, some of our suggestions can help other contractors as well. I have used these same responsiveness criteria in some of our large equipment purchases, too.

For more information, visit www.pypeserver.com.

FARO Looks at the Future of AI and 3D Laser Scanning for MEP Applications

It is clear that artificial intelligence (AI) is advancing fast and coming into everyday use. In the near-future, AI systems will be paired with established technology, such as 3D laser scanning for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) applications. What many do not appreciate is that AI is still largely only as good as the quality of data fed into the system, either by human operators or through technology that gathers and organizes information, such as 3D laser scanners and cloud-based data platforms.

As MEP professionals know, whether you’re constructing something new or completing a redesign of a building for repurpose, enhancement, or maintenance, the success and timeline of an entire project rely on accurate and comprehensive data of the site. Any inaccuracies or clashes in MEP installation can lead to unnecessary rework, higher costs, and a subpar final result. 3D capture technology ensures that MEP designs are accurate and that piping, plumbing, and ductwork for HVAC fit narrow spaces with tight tolerances. Only once these data are captured and shared can sophisticated AI software like that currently being developed do its job.

See the sidebar, Successful Scanning, to learn more about 3D capture improves the accuracy of data.

So once you have accurate 3D data collected, organized, and shared, where does AI fit in?

AI for MEP can be useful in two ways. First AI is excellent for culling data and recognizing patterns. Every MEP system is different, so how can you determine that one design or set of designs is superior—for example, more energy-efficient because it requires less piping? AI has the potential to rapidly review thousands of MEP projects and identify the best, most energy-efficient solutions. AI can also be used to look at factors such as cost-effectiveness and strategic implementation.

AI can also be used for project management. AI can monitor, collect, control, evaluate, and manage energy consumption in relation to MEP needs across an entire building or set of buildings. AI can be useful in long-term energy management system planning, of which MEP is an essential component. It can also analyze processes to highlight the need for changes in the MEP design and suggest solutions.

MEP installation stands to benefit from the near-term union of AI, 3D laser scanning, and humans working together: 3D scanning and human operators capture and input data, and AI assists in identifying enhanced efficiencies and informing long-term energy system management. AI continues to evolve, and tomorrow’s AI could far surpass our expectations. The contracting industry should think now about possible applications and the guidelines needed to maximize the potential of AI.

For more information, visit www.faro.com.

Sidebar: Successful Scanning

Working with 3D laser scanning hardware and software solutions, such as the ones developed by FARO Technologies, Inc., offers several immediate advantages by ensuring accurate data capture:

  • Faster installation verification. Instead of relying on cumbersome manual measurement, 3D reality capture devices verify the built environment (which includes MEP) with greater accuracy and in a fraction of the time, while accompanying software makes it easy to convert raw data into tangible information.
  • Enhanced as-built-to-building information modeling (BIM) comparison. With 3D laser scanning and construction software, you can compare the installation of the MEP components to the BIM output and identify accurate MEP placement.
  • Simplify data organization and project collaboration. Increasingly, the technology enables secure sharing of all data with project stakeholders from anywhere in the world, reducing the risk of miscommunications or misunderstandings.
  • More accuracy for retrofit and remodel projects. With most retrofits, you must determine how much you can rely on the original design documentation. The latest scan-to-BIM technology ensures that the as-built 3D replica represents what actually exists.

FARO Offers Five Tips for Maximizing Profitability With 3D Reality Capture

When processes are not aligned at every stage of a construction project, costly delays and unnecessary expenses are inevitable—and in the worst-case scenario can even result in legal disputes. Communication with stakeholders, the ability to monitor site progress, and the interconnected nature of construction work can all pose challenges to your bottom line.

However, if you streamline your construction progress management, you can mitigate risk and avoid losses. Here are five ways that 3D reality capture can help you avoid poor process management that could result in lost income.

  1. Avoid Costly Project Disputes

According to an Arcadis report, the global average cost for construction disputes in 2021 was $52.6 million, and disputes lasted an average of 15.4 months. Without a tool to track onsite progress accurately at every stage of your project, your organization might be leaving itself open to the risk of legal disputes, which can cost millions of dollars in settlements and legal fees.

Read Arcadis’ 2022 Global Construction Disputes Report: Successfully Navigating Through Turbulent Times: Read the Report Here.

Misaligned expectations of construction quality, delays in delivery, and the handoff between contractors are three common areas where construction disputes arise. These risks can be easily avoided with proper documentation and recordkeeping. So, when it comes time for a construction project handover, a comprehensive progress record like 3D reality capture can mitigate the risk of legal disputes.

  1. Build Long-Lasting Customer Networks

If construction progress is not managed, tracked, and communicated efficiently, stakeholders are left in the dark about the status of their projects, which can lead to doubt, confusion, and a reduced likelihood of future business opportunities for your firm.

Without being able to visualize the site in its entirety, stakeholders might need to make regular site visits to gain peace of mind about progress and to ensure that everything is on track. Site visits can be inconvenient, time-consuming, and costly, possibly damaging your reputation with clients. However, by using 3D reality capture tools—such as the FARO® Focus Premium and Focus Core Laser Scanner, alongside the FARO Sphere Cloud Platform—you can capture site conditions in a visual format easily to ensure an up-to-date, as-built record.

  1. Collect Complete As-Built Documentation

Securing repeat jobs with clients is always a positive outcome. With each maintenance and renovation project, contractors must complete and update as-built documentation. If that documentation is not up to date, every time a new project begins, a comprehensive walk-through and additional pre-work must take place before the work is started. These walk-throughs are not only time-consuming but also add to labor costs. Maintaining a reliable as-built record of the site that is updated within a shared, cloud-based platform, such as Sphere, allows you to avoid the extra time and labor costs.

  1. Minimize Expensive Rework

According to a 2018 survey by PlanGrid, in the United States, almost 50% of rework results from miscommunication. The lack of a visual representation of the jobsite and communication that happens in disjointed email threads or group texts can often lead to misunderstanding about what is really happening onsite. Without a shared platform to coordinate, collaborate, and execute plans, decisions can be made based on inaccurate or incomplete data.

Learn more about the PlanGrid survey from this blog: https://blog.plangrid.com/2018/08/fmi-plangrid-construction-report/

In this setting, 3D reality capture provides a huge competitive advantage in profit margins for your construction firm. The accuracy and objectivity it provides prevent many miscommunications that can lead to costly rework.

  1. Make Accurate Cost Estimates

Inaccurate cost estimation can easily lead to cost overrun for your construction firm. Bids that overestimate or underestimate the costs of materials or labor can significantly impact not only the project’s completion, but also your firm’s bottom line.

Overestimations may lead to a client choosing not to hire your firm at all, while underestimations can mislead clients about the size of the investment—potentially delaying payment to your contractors or project completion, which could result in litigation and damage your company’s reputation. These issues are most often caused by a simple lack of good visual data of the jobsite. You can easily avoid inaccurate cost estimations with a fast, accurate 3D reality capture setup.

Minimize Risk With Better Data Faster

When properly implemented, 3D reality capture—from a construction progress management platform like HoloBuilder™ to the accuracy provided by a FARO Focus Premium Laser Scanner—lets your team collect, analyze, monitor, and integrate field data for a variety of specific uses.

By capturing the jobsite in 3D, your onsite and offsite teams can collaborate seamlessly while keeping stakeholders in the loop at any point of the project. Once the project is complete, you will have an accurate, objective progress record to eliminate doubt and minimize the risk of legal disputes, improving the likelihood of repeat business.

For more information, visit www.faro.com.

Silicon Valley Mechanical Improves Productivity, Efficiency With PypeServer Enterprise Software

Silicon Valley Mechanical, a full-service mechanical contractor in San Jose, CA, rapidly improved productivity and increased efficiency by putting PypeServer software into place. Here, Jamie Garza, detail manager, and Dean Garza, piping shop general foreman at Silicon Valley Mechanical, describe how they achieved those gains.

What led to your decision to try PypeServer’s workflow software?

We’ve been running PypeServer’s Enterprise software for our Vernon pipe profiler since early 2021 and have been happy with it. Between its O-let handling features, part nesting, and labeling, Enterprise is giving us two to four times the productivity and higher cut quality from our Vernon. At the same time, we’d tried several different workflow software packages from other vendors to get data from our VDC [virtual design and construction] group to the shop, but nothing really worked to our satisfaction. We recently had a connectivity issue between another piece of software and the Vernon—it would just stall out for days with no help from the vendor. That’s what led us to try PypeServer’s Connect and Cloud workflow software, which is included for free with our Enterprise subscription for the Vernon.

Learn more about the software and request a demo here: https://bit.ly/3w2M7Xu

What does your typical workflow look like now, from design through production?

The Detailing team works with engineered drawings in AutoCAD Fabrication CADmep to set them up for prefabrication. Once a model is signed off and ready for build, we spool in Fabrication, select the parts we want to cut using the PypeServer Connect plug-in for AutoCAD, and send the cut lists to the Vernon using the PypeServer Cloud service to transmit the data and monitor progress.

You’re one of the first users of PypeServer’s full suite of workflow products, including the Connect add-ons for Revit and AutoCAD, the Cloud service, and PypeServer Enterprise for your Vernon MPM pipe profiler. Can you describe the implementation process?

Getting everything set up and working was much easier and faster than we expected. We worked with the PypeServer Support team to understand how information gets pushed through the system and how to configure PypeServer Connect and Cloud to send data to our Vernon. Installing the Connect add-on for AutoCAD is a breeze, and it’s simple to add users to our Cloud account. It literally takes only minutes to train someone new on the PypeServer workflow, and they’re pushing data to the shop in under an hour. PypeServer’s support team also helped us set things up on the shop side with Enterprise for the Vernon. The software lets us automatically customize O-let hole sizes, insert root gaps, and make other fabrication-specific design tweaks, as well as printing labels.

Having the PypeServer team available for support has been huge. When we’re up and rolling, we don’t have days to stop if something goes wrong. We need to be back up and running within hours, and PypeServer has delivered. 

How has your workflow changed with PypeServer, and what savings in time, labor, and materials have you seen?

Our VDC group used to spend a lot of time converting feet and inches to decimals on spool sheets for the shop. When you look at the number of spools we build, the time spent on that adds up fast. Now the Vernon pipe profiler gets the information it needs directly from the Connect AutoCAD plug-in, so the process has been streamlined from a page-by-page spool sheet review that could take hours to a quick five minutes to send the data to the cloud, bring it into Enterprise, and double check that everything that needs to be fabricated was sent down to the shop from VDC.

With PypeServer Enterprise and Connect software, Silicon Valley Mechanical links the detailer to the Vernon machine on the shop floor, which results in predictable, weld-ready cuts that speed up the fabrication process.

The nesting feature of Enterprise is also a huge time and material saver. Now we can send all the parts to the machine at the same time, and it will cut them in one operation with minimal waste. This allows the operator to accomplish other tasks, like prepping the ends of the pipe for the welder, organizing the pieces coming off the Vernon, and then loading new material to be cut.

Our workflow is now migrating toward pushing everything to PypeServer Cloud. We used to rely a lot on cut files that we’d put in specific folders on our computer network. Sometimes files would get put in the wrong place and it was possible to accidentally cut things twice. With the Cloud, there are no lost files and the system keeps track of what’s been cut.

PypeServer Enterprise for the Vernon easily paid for itself before we started using Connect and Cloud, but now the efficiencies are extending up to our VDC group, and we don’t have to pay anything extra for those workflow tools.

Do you have any further improvements planned for your fabrication process?

We really like how PypeServer Enterprise has increased the value of our Vernon pipe profiler, and we’re looking at using PypeServer Lyte with our TigerSaw. Many of our projects include fabricating specialty racking systems out of copper. We cut all this on our TigerSaw, and a lot of the pieces can be prefabricated. We’ve already been testing the new workflow, pulling cut lists from AutoCAD and sending them to the TigerStop using Connect and Cloud in exactly the same way we do for the Vernon.

Are there any other benefits that you didn’t expect from the PypeServer software?

We really like how PypeServer Enterprise gives us deep control over how the Vernon works. For example, the Vernon has a big rotating head that gives it a lot of beveling flexibility, but for small holes, it can slow things down and cause overburn. Enterprise lets us turn off head rotation for small holes, which really speeds it up and improves cut quality dramatically. We’re now able to cut holes as small as 3/16”. With the regular Vernon software, we couldn’t do that.

Do you have any advice for other organizations looking to improve their fab shop productivity?

Be patient and have a clear road map for where you want to go. We recommend tackling one piece of equipment at a time and making sure you have a dedicated test team who can stay on top of the process to refine the workflow. Ask your peers what they are doing, where they are finding opportunities for success, and also where they’ve come up short.

In the end, we really like the way PypeServer has removed the middleman between VDC and the shop. We get great visibility on cut lists as they move from the design software to the pipe profiler—giving us more control and better efficiency.

For more information, visit pypeserver.com.

W.E. Bowers Cuts the Cost of Cutting Pipe with PypeServer

Mark Caudle, shop foreman of W.E. Bowers, estimated saving at least $35,000 per year and 20–­30 hours of labor per week by taking full advantage of the PypeServer software that came with one of its CNC pipe profilers. W.E. Bowers, a mechanical construction, service, and repair firm serving Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC, operates a 42,000-square-foot steel shop with six overhead cranes, CNC pipe profilers from both Watts and Vernon (each running PypeServer Enterprise), and 11 pipe turners and automated welding stations, each with a certified welder and a shared fitter.

Caudle, who has been with the company for about 12 years, starting as a journeyman welder on the shop floor and then as shop foreman, said, “Since we’ve been bringing in more automation and software, my responsibilities have shifted towards making sure our processes are as smooth and efficient as possible.”

More than 95 percent of W.E. Bowers’ work is done in Autodesk Fabrication CADmep, exported to a PCF file, then uploaded to PypeServer on either the Watts or Vernon machines. Until about a year ago, W.E. Bowers was using the PypeServer software that came with its 2019 Watts machine just to program the machine one part at a time. “This took someone about 20 hours a week and created the opportunity for lots of mistakes, so we decided to take fuller advantage of PypeServer’s importing abilities,” said Caudle. “Now we pull the PCF files straight into PypeServer and avoid all that machine programming labor.”

“You just set PypeServer up once with the O-let names to look for and the hole modifications you want for each size, and it handles it automatically from there on out. This can easily save me several hours of work per week and it saves our welders a lot of time too, especially for thread-o-lets.”

—Mark Caudle, Shop Foreman, W.E. Bowers

Seeing the benefits of importing, W.E. Bowers added PypeServer to its 2008 Vernon machine. In addition to importing, PypeServer added nesting and other new capabilities to the Vernon machine. Caudle noted, “It really gave that old machine a new life for a relatively small amount of money.” PypeServer Enterprise is compatible with pre-2020 Watts machines and most post-2008 Vernon MPM machines.

W.E. Bowers is among the first users of PypeServer’s new O-let lookup table functionality. The PCF file exported from Autodesk Fabrication CADmep includes all the nominal O-let diameters from W.E. Bowers’ database, but modifications are common. “We like to open up the holes about 2/10” to get a better joint,” said Caudle. “I used to have to edit the PCF file to change all those diameters before we could import the file. Some of our drawings would have over 100 O-lets, which made a lot of work for me and could easily lead to mistakes. If you have to re-cut a 42’ piece of pipe, those mistakes can be very expensive.”

Now, using PypeServer Enterprise’s O-let lookup tables, the software recognizes every occurrence of “Anvilet” in the PCF file and automatically adjusts the holes for each size O-let so they are cut to the exact diameter the welders want. The shop has standardized on Anvil brand O-lets, but the software can do the same thing with other brands, even if they are mixed in the same spool, Caudle explained. “You just set PypeServer up once with the O-let names to look for and the hole modifications you want for each size, and it handles it automatically from there on out. This can easily save me several hours of work per week and it saves our welders a lot of time too, especially for thread-o-lets,” said Caudle.

Caudle estimated that W.E. Bowers’ machine operators save at least 12 hours per week by importing the PCF files directly into PypeServer Enterprise. Based on that, he said, the company saves about $35,000 per year in labor for each machine. “Add on the time I save with PypeServer’s new O-let functionality and there’s tens of thousands of dollars more labor costs saved,” Caudle noted. There are also significant pipe savings from eliminating programming and cutting mistakes.

Estimate your own company’s potential labor and materials savings with PypeServer’s return-on-investment calculator: https://pypeserver.com/roi-calculator

Caudle also appreciated the technical support he got from PypeServer in setting up the new features, especially from Ken Barrack, PypeServer’s head of Customer Support. “I was pretty skeptical at first about the O-let lookup table features he was promising, but he quickly got me all set up and it did everything he promised,” said Caudle. “Ken also showed me how to add entries to the lookup tables, which I did on my own for a few odd O-let sizes I found after the initial setup.”

For more information, visit PypeServer.com.

Autodesk’s Smart Hardhat Software Alerts Workers to Onsite Dangers

Autodesk’s mobile software prototype communicates with dust and noise pollution sensors attached to a hardhat and tracks when levels become dangerous, offering the potential to dramatically decrease the number of injuries. Attendees of the MCAA Technology Conference: The Best of Now, The Best of Next, held just outside of Chicago, had a chance to try out the app and give feedback. Several members of the Autodesk research team came in from China to demonstrate the product, answer questions, and interact with potential users.

Construction continues to be one of the most dangerous occupations globally. Every year, hundreds of people are killed and many more injured at construction sites in the United States. The MCAA Technology Conference provided a first look at a sort of “smart” hardhat from Autodesk that incorporates technological advancements to improve safety on the jobsite.

The Autodesk system can also alert other workers when someone falls. Construction crews could locate workers, in near real-time, who had become injured or unconscious while in a remote corner of a building. In addition to identifying individual safety issues, the data from the sensors can be captured in a dashboard, giving holistic and historical views of where most accidents occur, along with other information. The software could also potentially eliminate the need for workers to punch in and out every time they arrive at or leave a jobsite.

Conference-goers offered the researchers ideas on how the construction industry might deploy these intelligent platforms to improve construction safety. For example, they suggested adding a sensor that could detect gas levels, particularly carbon monoxide, and others that could capture personal health parameters, like heart rate and body temperature. Autodesk is seeking companies that might be interested in piloting the helmet at their jobsite.

For more information, visit www.autodesk.com. Contact ling.zhao@autodesk.com to learn more about the pilot program.

J.C. Cannistraro Meets Tight Installation Deadline—With Time to Spare—Thanks to Autodesk BIM and Prefabrication

To upgrade the water systems at the University of Massachusetts Boston’s central utility plant—in a single weekend and without disrupting any other system functions—J.C. Cannistraro put to work the Autodesk® Fabrication CADmep™ system it has used since 2003.

Thanks to building information modeling (BIM) and prefabrication technologies, Cannistraro installed in one day the temporary systems it needed to ensure a smooth transition for the rest of the project.

“Given our limited time to install the temporary systems and the large number of systems we had to connect, BIM-enabled prefabrication was a perfect fit on this job,” said Cannistraro’s project manager Eric Beck. “We used Fabrication CADmep software to create 3D models of the existing plant, the temporary systems, and the new systems. This helped us coordinate the new HVAC systems and hangers with the existing connections and services and prefabricate a tremendous amount of work.”

The project was part of a major infrastructure overhaul involving the development of a new utility corridor and roadway network for the 175-acre campus overlooking Boston Harbor. As part of the project, the school’s existing 40-year old central utility plant will be upgraded to a more energy-efficient primary and secondary pumping arrangement to serve the campus’ hot and chilled water utility loop. The upgrade includes four 2,000-ton centrifugal chillers, three 800-horsepower hot water boilers, and one 400-horsepower hot water boiler. The new hot water system has piping sizes up to 16” in diameter and the chilled water system has piping up to 30”.

Keeping Campus Up and Running

“The campus operates 24 hours a day, all year long, which complicated the logistics of the project and installations,” explained Beck. “To keep the campus running, we had to install temporary chillers and repipe the 400-horsepower boiler to serve the campus while the balance of the heating plant was upgraded.” The installations had to be done within a very small window: a weekend in the spring to install system isolation valves for both the 400-horsepower boiler and 30” chilled water valves to isolate the campus/temporary chillers from the central utility plant’s chiller piping upgrades.

Furthermore, many services running through the plant were not affected by the HVAC update. These systems—including electrical, domestic water, and fire protection—had to remain undisturbed while the HVAC systems were upgraded. “We had to fit a large amount of substantially-sized piping through this maze of existing services, without reliable as-built documentation for the plant,” said Beck.

Tight Quarters

In addition, the existing plant is below ground and features concrete construction, including the roof. “We were not permitted to attach hanger rods to the underside of the deck, only to the sides of the concrete beams that were supporting the deck,” said Colin Detra, Cannistraro’s HVAC coordinator on this project. “This limited our pipe hanger locations, requiring careful layout of the new piping systems.”

“With support from [Autodesk] Fabrication CADmep software, it took half the time to create [several hundred spool] sheets than it would using 2D drafting software, and the quality is better.”

— Colin Detra, HVAC Coordinator, J.C. Cannistraro

Virtual Layout and Coordination

Instead of traditional tape measures and plumb bobs, Cannistraro captured the existing conditions of the plant with laser scanning technology. “I used the resulting point cloud as a reference to build a model of the existing plant, turning everything (from 3/4” conduits to 30” chilled water piping) into 3D objects,” said Detra. “Then I used this model and the software’s 3D modeling environment to precisely layout all the new systems—more effectively coordinating the 50-plus connections and finding suitable locations for the hanger rods, while helping avoid interferences with existing services.”

Cannistraro also used the Fabrication CADmep software model to help virtually plan and coordinate demolition and installation, phase by phase. “For example, while we installed the hot water systems, we knew the chilled water piping would still be there,” said Detra. “So in our planning model, I displayed the new hot water and existing chilled water systems, as well as all unaffected services, to verify the layout and minimize clashes during installation. Later on, I did the same thing to route the new chilled water system—toggling off the old chilled water system and toggling on the new hot water piping and unaffected services.”

Beck noted, “We use prefabrication whenever possible. It gives us a controlled environment and lets us perform months of work beforehand—helping to increase project quality and safety while minimizing project cost and schedule.” Fabrication CADmep software plays a critical role, helping Cannistraro automatically produce intelligent shop drawings from the project model with the necessary detail for fabrication, including manufacturer-specific content and components.

“We generated several hundred spool sheets for this project,” said Detra. “With support from Fabrication CADmep software, it took half the time to create these sheets than it would using 2D drafting software, and the quality is better.” In addition, the Fabrication CADmep software model has the intelligent data to drive automated welding machines, translating to almost 9,500” of X-ray-quality welding on this job.

Beating the Clock

The project is currently in the late stages of completion. “For the temporary installations, we didn’t even need the whole weekend,” said Detra. “We had the systems installed and running within a day.”

“We pay attention to details and strive to be the professional standard for quality and reliability in mechanical construction,” said Beck. “Autodesk Fabrication CADmep software helps us achieve that goal. We are more accurate, efficient, and deliver more innovative building strategies.”

For more information about Autodesk Fabrication software, visit www. autodesk.com/fabrication.

MMC Contractors Cuts Weeks Off of Hospital Project Using Autodesk’s Automated Point Layout

MMC Contractors credits Autodesk® Point Layout construction software with helping them shave weeks off the construction schedule for the Martin Army Community Hospital at Fort Benning, GA. “The time and accuracy benefits we realized on the project are a great example of why we moved away from manual point layout processes,” explained Keith Flowers, vice president of construction planning for MMC Contractors. “When you can do things faster and more efficiently, you’re more competitive.”

The 745,000-square-foot facility will replace an aging hospital and serve military members and their families. It features 70 inpatient beds and additional intensive care, surgical, maternity, and psychiatric beds. Kansas City-based MMC Contractors has experience with health care projects and embraces new technology, such as the advanced point layout technology used on the project.

Transitioning from Manual Point Layout

In a traditional point layout process, MMC Contractors used manual measuring devices and calculations to install points in the field. Paper 2D drawings guided the process. Small errors had the potential to cause major rework, so field staff spent significant time on every job getting it right. Today, MMC Contractors creates points in Autodesk Point Layout software and installs them in the field faster and more automatically using a total station.

“The old process required people to interpret drawings in the field and then pull a string line and mark the points,” said Brian Muggy, MMC Contractors’ building information modeling (BIM) superintendent. “Misinterpret something and you’re off. The model-based designs used on large projects today make it easier to achieve such a high degree of precision with activities like prefabrication and coordination. We wanted to bring that efficiency and precision into the way we installed points.”

With Autodesk Point Layout software, “[i]t’s faster to install the points, but you gain even more time by speeding up the whole process by not having to drill the concrete.”

—Patrick Marshall, Assistant Superintendent, MMC Contractors

A New Point Layout Workflow

MMC Contractors’ point layout workflow on the Martin Army Community Hospital looked quite different than one that relies on traditional processes. After receiving the designs from the engineers, the MMC Contractors BIM team added more detailed construction content. They then worked with the other trades on the project to create a model in Autodesk Navisworks® project review software that aggregated all the designs. Using clash detection tools in the software, they coordinated the project and addressed interferences.

Before going to the field, the MMC Contractors BIM team uploaded the coordinated model into Autodesk Point Layout to create points for items they needed to install, such as for pipes and other components. They exported the points into their total station, and installed them in the field.

“We expected to gain time and accuracy in the field by using a more automated point layout process,” said Muggy. “Where we’ve been pleasantly surprised is that it’s faster in the office, too. We no longer have to annotate drawings with dimensions. In the past, we had to put two dimensions and an elevation on every location that needed to be called out. Considering that drawings are already packed with material notes, the designs stay cleaner and easier to read.”

Using the Autodesk Point Layout and a total station, MMC Contractors slashed time spent laying out points in the field, and because the process didn’t require that concrete floors be poured first, they saved as much as three weeks per floor installing the hanger points and hangers for the new Martin Army Community Hospital.
Using the Autodesk Point Layout and a total station, MMC Contractors slashed time spent laying out points in the field, and because the process didn’t require that concrete floors be poured first, they saved as much as three weeks per floor installing the hanger points and hangers for the new Martin Army Community Hospital.

Saving Weeks in the Field

In his role as an assistant superintendent for MMC Contractors, Patrick Marshall experienced the real-world impact of faster, more accurate layout installation firsthand on the Martin Army Community Hospital project. “We used Autodesk Point Layout and total stations to lay out just about everything on the project,” he said. “For example, laying out the points for the 300 to 500 concrete hanger inserts per floor was night and day compared to manual processes. We just set up the total station at the control point on each floor, and it then knew exactly where it was—and where all the assigned points should be.”

In the past, contractors would have waited until the concrete was poured to lay out points for the installation of the hangers for each floor. They then would have measured the points onto the poured floors using traditional manual methods. Placing hangers at these points involved drilling holes into the concrete. The process would have taken as much as a month per floor.

MMC Contractors’ new point layout process didn’t require that floors be poured first. A team of two used a total station loaded with points created in Autodesk Point Layout software to locate each hanger. They were able to install all the points for the hangers and the hangers themselves in under a week per floor, saving as much as three weeks per floor.

“It’s faster to install the points, but you gain even more time by speeding up the whole process by not having to drill the concrete,” said Marshall. “We could go in right after the decking was installed. There’s no need to use walls or concrete as a reference. The process is safer, too, because you avoid having to drill holes over your head into concrete. You just lay out points, install, and move on to the next floor.”

More Information Onsite

MMC Contractors used other technologies on the Martin Army Community Hospital project that let them take rich building design and model information into the field. In addition to Autodesk Point Layout and total stations, MMC Contractors took advantage of Autodesk BIM 360™ Field and Autodesk BIM 360™ Glue® cloud-based services. These services let MMC Contractors’ team access project information on Apple® iPad® mobile devices at the point of construction. Marshall, who is a member of the UA Local 533, said, “I can see value in unions helping to train members in the use of this kind of layout and mobile technology. This is the wave of future.”

Flowers added, “It’s hard to imagine going back to completing projects like the Martin Army Community Hospital the old way. Being able to take the precision of models into the field added significant value throughout the project. We gave our people tools that let them access more than twice the information in less than half the time, as compared to older methods. They used that information to save even more time while delivering a higher-quality product.”

For more information visit www.autodesk.com/point-layout.

TSI Tools Key to MCAA Members’ Joint Venture

BIM Aids Collaboration on ARRA-Funded Hospital Project

MCAA members A.O. Reed & Co., Pan-Pacific Plumbing & Mechanical, and Murray Company united with Monaco Mechanical (a member of the National Certified Pipe Welding Bureau, an MCAA subsidiary) to form a joint venture (Monaco/RPM) to design and install the total mechanical package of the Camp Pendleton Replacement Hospital, taking advantage of Technical Sales International (TSI) software and technology to enhance the collaboration.

The Camp Pendleton Replacement Hospital is a design/build project managed by Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest. It is one of the largest American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) projects within the Department of Defense— and the largest ARRA project awarded in the Department of Navy.

Recovery Act Funds Major Renovation

Located in San Diego County and overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Camp Pendleton is the largest military training facility on the West Coast. The new hospital replaces an existing hospital that is nearly 40 years old. It will be staffed by more than 2,100 military and civilian health care workers serving a population of about 150,000 Marines and members of other branches of service, as well as their families, veterans, and the public when in need of emergency care.

The nearly half-a-billion-dollar complex, which is scheduled to open in January 2014, includes a 70-acre site that will support the approximately 500,000-square-foot multilevel hospital. The project also entails site development and construction of a 20,600- square-foot central utilities plant, a multilevel parking structure with 1,500 spaces, an additional 1,000 surface parking areas, and associated supporting facilities. The new structure is a key piece of a more than $4-billion makeover that is transforming Camp Pendleton into one of the most modern bases in the United States.

Extremely Efficient Execution

The project is on track to be one of the fastest executed hospital design/build projects in the United States. The aggressive schedule reflects the objectives of the ARRA program and implements an extremely efficient execution plan. A. O. Reed & Co., Pan Pacific, and Murray Company are all using TSI’s CAD-Mech software (now called CADmep+) along with Trimble Total Station robots for field layouts to ensure coordination and keep up the pace of the project.

TSI BIM software is helping Monaco/RPM design the new hospital at Camp Pendleton to meet LEED Gold standards; the building includes heat recovery chillers, boiler flue stack economizers, and high efficiency chillers among the many features contributing to energy efficiency.

Patrick George, manager of building information modeling (BIM) at Pan Pacific, explained, “The Camp Pendleton project has many unique parts, one being the speed at which we are designing and constructing the building. Pan Pacific was designing in traditional 2D AutoCAD, but almost simultaneously we were converting those 2D drawings into 3D construction drawings using CADMech components of CADmep+ from TSI. Multiple detailers were working on the design side and on the construction side of the drawings and were in constant communication to make sure the proper design was being coordinated in the process. All of this was made easier with the comprehensive data and report features inherent in CAD-mep+.”

Monaco Mechanical is handling a great deal of the submittals and providing a portion of labor for the project, while A.O. Reed & Co. is detailing and installing the ductwork. Pan Pacific and Murray Company have split the design of the plumbing systems: Pan Pacific designed the gravity systems (sanitary and storm), while Murray Company designed the pressure systems (water and medical gas). A.O. Reed & Co. is detailing the ductwork, Pan Pacific is detailing the plumbing (all systems), and Murray Company is detailing the mechanical piping—all of which is being done with CADmep+.

“This division of responsibility in designing, detailing, and installation— combined with the efficiency of using software solutions provided by TSI—is proving to be highly productive and effective,” said Timothy Allison, P.E., LEED® AP, senior professional engineer at Murray Company.

Prefabrication Reduces Cost, Increases Speed

All of the underground piping was spooled and prefabricated using the spooling tools in CADmep+, allowing for incredible precision on shop drawings for prefabrication. “Our BIM modeling using TSI tools allows us to download information directly to our pipe fabrication facilities, resulting in higher quality and reduced costs. Our service department also benefits from our BIM shop drawings for use in plumbing system service and maintenance,” said Pan Pacific’s George.

Monaco/RPM is a joint venture of four MCAA members collaborating to design and build the Camp Pendleton Replacement Hospital in San Diego—one of the largest ARRA projects within the Department of Defense—using TSI BIM software to coordinate efforts around the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems.

Further, Murray Company has proven that prefabricating material in their shop versus in the field provides the following advantages:

  • 20-percent cost savings
  • 30-percent increased productivity
  • 30-percent increased speed
  • High quality

“The 340-foot-long tunnel piping is an installation worthy of a museum if there were one large enough to hold it,” said Major General Anthony Jackson, who oversees all Marine Corps installations west of the Mississippi River from his office at Camp Pendleton.

Monaco/RPM is also using the Trimble Total Station for field layout—some days running as many as seven stations at a time. The Trimble units allow for laser-pinpoint-accurate layouts, reducing the time and manpower typically required in conventional methods. Furthermore, the Trimble unit layouts integrate with CADmep+ software and are being used for canning; hangers; seismic anchors, braces, and restraints; wall penetrations; underground plumbing; and riser verification.

Prefabrication Contributes to Safety

To date, the combined project teams on the hospital at Camp Pendleton have clocked more than 250,000 man-hours over the past 14 months with zero lost-time incidents. The project is currently one month ahead of schedule.

In addition to the corporate cultures of A.O. Reed & Co., Pan Pacific, and Murray Company that promote and insist on safety protocols and education, part of that safety record is due to the prefabrication of mechanical systems. The warehouse environment enhances quality control through greater accessibility to project and executive supervision, and it lessens the time required for scope issues and problem resolution.

Aiming for LEED Gold Certification

The U.S. Green Building Council has acknowledged the importance of engineered mechanical and plumbing systems in green building design by dedicating a significant percentage of LEED Certification points for new construction to plumbing and piping systems. The hospital at Camp Pendleton is designed and constructed in line with California’s seismic safety standards and is expected to receive LEED Gold certification. A.O. Reed & Co., Pan Pacific, and Murray Company all employ LEED-certified experts and people with BIM/3D CAD proficiency and Big Room (i.e., multidisciplinary collaboration) experience who provide advice in construction means and methods and sustainability issues.

The Camp Pendleton Replacement Hospital LEED Gold Certification design features include efficient mechanical and electrical controls, such as CO2 sensors, occupancy sensors, variable frequency drives on all motors, and a solar hot water panel system (725,643.1 kBtu). Photovoltaic panels (170kW total) provide three percent of the project’s overall energy needs. The project uses reclaimed water, low-flow plumbing fixtures, building materials made from renewables or recycled content, heat recovery chillers, boiler flue stack economizers, and high efficiency chillers. These features combined will result in a 33-percent energy improvement over ASHRAE standards.

BIM Improves Coordination, Saves Time and Money

By using BIM, the project teams are able to coordinate efforts around the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. Before BIM, spatial conflicts during installation might not have been detected until the systems were installed. With BIM, these design challenges can be avoided, saving time and cost. As a result, the biggest advantage of BIM is the improved construction efficiency.

Murray Company’s Allison concluded, “TSI products, specifically CADmep+, have been the products of choice for Murray Company’s detailing and fabrication of approximately $500 million worth of piping installations over the past six years. TSI has empowered us to perform BIM since before the acronym became the popular catch phrase in the construction industry that it is today.”

For more information, visit www.technicalsalesinternational.com.