Tekla gives professional BIM application in construction

Tekla gives professional BIM application in construction
To make an impact on the construction industry, 3D-modelling software provider Tekla has launched a new advanced application for building information model-based project communication and cooperation
Tekla BIMsight is a new collaboration tool that lets construction industry professionals step onto the BIM (Building Information Modelling) process, which is now available to download and share over the Internet for free. This software application makes it easy to combine and understand 3D models created by different AEC disciplines with different software to interpret the design intent, check for clashes, and comment and mark changes. Tekla BIMsight presents a centralised way to maintain and communicate shared construction information: project participants can see the big picture as well as every important detail in the same, illustrative, and easy-to-grasp 3D model. Tekla BIMsight can be used throughout the workflow of construction, from the design phase of the building to its erection and site management.
Tekla BIMsight has been described as the ‘missing link’ BIM software application because it enables accurate and effective 3D building information model-based project collaboration and management for everyone in the industry. BIM-based way of working supports the modern requirements of sustainability and green building, for example, by optimising prefabrication and site management and enabling a paperless process. Accurate, model-based communication enables better constructability through finding, reacting to and correcting possible design errors early before on-site construction.All these motivate people working in engineering and construction to centralise their data and to make requests for information accurately and efficiently through one shared application that presents the combined model of a whole construction project for every possible angle. At the moment, Tekla BIMsight is only available in English. Nirmalya Chatterjee, Head of Operations, Tekla India talks about the software in details.
What has prompted Tekla to offer this viewer free for its users?Let me first clarify that it is not a viewer; it is a coordination tool, which is the outcome of a market survey we had conducted globally. We have noticed that the trend is toward the building information model, which is nothing but a link between different disciplines. We understand that it will be possible only when the project owners or the contractors are convinced where they are lacking, and why they have lost money during project execution. Is it due to delays, material has not reached on time, the consultant has not delivered the kind of results that was expected, or lack of  timely coordination between different project players. All these activities need to be together so that the project owner can have a better control on the project. Project owners should be able to manage their projects properly with the information they have with them. Project owners don’t really do the whole engineering by themselves. Their downstream associate vendors like consultants or architects and fabricators do respective jobs for them. Most of the cases project owners might have already frozen the budget for their project execution. So in an effort to not increase the project cost further, we decided to give TEKLA BIMsight, our new tool, for free to all. This tool is basically for the contractors and general contractors to use, and visualise, have more control on the projects planning and management; and by doing so, we believe that downstream vendors will be much more streamlined and benefited. TEKLA BIMsight represents a true 3D BIM process by bringing different engineering disciplines’ 3D models under one platform. In any construction project, there are many different 3D engineering applications used by different players, like piping, electrical, HVAC and structural. All these 3D models need to coincide to have a proper review of project progress, this is what TEKLA BIMsight is going to deliver. It will create more value to any modern day project due to its ease of use.
This software will not only allow you to view and visualise the entire process but will also enable you to analyse any probable defects. For example, you will be able to make class check detection, whether there is something wrong in the design or a mismatch of the schedule or even have a cut section views. So this is not just a viewer, it’s more of an intelligent BIM tool dedicated to industry needs. If it were just a viewer, you will not be in a position to revert with comments. But, here, if the project owners find there has been deviation from what has been planned, they will be in a position to comment at that time and position that to the downstream vendors and the person or company who is actually using the particular application can read that, know where exactly the problem lies and what the project owner has in mind. So this enables better communication between the parties involved in a given project. Calling it a viewer would not be right; it is an engineering 3D model-based collaborative communication tool.
Several companies are already using existing BIM software from your rival companies. Will they be able to access this in the sense that would there be a mismatch between the applications?We do it different way. If some companies are using 2D-based system or some other applications, the problem that creeps in is that they are restricting themselves to their particular application. Only Tekla BIMsight allows users to bring any software-developed 3D model to a common platform. I am not aware of any other software in market which is free and works the same way as our TEKLA BIMsight does.
Is it compatible on both windows as well as on a Mac platform?It is purely Windows-based system.
To what extent do you see the market is growing as it is offered free to download?Our strategy is very simple. We will first educate the target audience as to why they need this. And, probably, the justification of any cost will come at a later stage. If the project owner or the contractor understands the value of doing their projects in a 3D-based application rather than just any ordinary 2D-drawing based application, they will allocate more budgets for their coming projects. We all know that time is money. So a project owner knows that if they lose valuable time, they are losing money.
We want to bring awareness within project owners, contractors, architects, etc. Our only pitch at the moment is to let them know why they need a 3D-based application for their projects. Once they understand, they will start implementing this 3D-based application right from the start of a new project, and their associate vendors in downstream process will use our various engineering products.
If we look at your revenues last year, your concentration has been more skewed toward building and construction applications and less on infra and energy applications, which you also have. Considering that, going ahead, the thrust in India’s growth story would be on power generation to a great extent. Wouldn’t it make better business sense to focus on that area?It is not that we are not concentrating on this aspect. But what we are doing is analysing the real situation. As of now, most large-scale power projects are on paper. They are still in the policy stage.
We are concentrating on the power sector construction projects. There is no doubt that India needs more power plants. To do that, project owners need the right kind of technology. So they will need our Tekla structures engineering solutions for the construction projects.
Once power plants are ready, power distribution would come up. So we are taking up one issue at a time. Right now, we are promoting our Tekla structures building and construction; and at the same time, we are taking the feedback from the government agencies as well as the private players to ascertain how, at present, they are managing their distribution, the kind of budgets they may be thinking of etc. Our solution to power distribution segment is bit different in terms of implementation which is linked to available infrastructure and know how on GIS system.
Time to time, we are sharing our technical details with industry players and the government bodies and collecting their views. It requires a lot of investments from our end as well as from those who are going to implement it. I am saying this because implementation of such technology is not going to be for one day or two, but for years.
At the moment, we are collating the feedbacks from various companies across the globe, and I must tell you that India is one of the main emerging markets where we may consider to launch our new segment very soon.
As technology advances and becomes complex, training too becomes that much more necessary. What are the steps you have taken in this regard?You are right. We recently came out with a new concept called ‘Tekla Centre of Excellence’ (TCE). It is the TCE that will create the resources because we understand that it is not only for the companies which want to upgrade the knowledge of their employees but also for the student communities which need to learn the latest technology. The same goes for the engineering fraternity. We have seen keen interest in learning the new Tekla technology. Apart from our own offices, we have our own training facilities. We are also inviting franchisees. We have opened our first franchisee in Pune. In the coming months, we plan to open one in Chennai and one in Delhi. Our aim is to have at least 10 franchisees in as many different cities whereby we are going to produce about 1,000 specialists who are adept at Tekla technology. Our aim is to create a balance between the demand and supply.
Building methodologies differ in different countries. To what extent, does it suit Indian construction environments?You have to realise that our software is a global standard. We are present in 15 countries across the world. Our software has never suited just one country. If you take a look at the application, it offers 36 environments. So we take care of any country specific need. We have our Indian technology team that takes care of the Indian environment, projects, design codes and specifications, everything that Indian projects require because our customers are Indians. They use the software for local projects. Our newly set-up development team will take the need of global corporate customers in coming days.
Does the Indian operation cater to the neighbouring countries?Yes, it also takes care of the needs in certain countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal etc. These are the countries, in the coming days, we plan to penetrate. Right now, we are working on Sri Lanka and Bangladesh very aggressively.

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