Integrating Technology and Industry Practices
Technology allows VEC to be more efficient on the job site. The Virtual Design & Construction team provides project assist services by combining technology with standard industry practices to help our field installation teams access information faster, more accurately and in real-time.
Tablet Technology
VEC’s VDC team provides our field installation team with tablets to view drawings and models on the job site. A common struggle on the job site is having the most current drawing revision; VEC uses a document control software, PlanGrid to alleviate this issue.
- Drawing revisions are uploaded to the PlanGrid website and are pushed to the PlanGrid app on our tablets so our field leaders receive the most up-to-date drawing information
- This program also has the ability to add links to tie together drawings that reference one another; by clicking the link, the user can jump immediately to that reference drawing rather than flipping through pages
- Drawings viewed on the tablets have the ability to be marked up with notes, references and red-lines and then pushed to the PlanGrid master copy to viewed; the drawings can also be emailed as a PDF
Modeling with Autodesk Construction Cloud
In addition to PlanGrid, VEC also uses software to view models on our tablets. Autodesk Construction Cloud allows our team to take a customer-provided model or a model the Project Integration group creates and push it out to the field installation team’s tablets.
- Autodesk Construction Cloud gives the user the ability to touch any geometry in the model and access information about that geometry
- For example, a piece of pipe will allow you to view the line number, system, material, grade, size, weight and tag number
- The model is locked so that parts cannot be accidentally moved around or deleted
On-Site BIM Boxes
The BIM Box is a weather-proof, job ready tool box converted to house a computer and printer. The computer is outfitted with Navisworks Freedom software to view models.
- VEC is currently using a BIM Box at the Hubbard Fabrication Facility and several other job sites; we began using the BIM Box on our electrical construction sites but soon found application for them on mechanical projects
- On large mechanical projects, it can be tedious to locate and install painted spool pieces that come from the fabrication facility with a unique identification number that is referenced in the drawings
- Using a customer-provided 3D model, the Project Integration team can identify the spool pieces; each spool piece is then linked to the fabrication drawing for easier identification
Laser Scanning
VEC, Inc. integrates laser scanning technology into traditional construction methods to minimize risk and increase efficiency. Utilizing appropriate equipment and software our team leverages point cloud data throughout a project lifecycle.
Our equipment can capture millions of coordinates in a matter of minutes. This is achieved when light emitting from the scanner is reflected from a surface, the station then records its precise location. From this raw data, VEC can work as a data network contractor to analyze and utilize the surface properties and information in a variety of ways.
