Integration and efficiency are pivotal to the future of construction industry software. All designers involved in a project need to work on one integrated “project model” so the whole team can view it as it is continuously updated.
To facilitate this, a common structure must lie at the heart of software developed by the specialist segments in the design process, permitting integration of discreet data into the common project model.
The structural steelwork industry has already established a unifying system, leading the way with its CIM standards. These are open and declared and promote collective rather than individual benefit; and importantly, no individual software house exerts sole control.
If an unrestricted, “whole industry” integrated software standard is to be realised, government intervention is imperative. The alternative is a corporate entity that controls access to the project model based on financial or strategic gains.
The errors and omissions avoided by the design team all working on one project model will boost efficiency at one level. However, this will be negligible compared with the efficiency gains enjoyed when structural design, costing, ordering and even project management flow automatically from the project model database. Only when the efficiency of the software and its use is maximised will the industry have truly evolved.
The final efficiency, of course, is the use of all this data by the contractor, especially on site.
A prototype for the software and technology needed by the construction industry to embrace the 21st century is Alpine’s View software package for the trussed rafter sector. This features a programme called Layout, which takes 2D input of wall layout and roof pitch data, immediately turns it into 3D volumes and adds roof truss layouts automatically. This is entirely integrated with the AiMS database, which manages commercial and production information, and with View’s other component, Truscad, which carries out structural design, generates costing and prepares manufacturing details.
The resulting information can be conveyed to the building designer by e-mail in the form of a 3D virtual reality model, which can be manipulated by the receiver to inspect for accuracy.
Nailplate systems communicate with truss fabricator customers via ISDN lines working on job files resident on their servers, operating their computer and printers and even their production machinery.
This programming capability has been extended into timber frame panels, a variety of timber floor construction methods and traditional timber design.
