Gulf Construction Online - Firms tie up to create seamless workflows

ICT

Firms tie up to create seamless workflows

01 October 2016

Trimble and Autodesk have entered into an interoperability agreement aimed at saving customers time and reducing project costs typically associated with workflow inefficiency across different suppliers’ technologies.

This move is expected to benefit architects, engineers and contractors, and importantly, project owners by enabling more freedom to optimise technology workflows needed to meet the complex requirements of today’s construction projects.

Trimble and Autodesk say this collaboration demonstrates their ongoing commitment to support open industry standards such as Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) and Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBie), and can enable current and prospective Autodesk and Trimble customers engaged on the same projects to work together seamlessly through optimised file compatibility across applications.

“Autodesk and Trimble have a shared goal of meeting the evolving needs of the building and infrastructure industries. Reliable, fluent exchange of information among multiple stakeholders and platforms is essential to this end,” says a spokesman for Autodesk, a software specialist.

“The strength of a company is best measured by its willingness to do what is right for its customers and the industry at large. This interoperability agreement, like others we’ve signed, speaks to Autodesk’s commitment to openness,” says Amar Hanspal, senior vice-president, Autodesk. “This collaboration with Trimble speaks to our shared dedication to making the building process more efficient and productive for all involved.”

Under the terms of agreement, Autodesk and Trimble will take steps to accelerate interoperability by exchanging Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and developer tools to build and market interoperable products. This allows the two companies to improve upon existing data exchanges, as well as open up new workflows between their products. Tighter product-to-product integration can enable design and construction professionals to share models, project files and other data between select Autodesk and Trimble solutions both in the office and the field, and allow for the reuse of information during design and construction throughout all phases of the project.

“This collaboration demonstrates our mutual commitment to provide design and construction professionals with a seamless experience from both Autodesk and Trimble design-build-operate solutions,” says Bryn Fosburgh, vice-president at Trimble. “As a result, all stakeholders across the construction lifecycle can optimise their workflow efficiency.”

Trimble is a leading innovator of productivity solutions for the civil engineering and construction sectors. Its solutions leverage a variety of technologies, including global navigation satellite system (GNSS), construction lasers, total stations, wireless data communications, the Internet, and application software.

As part of the Trimble Connected Site strategy, these solutions provide a high level of process and workflow integration from the design phase through to the finished project – delivering significant improvements in productivity throughout the construction lifecycle.