BE Magazine - Volume 5, Issue 1 - (Page 37) PLANT by Hatch, a leading global consulting, engineering, technology, and project and construction management corporation. In 2007, Hatch managed nearly 30 engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) projects on five continents. This unprecedented level of project activity demands that the employee-owned company work smarter to deliver quality projects. “Centralized data-centric delivery rather than drawings and documents is the new approach and is gaining acceptance across the company.” Currently in use on 10 major EPCM projects in four countries, the workSMART environment has reduced construction and commissioning times by 10 percent on average, by providing accurate design data to all project personnel in a timely fashion. Utilizing dynamically updated 3D models in the field minimizes the number of orthographic drawings issued, cutting the time spent on document control in half. The modeling technology also improves understanding of the design intent and reduces field rework. Downstream application development Hatch developed the workSMART environment in three phases: application integration, downstream application development, and production environment enhancement. As a subscriber to Bentley’s Enterprise License Subscription (ELS) program, Hatch had unlimited access to the entire ELS software portfolio, which allowed system developers to configure and customize the tools to suit existing workflows. Understanding how each design discipline uses engineering data, and how that data flows through the design process was key to matching technologies to workflows. Bentley’s Project Database (ProjDB) became v Hatch’s workSMART environment integrates data from separate engineering the centralized source for all list data (equipment list, design applications line list, motor list, and so on). Designers use PlantSpace More than 7,400 Hatch employees are spread throughout 75 P&ID to read list data from the ProjDB, then write sheet connection offices in 13 countries. Global worksharing is a constant challenge, and equipment information to the ProjDB. All other design informaespecially given the company’s rapid growth—adding nearly 28 tion is input to the database via the Data Manager interface. List data percent more staff since 2005. All current projects have overlapping engineering and construction schedules, requiring precise control of the design execution and measurement of progress toward design completion at each stage. This was the driving force behind development of an integrated engineering environment dubbed workSMART, which was spearheaded by the principal regional office in Brisbane, Australia. Built on a Bentley solutions platform, the workSMART environment integrates data from separate engineering design applications to bring engineers together wherever they are located, eliminating the need for data re-entry and saving significant time on data verification. For example, equipment and line list data are automatically linked to the P&ID application. The combined list and P&ID data are then linked to the 3D modeling application. This data-centric approach allows downstream applications to reuse information based on discipline workflows while protecting v It now takes 65 percent less time to run piping isometrics using data integrity. Since the centralized database provides role-based the isometric control system access control, the data is always secure and up to date. “The integration of the project data and the engineering workthen becomes the source for intelligent 3D modeling of the plant flows has radically changed the way we look at project data and components. These are stored in the Model Control System. Project is rapidly changing the methodologies that our engineers use,” managers track the status of specific work packages by generating said Peter Blake, global director, project management, at Hatch. reports on model components and list data stored in the ProjDB. Volume 5, Issue 1 | BE MAGAZINE 37
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.