More efficient construction projects with BIM and VR

Virtual Reality (VR) is creating entirely new opportunities for the construction industry.  

- "It was an overwhelming and interesting experience," says Anders Ahlquist of Vossloh Nordic Switch Systems in Ystad after a first virtual tour of a BIM design.

Vossloh Nordic Switch Systems is the Nordic region's leading company in track switches and track technology. In addition to the design and production of track switches and track components, they have many customers who need help with design in connection with switch replacements, yard conversions, new depots and workshops.

-"We often act as an advisor and sounding board for both renovations and new buildings," says Anders Ahlquist, Technical Manager.

For Vossloh, BIM is nothing new. Railway switches are large and complex structures with many details. For production to run smoothly, full control of all processes is required and the demands on documentation are high.

-We've been designing gears in 3D since the 1990s. Each design part receives unique metadata and is version managed in a PDM (Product Data Management) system," says Anders Ahlquist.

Trafikverket wants to see more BIM

Trafikverket is one of Vossloh's largest customers. They act as a dragoon in the construction industry in terms of requirements and implementation of BIM, which affects everyone in the production chain.

-"By allowing BIM to permeate the entire track workflow, it is possible to increase the efficiency of projects. The right information will be in the right place, while communication between the various players will be improved," says Anders Ahlquist.

Different far ahead

The challenge now is that the mechanical industry has been handling this kind of information digitally and in a structured way for decades, while the civil engineering industry is just getting started.

- It is important that the client is clear in its requirements specification about what information is to be transferred and through which information carriers," says Johan Stribeck, Business Area Manager BIM/VR at Tikab.

- It is also important that the information can be transferred efficiently and with quality assurance from the design side to the client's management system," he says.

Review and production planning in VR

For Vossloh, it is important to own the supply process, from start to finish. This means they are constantly looking for new ways of working to influence quality and production for the better. That was also the reason for the meeting between Tikab and Vossloh, to explore the possibilities of combining BIM and VR.

- It was a transformative and interesting experience. I saw great benefits for us in using VR technology. For example, it is possible to examine an entire switching system at a railway depot in 1:1 scale," says Björn Lundwall, Product Developer at Vossloh Nordic Switch Systems.

- I also saw great opportunities in the pre-production planning stage, such as planning our work at stations, which storage locations to use and the like.

Anders Ahlquist, technical manager at Vossloh Nordic Switch Systems in Ystad, examines a boogie on a freight wagon, designed at Tikab

In the picture, Björn Lundwall, Project Manager at Vossloh, is VR-checking a vehicle transport trailer designed at TIkab

BIM FACTS

• BIM is an acronym for Building Information Modelling or Building Information Management.
• BIM basically means that a 3D model is created in a building or construction process with the aim of evaluating, gathering information and producing different types of decision-making data.

Interested in the transition to BIM, starting to use VR or digitisation with laser scanning?

Read more about Tikab and our services here: www.tikab.com