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Tech Transformers

Tech Transformers

From smarter to future ready sustainable constructions design technologies is redefining the story of infra-construction sectors in India

Construction design technologies is no more a novel concept in India. Tech-tools has been long reforming and transforming the infrastructure and construction segments. So much that today it has become a need of the hour to raise future ready sustainable constructions. The pandemic of Covid-19 followed by the healthcare crisis saw a rapid boom in the adoption of construction design technologies and real-time platforms.

Increased focus on infrastructural developments and complex structures without comprising on the cost effectiveness and sustainability elements has further scaled up the demand and need for smart construction technologies.  Adding to this has been recent boom in the 5G telecom technologies which has further elevated the spectrum of communication technologies and scope of connectivity. With ‘Virtual Reality’ and real-time operations gaining more importance stakeholders involved in the design technologies has been formulating new trends and strategies to tap in the evolving potentials.  

Tracking the Growth Trails

According to a recent study published by the World Economic Forum, ‘Over the past half century the construction industry has been slow to adopt new technologies and has undergone no fundamental change.’ The built environment comprising of the construction, infrastructure and real estate segments, however is witnessing a rapid boom and transformation in the approach towards embracing new real-time technologies and internet based design software. A main cause behind this has been the increased need to raise cost-effective sustainable projects without compromising on the construction timelines. Adding to this was the need to run the business and operations when the economies worldwide was hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Commenting on the sector’s progress Prasad Pandit, Worldwide Industry Process Leader, CATIA Buildings & Infrastructure, Dassault Systemes said, “With infrastructure as the key driver of the economy, India is on its way to becoming the third-largest construction market by 2022. With the focus from the Government of India, the sector has witnessed significant progress by leveraging technology to maintain sustainable and efficient outcomes. However, the construction industry is still failing to meet these high demands to deliver projects on time with expected profit margins, delivering high quality and less material waste. Its productivity is very low viz-a-viz manufacturing while we are talking about similar KPIs from already transformed sectors like Aerospace and Automobile. Most of the EPCs are trying to implement BIM over two decades for now however they are not able to cope up with the transitioning. Dassault Systemes’ unique 3D EXPERIENCE platform provides capabilities like Design & Engineering in CATIA, Constructability analysis in DELMIA, Project Management, Stakeholder coordination and collaboration in ENOVIA with extreme Simulations capabilities in SIMULIA in single connected environment called 3DEXPERIENCE platform. This help construction engineers optimizing construction activities with a data centric approach. The Virtual Twin Experience serves as the best tool to manage complex infrastructure projects along with large scale smart cities and take in context decision to build resilient future.”

“Data shows that India is struggling to complete its infrastructure projects on time and within budgets. According to a recent government report, there are cost overruns of almost 4.3 lakh crore across 438 national projects. Delays in finalising the engineering details or in ordering supply and equipment and frequent changes in project’s scope are listed as some of the reasons for delayed completion of these projects. We believe that the competent use of modern construction software in digitalising the workflows can significantly reduce these delays and the inevitable project cost overruns. For example, cutting-edge BIM and detailing software like Tekla Structures can build highly accurate and detailed 3D models in little time,” shares Harsh Pareek, Regional Sales Director, India and SAARC, Trimble Solutions.

Expressing on the need for smart technologies that can aid in the development of future ready constructions Vijay Gupta, Founder & CEO, SoftTech Engineers comments, “Today, when sustainability is being embraced by all industries across the world, green construction must focus on 6 key principles: ‘conserve, reuse, recycle/renew, protect nature, create non-toxic and build high quality.’ Technology can be a powerful driver to attain these goals in the industry. As more and more organizations seek to integrate innovative BIM models that facilitate sustainable designing and ease construction management, the industry needs to address a whole new set of integration challenges. Cutting-edge construction solutions can help integrate disparate legacy systems and embed sustainability attributes into the very core of the construction management goals.”

Changing Paradigms

From faster construction to smarter construction, the infra-construction segments is undergoing rapid transformations. The Government’s increased focus on infrastructure as the core theme of growth agenda has further scaled up the need for improved sustainable smart constructions. Moreover, big ticket projects like Smart Cities, Rapid Urbanization and now Gati Shakti calls for quicker and smarter technologies that can deliver not just smarter constructions but also deliver sustainable structures in the most cost effective and timely manner. The increased scope of opportunities has seen a warm flow of even multinational design majors exploring the Indian infra-construction terrain for growth opportunities. So much that, today India is seen as one among the key investment hubs for tech-suppliers for infra-construction segments.

“Digitalising a complex project’s construction starts with making a rich and accurate BIM model, which lays the foundation for seamless and efficient workflows in the later stages. Ultimately, a fully digitalised construction process reduces avoidable errors, mitigates asset or materials wastage and allows construction companies to finish their projects ahead of the given deadlines.The Statue of Unity in Gujarat’s Narmada district is a great example of how technology actually helps in flawless and speedy execution of a project.  Eversendai, a leading global organization, was responsible for the structural steel framework of the project. They chose Tekla Structures for modelling and detailing and completed this mega project a full two months ahead of schedule,” echoes Pareek.

Pandit expresses, “Companies, especially mobility service providers have shown interest in high levels of automation, optimization and decision support to capitalize on opportunities and claim market leadership. To stay ahead of the competition, companies need to integrate technology support that seamlessly navigates between virtual and real worlds and quickly adapts and responds to external changes, demands and disruptions. With the DELMIA software, manufacturers and operators can collaborate, model, optimize and perform for continuous improvement of activities.” Looking upon the evolving opportunities from big-ticket projects he further adds, “Projects like Gati Shakti follow 6 pillars – ‘Comprehensiveness’ is a key pillar where all ministries and the sub offices will be connected on a centralize portal. For key stakeholder communication, collaboration and coordination, the project’s design communication needs strong engineering 3DEXPERIENCE platform. ‘Prioritization’ ‘Synchronization’ ‘Analytical’ ‘Dynamic’ are other four pillars which needs a base of project management- a Decision making system with cost and resource management connected to comprehensiveness. ‘Optimization’ is another pillar which needs material and equipment supply through optimum routes and from nearest possible territories. 3DEXPERIENCE platform can manage this as a one stop solution.”

However while tapping in these potential the infra-construction segments also needs to focus on developing not just smarter but sustainable constructions believes Gupta. He opines, “For the technology-led proliferation of sustainable construction, all industry stakeholders such as architects, engineers, manufacturers, energy consultants, project managers, building users & local administrators need to collaborate efficiently. The goal must be to cost-effectively optimize the industry’s impact on the environment by leveraging technology to foster sustainable development practices, employ energy efficiency, and take advantage of green technology opportunities.”

He also shares, “Moreover, sustainable construction must not end when the building is complete; the building itself should have a minimized impact on the environment over its lifespan. This requires that the construction design should incorporate elements that have an ongoing positive influence on the building’s environmental impact. The reduction of construction waste is also a beneficial consequence in building more green buildings. By their nature, they already use fewer resources, relying on recycled and renewable materials. The use of sustainable construction has additional benefits such as healthier living & optimization of renewal energy.”

The 5G Boom

The world of telecommunication and networking has been transforming rapidly. When 4G was introduced the world witnessed an all-together new paradigm in the field of networking communications. Now with the emergence of 5G the market dynamics are expected to further scale up the demand expectations. Tech majors embraces this as the new wave of rapid communications and anticipates this boom to further elevate the scope of design technologies and such internet based tools of transformation.

Sharing his insights on to the evolution of 5G networking technologies, Pandit believes, “Telecom is transforming rapidly and extravagantly. Right from the smart watch to smart equipment for farming will be using 5th generation spectrum. Imagine the general internet speed of 100mbps moving quickly to 10gbps. The operators today will be having 100MHz but for 5G they would need 1000MHz. This opens up opportunities for EPCs in a very interesting manner. Imagine the Big data generated per second out of this migration, telecom needs more robust infrastructure upgrade including network and storage in data centers. After the life science upgrade started happening during 2020, this is going to be another transformation in every individual’s life. Readiness is subjective, within no time we moved from 3G to 4G and 5G will be quicker. This is a great opportunity to help transform this industry with required data points like, coverage information, blackspot area identification and how about modeling thousands of 3D City modeling to plan, design, build and manage telecom infrastructure with high level of detailing (LOD400+)? This is essential to fabricate that modular infrastructure on 3DEXPERIENCE platform with city scale projects to complete on time.”

Commenting on similar lines is Pareek. He expresses, “Cutting-edge design and construction technologies available today are already helping us transform our infrastructure vision into reality. The arrival of 5G will significantly accelerate the adoption of these technologies by making real-time data sharing to and from the project sites faster and easier than ever; in turn allowing construction players to flawlessly deliver mega projects on time, and within budgets. We can certainly think of building new expressways that will double up as WiFi hotspots to facilitate real-time tracking of vehicular movement. Or a smart city that is hyper efficient in energy consumption and has very little carbon footprint. All this could soon become a reality with the continuing pace of technological advancements.”

From virtual platforms to digital twins the world of design technologies has been in the forefront in transforming the infra-construction for a smarter future. With the wider acceptance and realization over the need to adopt such technologies on rise in the construction space, the design tech industry is a seeing a broader scale of opportunities.

 




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