Building the future of engineering

The construction and engineering industry is widely recognized as one of the most costly and risky sectors. Its technical complexity and long project timelines present significant business challenges, including inflation, supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, sustainability, high customer expectations, and technology implementation.

Engineering firms today face increasing pressure to work with lean budgets to remain competitive. Adopting and accelerating best practices in digital technology can make a powerful and immediate impact on project pre-design, mitigating the risk of error and cutting unnecessary work.

Prevu3D digital twin technology solves several challenges for engineering firms. It extends the physical into the digital world, using scanning solutions to create virtual 3D replicas of spaces and assets. Think heavy machinery, production lines, facilities, loading bays, etc. Digital twins then become powerful interactive tools to design, edit and share 3D environments among stakeholders for better decision-making.

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Meet Seneca

Industrial processing specialist since 1997

Seneca is a private engineering consulting firm that specializes in industrial materials process engineering and offers comprehensive professional services for global industrial investment projects. With over 100 experts, Seneca has successfully completed thousands of industrial projects in around 15 countries, from small-scale modifications to building entire commercial plants in EPCM mode.

Seneca has a vast field of expertise, covering, among others, the sectors of mining and metallurgy, food processing, chemicals and petrochemicals, energy, as well as recycling and effluent treatment.

Seneca specializes in executing complex projects that involve developing new processes and integrating new technologies into existing ones. They bridge the gap from laboratory to market implementation, offering capabilities such as:

• Develop and optimize industrial materials processes;
• Carry out preliminary design studies and estimates;
• Set up pilot or demonstration plants;
• Build a commercial plant in EPCM mode and manage its start-up;
• Modify existing operating industrial plants.

In this case study, we‌ will explore how Prevu3D digital twin technology helped Seneca accelerate pre-design, improve efficiency and collaboration across multiple project stakeholders.

Industry challenges

Pre-design testing

According to Jean-François Legault, former design team supervisor and current Chief Environment, Health, and Safety Officer at Seneca, working on projects involving diverse collaborators can lead to a plethora of ideas.

Successful execution of these ideas requires rigorous testing to validate and fine-tune pre-design concepts. Legault goes on to illustrate this point by sharing an example.

Previously, when someone approached you with an idea and asserted its feasibility, you would invest 3 or 4 days working on a layout. Then, you would unveil the proof of concept, only to discover that the machine couldn’t fit within the designated area.

Now, with the advent of detailed 3D environments, we have the ability to quickly test and refine design iterations to showcase the limitations. We can visually demonstrate, ‘Look, you cannot place your pump there. Your operator won’t have sufficient space for smooth maintenance operations.’

Hidden costs

Another challenge engineers face is fully uncovering and communicating the scope of all costs related to jobs. In large or technically complex projects, hidden costs and mistakes can add up quickly, causing budgets to go over and timelines to be stretched.

A critical strategy to prevent cost escalation in pre-design is to conduct a thorough risk assessment before commencing work.When considering relocating a door within a facility, it may appear straightforward in theory. However, reality is often far more intricate. Limited options for opening walls due to plumbing, wiring, or structural constraints can pose significant hurdles. Consequently, this can result in additional client expenses, as alternative solutions must be explored.

Digital twins enable engineers to simulate and optimize construction processes, identify potential risks, and test alternative scenarios before execution. This helps in reducing costly rework, mitigating risks, and making informed decisions that can save both time and money.

Information sharing

Jean-François Legault, Seneca’s former design team supervisor, highlights the complexity of construction and engineering projects, involving intricate designs, intricate systems, and coordination among multiple stakeholders. However, when collaborators require specific information like measurements, they may lack the expertise to extract it from scanning datasets.

As a result, they often have to rely on design or drafting departments or physically visit project sites, which adds significant time and costs to project delivery.

Legault shares his experience.

We also use Prevu3D for measurements. Once we scan a site, it eliminates the need to go back on-site to measure physically. We pull them from the digital twin. Yes, we have a 3D scanner and a point cloud, but many engineers have difficulty manipulating these tools because they’re very heavy or technical.

With Prevu3D, projects where ‌we have many engineers collaborating, we can give them access to the platform and they can get all their measurements in one place. It allows them to make quicker and better decisions, like ‘We’ll move this machine one meter or two, or we can insert new equipment here because we have the space.’ It’s been an extremely useful tool for that purpose.

Technical complexity

Many engineers are reluctant to adopt new digital tools due to their rigidity and poor user interfaces, which often make them difficult to use. This creates a barrier to entry for engineers who may not have the necessary high-level skills that are not traditionally taught in engineering curricula. It is crucial for software developers to address these issues and prioritize user-friendly interfaces to encourage widespread adoption of their technologies.

In the construction and engineering industry, the budget for technical innovations is often the first to be cut to remain competitive during project submissions. Digital tools, although promising, require extensive testing and validation before they can be trusted, adding to the overall cost. This financial burden poses a challenge for firms to fully embrace and invest in these tools.

Implementing new digital tools also presents challenges in terms of cost, compatibility with existing systems, and the time required for adoption. The financial investment necessary to integrate these tools, the compatibility with current infrastructure, and the learning curve associated with adopting new technologies can be significant barriers to implementation.

Implementing Prevu3D digital twin technology

Engineering consulting firm Seneca has had a lot of success using Prevu3D.

Jean-François Legault, design team supervisor at the time, explains that the firm primarily used Prevu3D software in the process development and pre-engineering phase.

We use it for optimization projects, where we add products, units or equipment into facilities. Add or change a pump or load exchanger. We have seen a very great utility with Prevu3D.

Prevu3D has been instrumental in explaining project-related costs to clients throughout the construction process. One example highlights Seneca using Prevu3D to illustrate the costs and implications of a building expansion project to a client. The visualization helped the client understand the need to remove thermal pumps, demolish concrete slabs, and clean up before commencing construction, which is usually not apparent in 2D drawings.

Additionally, with remote working increasing, digital visualization tools like Prevu3D have become crucial since not everyone can assess the site physically.

Onboarding to Prevu3D

Legault admits there was a certain hesitation from the team initially to adopt Prevu3D. He explains that designers or drafters can access a cloud point to work on. His team felt a comprehensive 3D environment may not be crucial.

But we instantly noticed it was beneficial to add engineers to the Prevu3D digital twin platform to access information themselves. It relieved the workload for the design team. There is no need to interrupt their work to pull measurements for project collaborators.

Legault explains that Prevu3D complements Seneca’s work in various ways. Although Navisworks is another software they use for visualizing projects, Prevu3D is a more accessible tool for most users.

The world is getting younger with a growing number of gamers. Prevu3D’s user-friendly interface is easy to navigate. One of our first questions to clients is if they game.

Most people will say yes, or a little. Then we tell them to use the keyboard keys to circulate in the Prevu3D digital twin environment – the simple yet immersive experience impresses clients

he adds.

Prevu3D digital twin approach

Prevu3D digital twin solution effectively addresses the pain points of the construction and engineering industry through its key features:

• Rapidly create a digital twin of environments
• Generate measurements
• Easily explore the site
• Patented tool to virtually edit spaces and assets
• Create multiple layouts or design iterations
• Online web collaboration tools

The results

What Seneca accomplished using Prevu3D

Prevu3D is a powerful solution that lets users of all levels of expertise design, edit, and share 3D environments in real-time. It offers hyperrealistic 3D replicas that allow stakeholders to visualize complex projects for better collaboration and decision-making.

Working with Prevu3D, Seneca improved pre-design efficiency and communication, benefiting from key features:

• User-friendly interface: Eliminate software access bottlenecks and technical limitations. Create and digitally implement multiple production layouts to optimize scarce space. Publish all scenarios for faster stakeholder consensus.
• Seamless editing tools: Edit, create and explore scenarios. Easily move heavy machines, check fit with click-and-measure tools, and detect collisions. Use 3D avatars to verify pre-design concepts and iterate ideas in minutes.
• Online immersive simulations: Whether your site is a few thousand square feet or a few thousand acres, Prevu3D uses gaming-based multiuser technology to immerse project stakeholders in 3D environments remotely.
• Documentation: Include measurements, tags, notes, and link assets. Replace tedious and error-prone manual measurements minimizing travel time and costs.
• Visualization: Get buy-in on recommendations and investments from project stakeholders with immersive ‌proof of concepts.