Autodesk AutoCAD Revit Series-Structure wins praise after pilot with major UK engineering firm - software delivers substantial time and efficiency gains
The UK's largest engineering consultancy, Atkins has completed its pilot of the new Autodesk AutoCAD Revit Series-Structure (Revit Structure). According to Atkins associate Chris Pembridge, Revit Structure helped increase efficiency, accuracy and design flexibility.
He reports that the software has already brought excellent productivity gains. For example, one recent project that would have taken around two weeks to carry out was completed in the equivalent of two days.
Pembridge says that the solution will help enhance the structural engineering team's competitiveness in global markets. "We leave no stone unturned when it comes to maintaining and improving the quality of our work to clients. Anything that cuts out tedious, routine work serves the dual purpose of saving time and eliminating opportunities for error and so gives us a real head start," he says.
Because Revit Structure simultaneously creates a physical model for design, co-ordination and documentation, plus a fully-associated analytical model, it means information needs to be entered only once. In this way it acts as a common front-end and an application programming interface (API) enables third party applications to import the AutoCAD Revit Series-Structure model and analyse the data.
The results are then fed back into Revit Structure and the model can be automatically updated. "This way we can continue to use our ROBOT Millennium analysis software tools we know and trust, but everything is streamlined and consistent," says Pembridge.
Pembridge recently trialed the software on a project to check that the design for a building came within permitted parameters. "We imported the architect's drawings into Revit Structure, added the structural elements on top, creating a 3D model to feed directly into our analysis tools. Normally this would have taken around two weeks, but using the new solution we were able to do it in a fraction of the time - around two days," he explains.
By minimising the time taken on repetitive, labour-intensive work, Revit Structure leaves engineers free to explore other design options, resulting in higher quality work. Further time savings are made as the software co-ordinates any revisions right across the model and documentation. Consequently, last minute changes by the architect, client or other parties can be implemented quickly and with the assurance that all other design elements will be updated accordingly.
"Revit Structure enables companies to respond to client demand swiftly and efficiently but without adding to their own project overhead," Pembridge concludes.
