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The Building Engineering Platform (BEP) initiative started 4 years ago with the goal of migrating the joist detailing to a 3D environment under Tekla and by taking advantage of other Trimble solutions like Trimble Connect and XR10. Canam has recently implemented the technologies to modernize its steel joist engineering and drafting processes. This digital transformation's phase has already improved its design activities by 25% for the Canam's joist business unit alone.
Canam Group designs and fabricates over 10,000 joists weekly, but no existing platform could accommodate the specific requirements of our high-volume production processes. The shift to 3D modeling and BIM introduced new challenges, including integrating our in-house joist detailing and manufacturing workflows with modern commercial BIM tools like Tekla. The need for seamless data exchange between internal and external systems, combined with the customization required by each project, posed a significant challenge, not to mention the coordination that needs to happen across our various offices in 5 countries on 3 continents.. Imagine changing the engine while in flight, without losing speed or altitude.
To overcome these issues, we embarked on the BEP initiative, aiming to align our processes with the industry's standards and ongoing digital transformation. The complexity of our joist production workflows, including specific fabrication rules and plant capabilities, required us to build a custom solution integrating Tekla’s 3D modeling platform with our in-house design tools. We also needed to ensure that data could be exchanged efficiently with external stakeholders while maintaining accuracy and preventing costly errors.
The BEP initiative integrates our in-house design and detailing software with Tekla’s 3D modeling tools, enabling us to streamline joist detailing and fabrication processes. We built a robust backend infrastructure that allows real-time communication between systems, reducing the need for manual data entry and minimizing errors.
By leveraging Tekla’s powerful API (Application Programming Interface) and modern technologies like Redis and MongoDB, we created a platform that can manage our entire joist detailing process, from design to fabrication. The system also enables seamless communication with external stakeholders via the IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) format, allowing us to collaborate effectively on projects with complex coordination requirements. This solution resolves our initial challenge by allowing us to detail joists in a fully digital environment, improving productivity and reducing costly rework.
