Palma himself graduated from VCC’s certificate program in 1997, a time of transition both for the detailing program at VCC and the industry overall. The program has roots as deep as VCC’s founding in 1949, when drafting was one of its first academic departments. After decades of having students sit at drafting boards with pencils and papers, the program Palma studied in the late 1990s had four stations of AutoCAD. By the time Palma took over the program in 2018, it was fully entrenched in Tekla.
Today Trimble has donated its Tekla software to VCC for the past 13 years. “[Trimble] has been extremely supportive,” Palma said. “Tekla is so fundamental to what we do. We wouldn’t be a steel detailing program without it.”
“Technology is becoming the forefront of construction. Whether it’s laser scanning in the field, AR/VR with the Hololens, or 3D models used for pricing jobs, all the way through the process, the detailers who have been embracing it and keeping current will be at the forefront of the industry.”
So said Matt Arnott, director of administration at Exact, which since its founding in 2008 has expanded its services to include not just detailing, but also surveying and connection engineering. “We’re all about solving problems ahead of time.”
Most of Exact’s survey work involves renovations of heritage buildings, where it’s important all fabrications mate precisely with the existing structure. The company uses Trimble’s TX7 laser scanner. “The point cloud data we get, if utilized across all parts of the project, can be extremely valuable. We can see exactly what issues we could have before any fabricator starts cutting or welding, before any crane arrives on-site, and well before construction starts.”
For connection engineering, Exact makes use of Qnect to optimize connections. The cloud-based software undergoes numerous iterations to optimize connection design for an entire structure. One fewer bolt hole can save hours or days of erection time. The software even color-codes members to help connection engineers identify the number of required workstations in the fab shop. For instance, one color might signify members that need only go to the punch and drill line, while another color shows components that go through a beam line plus the weld line.
The number of stations a beam goes through affects the cost of the job, where the estimating function comes into play—services that Exact is increasingly being called upon for assistance.
“We do use Tekla EPM [estimating and production management] and provide a preliminary model for a client,” Arnott said. “When we are brought in during the bidding stage, we work with the fabricator, general contractor, and design team to develop an intelligent model and material lists, [so] they can price a job the most effectively.” He added these services also include transportation challenges, the laydown areas for steel, and the sequencing certain space constraints require.
All this has helped Exact and its structural fabrication clients navigate an industry that, like nearly everywhere else, continues to suffer from supply chain challenges. “At this point everyone is becoming proactive,” Arnott said, adding that software has allowed his company to provide information to clients, allowing them to make quick decisions as different materials become available. “We build a smart model well before construction. We do the preliminary connection engineering and detailing, all during the estimation stage. We can price out different components and uncover scheduling scenarios. We fully utilize our software tools to allow our clients to make the best decision for the project.”
All this happens well before any steel is cut, welded, or erected. As VCC’s Palma described, such predictive software tools have changed steel detailing’s prominence.
Still, a detailer’s world shouldn’t be confined to the computer screen. Before the pandemic, Palma led a class field trip to Dynamic Attractions, the amusement park ride firm specializing in design, engineering, and fabrication that has a facility near downtown Vancouver. There, students saw not only engineers and detailers in action, but also the numerous fabricators on the shop floor.
Palma’s message: The model you design in software has a direct impact on everything that happens in fabrication and erection. “For a long time, steel detailing was at the bottom of the ladder, under the radar. Even in construction, people didn’t know what steel detailing was. And as the years are going on, I think one of the biggest reasons detailers have risen to such high profiles is because of software. We have powerful tools that we can extract information from and share so quickly, it has made the detailer that much more vital.”
Source: https://www.vcc.ca/programs/steel-construction-modelling-technician-certificate/
