InfraServ Gendorf Technik (ISGT) is a subsidiary of chemical park operator InfraServ Gendorf. InfraServ Gendorf Technik is fully committed to plant services and maintenance, including both hands-on implementation and strategic vision.
Identifying goals
InfraServ Gendorf Technik (ISGT) is a subsidiary of chemical park operator InfraServ Gendorf. The company is fully committed to plant services and maintenance. More than 250 employees support companies from the chemical and process industry with technical services. With roots as site operator of a large chemical park, InfraServ Gendorf Technik is accustomed to thinking in terms of the big picture while at the same time addressing the repair of individual components. This combination of hands-on implementation and strategic vision makes InfraServ Gendorf Technik a compelling partner far beyond the GENDORF Chemical Park.
The project had two aims: improve further prefabrication of piping isometrics, and streamline the generic plant construction projects from prefabrication to assembly. The key goal for the company was to reduce the administrative burden by automating and digitizing piping prefabrication work processes.
Overcoming challenges
When prefabricating piping isometrics, even minor deviations can quickly lead to delays throughout the project. InfraServ Gendorf Technik had already noticed that the traditional, manual approach to pipeline construction was slow and prone to errors. With the manual approach, all the existing data from the customer had to be manually entered into the system to be able to control the bending machines and production. This often resulted in a number of incorrect entries, and the throughput times were often prolonged. It made overall project execution and management difficult and time-consuming.
With this in mind, InfraServ Gendorf Technik decided to look for a way that would enable the company to save time, improve efficiency, and lower costs. A solution was to be developed that would enable a digital and intelligent data flow between management of pipe components in the certified pipe classes and the 3D design model, without having to re-enter the data manually into the system.
Realizing results
Forte 3D solutions were chosen for the task mainly due to their integration and automation capabilities, which would in turn reduce data errors. As a long-time Octave customer, InfraServ Gendorf Technik was familiar with the integrated, digital data management solutions provided by the company and believed that both time and cost savings could be reached by further use of Octave solutions.
The implemented solution included several Octave products: PICODA, Forte Reference Data, Forte Isometrics and OnSite Spool Design. This piping fabrication solution helped InfraServ Gendorf Technik to close the gap between the planning and plant maintenance with digitized data.
With a digital approach, InfraServ Gendorf Technik could get rid of the error-prone manual work processes: the data from the planning software is now transferred via an interface to the control system software of the bending machines. In addition, the piping fabrication solution automatically checks the data for the production of pipes for plausibility and completeness.
The data management solution provided by Octave is used throughout the project lifecycle from detailed engineering and work scheduling to isometric, bills of material, working papers and pipe classes creation. The software also enables digital data exchange from planning to production to assembly, enhancing the overall project quality. The overall implementation time was fast: piping and detailed engineering departments were ready for production in approximately six weeks, and users were trained in just one week. After implementation, InfraServ Gendorf Technik has managed approximately 1,500-2,000 pipelines with Octave piping fabrication solution.
The new piping fabrications solution has provided InfraServ Gendorf Technik with :
20%-30% time savings in work preparation and scheduling
10%-20% time savings for documentation
Up to 30%-40% time savings in project evaluation, depending on project scope, complexity and customer
Moving forward
Werner Bayerl, head of order management at InfraServ Gendorf Technik, commented on InfraServ Gendorf Technik’s decision to digitize piping fabrication: “We often face problems with the documentation during our plant reconstruction projects. Although our customer might have the original data about the existing pipelines available, certain updates and changes are always done during the maintenance and operations that are not always shown in the original documentation. This often leads into surprises arising later on when reusing data. With the software from Octave, we can now provide constantly updated data in both directions: from original planning to the bending machines, as well as from the actual manufactured isometric of the pipes back to our client. This way, the actual 3D model of the plant is always up-to-date and the effort to control and update documentation is considerably reduced.”
