Visualising and Navigating Data from External Sources Using Custom Navisworks Tools

This presentation walks through various examples illustrating the benefit of augmenting 3D models with construction data. At the convergence of Laing O’Rourke’s Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) approach and its investment in BIM, component tracking has proven an efficient aid to the delivery of projects. The data visualisations enabled by linking planning and manufacturing data—both from our suppliers and our own off-site manufacturing facilities—with models provide a clear overview of the construction, for various disciplines. This allows us to detect issues earlier, plan further ahead, and reduce user errors. At the heart of it are agreed processes for ordering and tracking progress and flexible tools which can be configured easily to suit. Expanding on this, we’ve increasingly linked up new sources of data to models to visualise different sorts of information: non-conformity reports, fire safety checks, operation and maintenance documents, etc. The flexibility of the tools developed in-house for Autodesk Navisworks allow us to work with a wide range of data sources: spreadsheet, SQL based databases, planning programmes.