{"id":20622,"date":"2024-07-02T17:18:12","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T14:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bimsolutions.ge\/eng\/?p=20622"},"modified":"2024-07-02T17:20:54","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T14:20:54","slug":"beyond-steel-and-concrete-how-multiple-design-disciplines-are-using-tekla-structures-as-a-platform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bimsolutions.ge\/eng\/blog\/beyond-steel-and-concrete-how-multiple-design-disciplines-are-using-tekla-structures-as-a-platform\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond steel and concrete: How multiple design disciplines are using Tekla Structures as a platform"},"content":{"rendered":"

Respected by BIM designers the world over,\u00a0Tekla Structures<\/a>\u00a0is increasingly being used as a platform to create specialized tools for specific construction tasks.\u00a0Tekla\u2019s open API<\/a>\u00a0makes this easier than developers may realize.<\/p>\n

The heart of South Africa\u2019s rich mining industry is the province of Gauteng. Here more than 150 mines produce around a quarter of the country\u2019s minerals. Most of it is gold, extracted from vast underground deposits and processed on the surface in specialized plants.<\/p>\n

Self-taught BIM expert\u00a0Marhinus du Plessis\u00a0has been designing these mineral-processing plants for his entire career. Early on he spotted opportunities to improve the efficiency of plant design \u2013 especially the piping \u2013 by using BIM tools in non-traditional ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cPiping was always done in a separate platform. But then I realized we could bring the piping design into Tekla Structures and automate the entire process with just a few parameters. So I started using the Tekla API to design an add-on myself,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Fast forward several years and du Plessis is Managing Director of a company he co-founded:\u00a0ParaMatic<\/a>. His team has developed a BIM solution of the same name specifically for Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) design. It\u2019s built on top of Tekla Structures. In addition to South Africa, the company has mineral-processing customers in Australia, Turkey and the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve used about 10 different CAD or engineering systems during my career. Tekla Structures was always the one that could do more than in the rest. With ParaMatic you can perform tasks in under two minutes that can take hundreds of hours with traditional tools,\u201d says du Plessis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the fact that Tekla Structures is a database-driven platform where you can assign as many attributes as you want to an object. Then you can use these attributes in various applications \u2013 from creating 2D drawings to running reports.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also extremely robust. I\u2019ve seen teams of 40 people waste hundreds of hours when unstable platforms crash. Not so with Tekla Structures,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Access the code, check the calculations<\/h2>\n

ParaMatic is representative of the growing recognition Tekla Structures is gaining outside of its traditional use for steel and concrete design. Thanks to its open API, other industries requiring specialized construction can easily customize the software.<\/p>\n

ScaffPlan<\/a>\u00a0is an Australian company that has built an end-to-end scaffolding solution on top of Tekla Structures. It\u2019s now used by customers around the world and has completely transformed the industry for scaffolding design and construction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we got started, we did proof of concepts with three different platforms to see which was the most suitable. Tekla was by far the best option. It\u2019s so easy and flexible to work with,\u201d says\u00a0Simon Boyes, the Founder and CEO of ScaffPlan.<\/p>\n

Boyes started out as a scaffold yard laborer and worked his way up to running some of the industry\u2019s most complex projects. ScaffPlan was created to make work faster, more cost-efficient and safer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve drawn everything in 3D that scaffolders need. But we\u2019ve also written the code in the background, so engineers can perform calculation checks to make sure designs are safe and strong enough,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

Pawel Lisowski is ScaffPlan\u2019s Head of Software Development. Another self-taught BIM developer, Lisowoski says\u00a0complete constructability<\/a>\u00a0is what sets Tekla apart from other BIM solutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Tekla, what you see in the model is what you get on site. No other software can offer constructability to this level of detail,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to the\u00a0open API<\/a>, a developer can talk to Tekla Structures through the code. You have access to all the data behind what you\u2019re modeling. This means you can easily create your desired output, as all the information is there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really easy too \u2013 you do not need a background in computer science,\u201d says Lisowski.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Open to any type of construction<\/h2>\n

Tekla Structures<\/a>\u00a0can be used to model components of standard shapes and sizes, as well as to create custom-fabricated building materials and products. The development team from ParaMatic has been using the open API to bring their customers\u2019 component catalogs into the system.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an online database where the dimensions of all the objects are listed. Our code then reads that information and draws it into Tekla. This allows us to easily bring in more catalogs. We don\u2019t need to model anything manually \u2013 it\u2019s all automatically generated by the code,\u201d says ParaMatic Systems Design Engineer, Francois De Jager.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother reason we like Tekla is because the integration between their products is very good. Our draftsmen use\u00a0Trimble Connect<\/a>\u00a0to access the model onsite and make any changes that need doing. Everything is immediately and seamlessly updated without the need to import and export IFC files,\u201d says De Jager.<\/p>\n

Both ParaMatic and ScaffPlan are now looking to expand the use of their Tekla-based platforms to support adjacent use cases. ParaMatic is adding specific functionality for handling fire reticulation, plumbing and wastewater. Cable racking and ducting are also in the roadmap. ScaffPlan is developing its software to cover formwork, shoring and other temporary works.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s no limitation to what you can do through the API. It doesn\u2019t matter what type of construction you\u2019re designing for \u2013 it can be done in Tekla,\u201d says ParaMatic Managing Director Marhinus du Plessis.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Article from Tekla.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Respected by BIM designers the world over,\u00a0Tekla Structures\u00a0is increasingly being used as a platform to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":20630,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBeyond steel and concrete: How multiple design disciplines are using Tekla Structures as a platform - bimsolutions.ge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bimsolutions.ge\/eng\/blog\/beyond-steel-and-concrete-how-multiple-design-disciplines-are-using-tekla-structures-as-a-platform\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Beyond steel and concrete: How multiple design disciplines are using Tekla Structures as a platform - 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