London, 24 January 2017 – 3D Repo, a multi-award winning provider of cloud software solutions for collaborative Building Information Modelling (BIM), has started development on a unique mobile platform for Crossrail designed to manage maintainable assets. The cloud-based innovation by 3D Repo brings together previously disparate databases and information sources to provide on-site, instant access, to both historical and real-time information. The project is funded under the Crossrail innovation programme, Innovate 18, which is designed to lead innovation in the construction industry.
Working with Crossrail, 3D Repo has demonstrated integration between information already held within asset lifecycle information management software. Through a Crossrail Asset Information and Configuration Management System (AIMS), data matrix ID labels and RFID tags can be scanned using a mobile device to provide real-time access to plant and system diagrams and operation and maintenance (O&M) manuals. 3D Repo’s mobile platform will also let project managers, maintenance personnel and stakeholders access different 3D views of an asset allowing them to select information that is most relevant to them for the purposes of installation, snagging and commissioning, for example.
“With the Crossrail project nearing completion we wanted to demonstrate a system that could provide a one stop solution for post-delivery asset management. 3D Repo application could deliver direct cost savings in terms of simplified management processes and transparency of work, at every stage of the project, from planning to construction and handover to facilities management,” said Harry Parnell, Head of Digital Project Delivery at Balfour Beatty and Project Manager in Crossrail’s Woolwich Station. “This is all digitally enabled by a simple web interface that is easy to deploy and easy to use.”
Based on 3D Repo’s cloud-based open source collaboration platform the Crossrail solution does not require the installation of any additional software, or the often large licence costs that accompany proprietary common data environments (CDEs). In addition, users do not require extra training and the platform runs equally well on existing desktops, tablets and even mobile phones.
“We are helping Crossrail maximise the investment already made in asset management by bringing together all the different pieces of the asset information jigsaw,” commented Dr Jozef Dobos, CEO of 3D Repo. “By linking up existing data silos and repositories through the use of the Crossrail Asset Identification Standard and making information easy to access and easy to visualise, we are effectively making their existing asset management smarter.”
About 3D Repo
3D Repo, a spinout from University College London, is a multi-award winning open source software for Building Information Modelling in the cloud. Instead of architects, consultants and contractors sharing massive proprietary files in a costly and time consuming manner, they can simply point their web browser to an encrypted online repository in order to examine each project stage virtually, even on mobile devices. More than 40 different 3D file formats are decomposed and federated in the company’s big data repository. The 3D Repo team has collaborated on a number of large scale projects with companies such as ARUP, Balfour Beatty and British Telecom. http://3drepo.org/
About Crossrail
Crossrail Limited was established in 2001 and is the company that has been set up to build the new railway that will become known as the Elizabeth line when it opens through central London in 2018. Crossrail is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) and is jointly sponsored by TfL and the Department for Transport. Once the railway is complete it will be handed over to TfL and run as part of London’s integrated transport network. www.crossrail.co.uk