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Based in Dresden, Germany, Umwelt und Ingenieurtechnik GmbH (UIT) as a subsidiary of the General Atomics Europe Group (a part of the General Atomics Group, based in the USA) that operates ten companies in the aviation, infrastructure, and sustainability industries. UIT’s mission is to contribute to a sustainable future by providing innovative engineering services, consulting, and plant and process engineering solutions.
With over 30 years of experience, the company strives to solve its customers' challenges while complying with sustainability and legal requirements. UIT specialises in a range of industries, including industrial and mine water treatment, bioreactor plants, pilot plants and containers, geophysical measurement systems, engineering, consulting, and hydrometallurgy. Their versatility enables the company to cater to a wide range of customer needs, acting as both a general planner and a main contractor.
Thomas Sachse, UIT’s Group Leader for Construction in the business division Water Technology, explains that the company sets itself apart from the competition with its extensive experience in plant engineering. Over the years, they have successfully designed and constructed numerous plants for diverse customers and industries. The experienced team offers customised solutions, and their interdisciplinary approach ensures comprehensive and innovative project execution.
Using Autodesk Docs and Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro for their construction workflows for a mine water treatment plant project in Germany, UIT’s mission was to remove specific substances from uplifted mine water to comply with water protection regulations.
The mine water projects included various engineering structures, such as cascade structures, sedimentation basins, and large earth basins, as well as technological and company buildings. With this extensive range, UIT faced several challenges, including:
The team’s transition to a cloud-based platform like Autodesk Docs for managing project information and BIM Collaborate Pro for pre-construction workflows was a dynamic process involving training by the design department before the project's commencement. The team took a learning-by-doing approach to their rollout of the technology.
As an organisation, UIT evaluates new technologies thoroughly before implementing them and, with the help of Autodesk channel partner, NTI Germany, they evaluated the software for compatibility – even identifying how they could improve processes with integrated workflows before they began using the solution.
Working with NTI Germany, an Autodesk Construction Cloud Elite partner, UIT found that Autodesk Construction Cloud’s solutions addressed several pain points for them, including:
BIM Collaborate Pro supports the design team to collaborate and share design ideas on models much quicker through the cloud which allowed them to combat their challenges. Coupled with Autodesk Docs, using these tools offers:
UIT established a strategic partnership with NTI Germany and Autodesk. This collaboration was driven by several compelling factors, including NTI’s extensive proficiency in utilizing various Autodesk software, such as AutoCAD and Plant 3D. By joining forces with NTI Germany as an Autodesk Construction Cloud Elite partner, UIT benefitted from NTI’s dedicated expertise to streamlining the implementation process. This allowed UIT to concentrate on core responsibilities, while NTI focused on guiding them through implementation with a deep understanding of local language requirements and local standard. By combining the collective strengths of NTI Germany and Autodesk, UIT benefitted from unparalleled levels of support, expertise, and value.
By using Autodesk Docs and BIM Collaborate Pro, UIT has achieved time-saving benefits. The team can now create and access daily construction reports and view detailed 3D models during initial meetings at specific plant locations. This improves efficiency because generating these reports in the past were a cumbersome and timely process. Using a digital platform like Autodesk Docs reduces the need for physical drawings on-site, which improves accuracy, creates transparency, and means team members can focus on problem-solving tasks.
Connected workflows enable seamless collaboration, streamlined processes, and efficient data exchange between different stakeholders involved in construction projects. This means mistakes can be spotted much quicker, reducing the chance of rework or errors occurring on site.
By introducing Autodesk Construction Cloud into UIT's workflows and processes, teams are now empowered to access drawings and diagrams independently. Collaboration with contractors now takes place in a single model and gone are the days of sharing and storing different versions of drawings in individual’s email inboxes.
For the team, the benefits are obvious: improved construction project quality as collaborators can identify and correct collisions between models before works take place on site.
Thomas Sachse affirms, ‘Using Autodesk Construction Cloud as our Common Data Environment means we can save ourselves having to create complex design reports from scratch – we can now discuss problems with our partners instantly with a model in front of us. This often saves us not just minutes and hours – but days in time saved.’
Looking to the future, UIT plan to start using Autodesk Build for their project management workflows with all their site teams too. The company will also benefit from the help of NTI Germany with a pilot workshop phase. The long-term goal is to ensure data captured on site and stored in Autodesk Build will give them the insights they need to improve their working methods continually. Mr. Sachse continues: “In the future, all new projects and all communication will be handled via Autodesk Construction Cloud. Our partnership with NTI Germany also offers bespoke guidance as we evolve our digital journey further - bringing in real-time data to inform decision-making is a critical game-changer.”
NTI is an Autodesk Construction Cloud Elite Partner with offices throughout Europe.
ACC Elite Partners are highly specialised in construction solutions and offer exclusive industry knowledge, solution expertise and implementation capabilities.
For further information on NTI and Autodesk Construction Cloud:
Tel.: +49 89 255 52155 0
Fax: +49 89 255 52155 5
info-de@nti.biz
www.nti-group.com/de
