New platform with Cadac as a development partner
Many organisations are looking hard for ways to become more sustainable, but that is not always easy or fast. Beyond Eyes helps companies with this by focusing on the facilities domain. This starts with collecting data on the occupancy and utilisation of a building. From here, organisations set up their facility processes flexibly, which automatically leads to, among other things, less waste and less unnecessary energy consumption. Beyond Eyes, a collaboration between Heijmans, CSU and PreZero, called on Cadac for the switch to a new platform for the management of building floor plans. In the end, the engineers and software developers put the puzzle together.
Beyond Eyes breaks new ground with Autodesk software
In the summer of 2022, a big job landed on the desk of Henk Koelewijn, project leader at Beyond Eyes: incorporating floor plans of a building into a new platform. "The choice fell on Autodesk's Forge. In it, a Facility Manager can see at a glance how a building is performing. A good floor plan is a requirement for this, and for us that meant transferring many hundreds of floor plans from existing buildings. It's doable with regard to the building floor plans that are often drawn in AutoCAD , but when copying the assets on the floor plans, we got stuck. We're talking about tens of thousands of assets; workstations, conference tables, meeting rooms, toilets, and so on. All those assets have a unique code, shape and location, and we couldn't transfer them one-to-one to the AutoCAD floor plans and then use them in the Forge platform."
We have experienced the collaboration with Cadac as particularly pleasant. They are clear Autodesk specialists. I can see us working together more in the future.
Henk Koelewijn
Project Manager at Beyond Eyes
Cadac Control
A job of this size requires good advice. Through his network, Henk Koelewijn comes into contact with Maurice Laumen, senior account manager at Cadac. "If we could provide some Forge specialists as quickly as possible to get the job done," Maurice recalls. 'Secondment has not been Cadac's service for some time now, we mainly build integrated solutions. But of course we also looked at this question in search of the question behind the question. Reproducing all those floor plans and entering data; There had to be another way. As luck would have it, we were just rolling out our new Cadac Control tool. Software that is aimed at implementing actions on drawings, models and datasets.'
Forge Platform
Henk Koelewijn is interested in the solution and will change his mind if a first Proof of Concept with a number of drawings is successful in September. Well before the deadline, all floor plans with the corresponding correctly positioned assets, including asset codes, were processed on the AutoCAD building floor plans and stored in the Forge cloud platform.
'During the process, we naturally ran into a number of technical challenges. Things like the existing floor plans that were often only present in a raster image file, which were given too low a resolution when used within Forge and therefore no longer met the required minimum image quality. Assets that were known on the basis of GPS coordinates (latitude and longitude) and could not be projected in the correct position in relation to the map in AutoCAD. All in all, a technical story that required a lot of creativity. Fortunately, together with the Cadac consultants, we eventually solved and completed it on time.'
Beyond Eyes makes facility processes flexible and sustainable
Meeting the deadline was important, Henk explains. 'As of 1 January 2023, we could no longer work with the existing platform. The floor plans with the linked data serve as the basis for various services in the buildings. For example, a reservation system for meeting rooms and workplaces is linked to it. Users pay for that.'
'Beyond Eyes is being used more and more widely. We already collect a lot of data from buildings and that will only increase in the coming years. We believe that there are still a lot of sustainability gains to be made in buildings. Beyond Eyes sensors measure relative humidity, room temperature, CO2, energy flows and presence in buildings. Sensors detect, among other things, where there has or has not been an occupancy in a building. Cleaning staff indicate where it is more or less contaminated. In other words, Beyond Eyes brings people and technology together. Thanks to this combination of smart technology, real-time data, monitoring, but also advice from our experts , it is possible to respond continuously to changes. Cleaners use data to clean where necessary. This combination therefore contributes to more sustainable buildings where facility processes are used very efficiently.'
Data Processing
Maurice is quick to acknowledge that the migration was not a piece of cake. 'In principle, Autodesk Forge is not designed for asset management, and Cadac Control is not actually intended for a one-off migration. It's a dynamic cloud platform. Nevertheless, together with Beyond Eyes, we managed to link Cadac Control, FME software and Forge to transfer the complete sets. This is a milestone for us, because we are taking a step in the field of data processing and integration. I don't have to explain to anyone that data is the new gold, also in construction and construction management. With Cadac Control, we are expanding our package and can offer our customers more service. It's a great showcase.'
Collaboration: Beyond Eyes and Cadac
Henk Koelewijn nods. 'We both benefit from it. We have therefore experienced the cooperation with Cadac as particularly pleasant. They are clear Autodesk specialists. I can see us working together more in the future.'