Heathrow CDE built on GroupBC and Autodesk technologies

A seven-year framework agreement to deliver London Heathrow Airport Limited’s chosen Common Data Environment (CDE) solution combines technologies from Autodesk and GroupBC.

Excitech logoUK-based Excitech construction technology and services provider recently announced that it had been awarded a seven-year framework agreement to lead a consortium to deliver Heathrow Airport Limited’s chosen Common Data Environment (CDE) solution. Interestingly, it combines technologies from two firms who otherwise both compete in the CDE sector. The platform will combine Autodesk’s BIM 360 visualisation and design tools integrated and underpinned with management and governance from GroupBC’s Enterprise CDE.

Excitech is Autodesk’s largest Platinum Partner in the UK. It provides software, consultancy, training and support, and a range of IT, document management and facilities management solutions.

According to the company, the CDE will be at the heart of Heathrow’s Information Management strategy. It will be its primary common information repository and allow controlled sharing of information with suppliers and across Heathrow departments. It will provide information and asset management in line with emerging industry standards, ensuring the efficient whole-life management of Heathrow’s critical assets.

Dave HughesMarket-leading technologies

David Hughes, Excitech’s managing director, right, said: “Having worked on the Terminal 5 construction project we are excited to be involved in this latest strategic project at Heathrow. The Autodesk and GroupBC technologies being deployed are market-leading and will enable Heathrow to trust the data they hold and have the confidence to make decisions based on ‘one version of the truth”.

The project is already underway and is expected to be complete by December 2020.

Jo Ellman Brown, PMO Director at Heathrow said: “We are aiming to be the first airport operator in the world who can leverage value from our digital assets, allowing our people to work in a safe environment, design and plan in a collaborative way, and operate a fully integrated asset system. With a long-established relationship with Excitech, we’re delighted they were the successful bidder on this project. We anticipate that the solution they have proposed will significantly improve the management of our critical assets.”

As well as enabling Heathrow to have accurate and up to date information readily available in the CDE, the new solution will result in fewer surveys and reduced costs as a result of earlier and greater collaboration across all parties. In addition, maintenance costs will reduce through better, earlier clash detection and more accurate maintenance information being readily available.

GroupBC

GroupBCReading, UK-based GroupBC has been developing document and information management solutions for construction related projects and asset owners since 1998, and in recent years has been pushing the boundaries of technology, linking project and asset data with external datasets in order to provide rich and valuable insights which enable more timely and better decision making. Customers include Balfour Beatty, Costain, Nationwide Building Society, Sainsbury’s and Thames Water (post).

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