The Background.
Our Client is integrating a brand-new production and packaging facility within an existing process plant.
Following a visit to our Head Office for a demo of the new digital technology and processes we have been developing, the client wanted to take advantage of Booth Welsh’s capability and expertise in this area to help improve the design phase of their project. They recognised that deployment of this technology could help them speed up the design, streamline and enhance design reviews, and minimize the risk and impact of any design errors which, if not captured at the time, could be costly to rectify during or after construction.
The Client’s main requirement was for Booth Welsh to create a bespoke Virtual Reality (VR) 3D model of their new facility that would allow them to quickly assess the space constraints, ergonomics, functionality and maintainability of the new facility. This approach enables the design to be visualised and snagged effectively in a way that is only possible in VR, saving the client precious time, cost and resource.
The Client
The client is a blue-chip pharmaceutical company with manufacturing and engineering capability throughout the world.
The Solution.
The solution Booth Welsh provided included the implementation of new, digital technologies.
Using industry-standard design tools from both the Engineering and Gaming industries, a 1:1 scale 3D model was created for the client. Existing 2D CAD drawings were used as the source of information. The 3D model was created within a Game Engine Software, which allowed us to build in features that enabled the client to walk around the facility and interact with it as if they were there in real life.
Utilising state-of-the-art and commercially available VR hardware, Booth Welsh were able to immerse the Client within the model with the use of the VR headset, allowing them to see everything to scale as it would seem in real life, i.e. from the dimensions and tolerances of the equipment, the physical definition of each piece of kit, to the heights of the platforms. Every manner of detail was brought into the VR environment, e.g. lighting levels, environmental 3D sound, and the actual colours and finishes of the walls and flooring.
The benefits described here allows VR simulation to become more than the sum of its parts providing a powerful design and snagging environment that offers a level of immersion and realism not found in an on-screen 3D rendering platform.
Future enhancements of the VR simulation discussed with the client include training, upskilling, and integration of the real live plant data in the VR environment to give a functional digital twin.
The Benefits.
Exposed the client to the ‘art of the possible’ when embracing digital technologies and how they can be used in future projects to enhance design and productivity.
Enabled team members to immediately spot a flaw in the design or assembly that could have caused time delays or additional costs to rectify during the building phase.
Training & upskilling of staff to begin familiarisation with the new equipment well before the facility has been physically built.
The virtual facility can be linked to the real process telemetry via its physical counterpart, giving an interactive digital twin that could be deployed anywhere.