The Challenge:
ONEC is a mid-sized EPC company that provides comprehensive engineering, procurement, and construction services throughout Western Canada and the U.S., serving clients in the oil and gas, utilities, and industrial sectors. ONEC has seen rapid growth even in this challenging environment by leveraging their innovative spirit and exceeding their clients’ expectations. ONEC uses technology that does the hard work by simplifying and making the end result easy for the client to see and understand. When everyone has the same clear vision, it eliminates questions, disputes, wasted time, and resources that result in significantly lower costs and schedule savings.
Early on ONEC knew it needed to differentiate themselves from the competition and identified their 3D modeling as a core strength. While other EPC firms worked with traditional 2D CAD drawings and had little or no 3D experience, ONEC provided highly detailed 3D models at no extra cost for their clients. The company wanted to highlight these capabilities to midstream operators in the oil and gas industry and other prospective clients. They were looking for technology to help them create an advantage for their clients in either time or cost savings.
The Solution:
When ONEC learned about augmented reality (AR), they knew they’d found a perfect match for their 3D modeling capabilities. They were introduced to Trimble SiteVision and accepted the invitation to participate in an early experience group that gave them exposure to the product as it was being developed.
Because ONEC had been doing surveying in-house, their teams were familiar with GNSS, the coordinate systems, and the calibration files used to ensure high accuracy placement of models in the field. There was still a bit of a learning curve, but the ONEC team was convinced of the time- and cost-saving advantages of AR and quickly got up to speed. Once they began using SiteVision with their clients—and saw them quickly become believers, too—they knew they’d made the right decision.
The Results:
ONEC is now able to deliver impressively realistic and accurate design reviews—whether on the physical site, in front of an audience in an auditorium, or even from the yard behind their office. Because SiteVision lets them take designs to the field while using Team Viewer allows everyone to see the project at once, ONEC can involve even more stakeholders in reviews, including field workers and operators, who are able to easily identify clashes and other problems before they require rework or change orders.
Says Joe Riordan, ONEC Technologies Director, “SiteVision engages the field staff at a level they haven’t been accustomed to. Previously, operators and maintenance staff were handed something to operate and maintain and without much input. Now they feel a part of it and are making valuable inputs to the design that previously would have resulted in an expensive change order. Construction staff can see the end result and ask detailed questions which save significant RFIs that can bring a project to a halt over a simple item. Operators can identify access or interference issues, for example, or maintenance staff can identify inappropriate clearances for their tools or lifts. There is an emotional connection to it as well. That fosters good cooperation among everybody. Engineers, designers, construction people—they’re having conversations they’ve never had before, resulting in a sense of pride in the end result.”
Since adding SiteVision to their design reviews, ONEC is saving time and money, winning bigger projects, and attracting a growing clientele by helping them see their project on their site. They’ve been able to:
- • Lower costs due to fewer change orders and RFIs
- • Increase stakeholder engagement, leading to faster, safer, and more cost-effective designs
- • Increase confidence in the final project outcome and as a result use hard-dollar (lump sum) bids vs. time and materials, saving 33% in some cases
- • Minimize reliance on $2,500/day survey crews by using SiteVision to show safe dig zones, delineate boundaries or identify underground utilities
- • Improve collaboration by involving more stakeholders at the design phase
- • Avoid travel time and costs by using Team Viewer to stream the AR image to multiple users wherever they are located
What Next:
ONEC plans to continue to push the envelope with Trimble SiteVision to help attract larger-scale projects and expand their business in North America. The company is exploring how to use Trimble SiteVision in combination with other Trimble solutions for scheduling, inspections, and inventory to bring even more value and efficiency to their client projects. They’re also strong advocates of the technology, helping others to create or modify 3D designs, as well as helping clients use SiteVision to visualize their project before a shovel hits the ground.
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