Can it really be true? It is according to J.P. Gauthier, Superintendent of CADD Systems, at the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). As a long-time user of ProjectWise InterPlot, J.P. and the team at TTC are no strangers to plot automation efficiency. They are also not strangers to paper.
"We submit all of our design reviews to our safety officers as paper plots - because that is their preferred media for review." Said J.P. Gauthier when i asked him why they were compelled to add ProjectWise Dynamic Plot to their existing ProjectWise implementation.
"Historically our safety officers markup the paper copies, and afterwards, a clerk manually transfers the Safety Officer's comments to the CAD environment. With dynamic plots, produced by ProjectWise, our safety officers can markup a paper plot using a digital pen, and then directly synchronize their comments with the source CAD files."
Its easy to see the value for TTC; they get to streamline their mark-up workflow without really changing it because the team still produces paper plots, and the safety officers still mark-up the paper copy with pen and ink.
"So where is the BIG win for you?" I asked.
"This new workflow with the digital pen and dynamic plot eliminates any risk of markup transfer errors and is key to improving our safety record." followed J.P.
No doubt, eliminating risk and improving safety are two VERY bankable benefits for the TTC team. But how does this ProjectWise Dynamic Plot software work?
ProjectWise Dynamic Plot sustains and extends the value of project information by bringing paper into the digital age to help mitigate project risk, and shrink the time required to sync written comments with digital data from days to seconds.
ProjectWise Dynamic Plot is the only solution of its kind that enables plot production from any PC, markup on any piece of paper, and synchronization from any other PC anywhere in the world.
With an industry-wide shortage of qualified and experienced engineers, it's never been more important to retain seasoned professionals to work alongside the rising stars of the future to guarantee success. But with clear preferences from some for traditional paper-based design review processes bucking the trend to adopt digital methodologies it's never been more difficult to integrate project delivery across a diverse team.
That is until now. By connecting the information plotted to paper with the source information in the computer, in effect bringing paper into the digital age, the ProjectWise Dynamic Plot offering enables integrated project teams to embrace traditional and digital workflows as though they are one: Sustaining the value of information and sustaining the value of the workforce at large.
Accordingly - with ProjectWise Dynamic Plot - the design environment is persistently connected to the review environment by making the paper ‘dynamic.' Then, using a digital pen, all markups applied to a dynamic plot are captured in real-time.
With this new software, come tools to add a "dynamic" layer to a digital drawing so that when it is plotted to paper - using ProjectWise InterPlot - the new Dynamic Plot software adds the design data along with a unique pattern that gives the overall plot a slightly grayish background.
At the same time a record is made in the ProjectWise database indicating which design files were used to create the plot. This record is the key for associating comments applied to the dynamic plot with the digital models that were used to produce it. This ‘provenance' enables - for the first time - complete change management between the paper and digital versions of the same information.
So when someone marks up the dynamic paper copy with a digital pen the markups are immediately captured - in real-time - by the pen, and stored for later synchronization with the original model content. And then synchronizing the digital pen and its captured content is easy. Dock the pen, and the digital markups - the ones and zeros - are transferred to the PC, and transformed into vectors before being synchronized and associated with the source data (by querying the record created earlier in the process) so that all data is presented on screen in one place.
This ‘dynamic' connection between the paper plot and the digital source data, and the ‘provenance' retained by ProjectWise, enables any user to eliminate errors during the paper-to-PC transfer process. Accordingly, users can immediately synchronize mark-ups made on paper with the digital source data in the PC, dramatically reducing the time required to sync written comments with digital data from days to seconds.
The benefits are clear. Integrated project teams eliminate the risk of losing markups, they establish a markup audit trail for management accountability and corporate compliance, they dramatically reduce the time it takes to synchronize comments made on paper, and they increase project quality, improve project safety, and reduce project risk by making sure that all information in all media is consistent.
And interest has been overwhelming. In 2009, and after only one-month online, the ProjectWise Dynamic Plot story was the 2nd most read of all online exclusives for "Rebuilding America's Infrastructure"
In addition, other early responses from industry analysts were also very favorable:
"It's the way ProjectWise Dynamic Plot fits comfortably into existing review workflows, that makes it an easy choice for many companies." -Kathleen Maher, Vice President, Jon Peddie research
"This would have been great twenty years ago when I was a practicing geologist. I could have saved a lot of time and effort." -Joe Francica, Editor-in-chief, Directions Media
Ask your Account Manager for details, you never know, you may even be able to get a free trial!!
Cheers
JC
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