SUCCESS CASE: CHI Engineering Services Leverages 3D Laser Scanning for Streamlined Analysis & Complete Field-to-Finish Workflow
With a dedication to providing unmatched engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services, CHI Engineering Services applies 35+ years of experience aimed at ensuring each completed project provides their clients with simplified operations and maintenance.
However, CHI began noticing a negative trend in their projects that was making their own operation less-than-simple… and it was beginning to affect their commitment to their clients…
THE CHALLENGE:
“…We typically perform a kick-off site visit where we gather data, drawings, measurements and any other information we can. Ultimately, however, we always need to make follow up visits because [we] just couldn’t capture everything [we] needed.
Then we come back to the office and CAD begins creating 3D models of the site, so we can design the piping and structural components that we are going to use for the projects. The measurements are taken with some error (hand tools) and, inevitably, re-work occurs because things just don’t exactly fit, or play is designed into the connections (field fit) because we can’t be 100% positive on our accuracy…”
-Chris Albers, Senior Civil Engineer, CHI Engineering Services
CHI struggled with:
- Receiving incomplete documentation of existing conditions
- Wasting both time and costs due to slower traditional measurement tools
- Ending up with mistakes in design and too many in-field adjustments due to poor as built documentation
These constant and inevitable workflow hiccups had to be eliminated. CHI needed a solution to streamline their processes and help them elevate their competitive edge in the market.
THE USE CASE:
To best assess what solutions they should consider, CHI needed to evaluate the particulars of their current operations and needs:
COMPANY OVERVIEW:
- Location: Portsmouth, NH
- Industry: LNG, Natural Gas & LPG Industries
- Specialization: Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) Management
TYPICAL APPLICATIONS:
CHI specializes in EPC for liquified natural gas, natural gas and liquified petroleum gas facilities, with their commonly needed measurement applications including:
- Construction verification (flatness / plumbness, FF/FL, Scan vs. BIM analysis, deflection / deformation analysis, structural integrity, clash analysis)
- Site scanning for facility coordination (facility layout & planning)
- Plant scanning for fabrication & asset management (Industrial facilities, as-built piping, structural & equipment modeling)
- Survey / civil deliverables (topo extraction, DTMs, geo-referencing, volume calculations)
NECESSARY SOLUTION BENEFITS:
To alleviate these challenges CHI faced, they were looking for a 3D laser scanning solution that provided the following:
- Speed
- Accuracy / data quality
- Ease-of-use
- Ruggedness (durability in harsh conditions)
- Portability
- Complete field-to-finish workflow (hardware PLUS software)
That is when they turned to 3D Laser Scanning technology to streamline the push of real world data into the digital world with precise accuracy – the FARO Focus Laser Scanner.
THE RESULTS:
Upon adopting the FARO Focus Laser Scanner CHI Engineering Services has reduced total project costs by 10-20% on average and has decreased the time required to document existing site conditions by approximately 50%.
“FARO’s technology gives [CHI Engineering Services] a competitive edge over competitors. Adding FARO laser scanning technology has allowed [us] to offer new services to clients and has opened new revenue sources, which were not possible before.
…With the [FARO Focus] Laser Scanner we do one site visit and come off with a file that we process using [FARO] PointSense and extract all the pertinent existing information like structures, piping, topography and anything else we may need.
Although we have only had the Focus Scanner for 4-5 months, our drawings have gotten better, our accuracy has improved, our CAD man-hours have dropped, our re-work has decreased and our number of trips [to the site] have dropped significantly!”
-Chris Albers, Senior Civil Engineer, CHI Engineering Services
HOW YOU CAN ACHIEVE THESE RESULTS:
FARO’s solutions can help you improve the speed, quality and safety of your architecture, engineering and construction projects and help achieve complete field-to-finish workflows.
With complete hardware and software solutions – such as the FARO Focus Laser Scanner and FARO PointSense – that integrate into your existing processes and software – such as AutoCAD® and Revit® – we engineer our solutions for AEC professionals.
*This success case of CHI Engineering Services is based on an October 2017 survey of FARO Technologies, Inc. customers conducted by TechValidate, a 3rd-party research service.