| Fineweld Navistools Case Study |
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Fineweld Oy, Finland – April, 2011
Navistools Data Manager and Reporter
The Company
FineWeld Oy is one of the biggest Nordic companies specialising in the manufacture and
installation of industrial piping systems.
Piping modules including steelwork and equipment are prefabricated at their factory in Kokkola,
Finland and can be installed in minimum time with minimum on-site resource requirements. Due to
the high degree of prefabrication and efficient installation processes, modules can be supplied easily
to global customers.
Fineweld’s main customers operate primarily in the mining, forestry, chemical and process
industries in the Nordic countries. It recently completed major projects at the Kiruna mine in
Northern Sweden and at the Talvivaara mine in Sotkamo, Finland and is currently involved in a
large project at the Boliden mines in Gallivare, Sweden.
“We make industrial pipes in the Janismaa industrial area in Kokkola and undertake contracting
projects mainly in the Nordic countries although we have also delivered projects in the UK,
Germany and Austria”, explains Matti Laitinen, the company’s founder and Managing Director.
A privately owned company, Fineweld employs over 250 staff with a turnover of more than € 30
million.
The Current Situation
Fineweld has obvious strengths in this highly competitive sector. Reliable operations and project
delivery play a key role.
“We provide our customers with comprehensive deliverables including pipes, steel structures and
equipment. The pipes and structures are pre-fabricated in our work-shops and then can be quickly
installed by small on-site teams. Tightly scheduled investment projects in which design and
manufacture proceed hand in hand are routine to us and one of the fields we excel in. Our goal is to
transfer as much of the manufacturing process as possible to our own work-shop. Only the
installation of our pre-fabricated products is carried out on-site”, explains Ville Klaavu, Sales
Manager.
Fineweld use Autodesk Navisworks on every project. This is necessary as CAD models may be
received in multiple formats including AutoCAD, Microstation and PDMS in addition to
Navisworks aggregated data.
Navisworks allows Fineweld to visually inspect the received models, perform measurements and
mark up the model with any queries or requests for communication internally and with the
customer.
The Navisworks models are then used by work-planners and the site installation teams using
Navisworks Simulate or the free viewer, Navisworks Freedom, to help plan their processes in the
most efficient manner.
The fabrication team use external data including isometric drawings and various specification data
from excel spreadsheets in addition to the visual Navisworks models data. The Need
“We need to make sure our on-site installation processes are as efficient as possible to ensure we
deliver our customers the highest possible quality and maintaining our competitive edge”, adds
Klaavu, “We noticed that in addition to the visual Navisworks model data, our on-site teams needed
access to a variety of additional different data and information from different sources including
isometric drawings, pipeline information including spool numbers, specifications, pipe supports
details, supplier information and additional drawing details. We also needed to have information on
the status of the installation, e.g. has this item been delivered or has it been installed yet. We
recognised that the easiest and most efficient way to access this diverse information would be if we
could via Navisworks – could we use Navisworks as a visual portal?”
Klaavu approached Profox as their Autodesk partner and Navisworks supplier and was already
aware of their specialist skills surrounding the application and software development of
Navisworks.
The Solution
“We sat down with the Profox guys and explained our requirements in detail. They quickly
understood the issues and developed a custom tool for us based on their Navistools Data Manager
and Reporter products” added Klaavu.
“Fineweld could see the benefits of using Navisworks to access much more than the CAD data and
property information from the original customer supplied designs. The Navisworks “Visual Portal”
concept is one that a number of our Plant and BIM customers are interested in by truly maximising
and making accessible all project data through Navisworks whether it be from the CAD model,
external database or other sources. That is why we developed our Data Manager and Reporter
Navistools Add-on products which the Fineweld solution is based upon. The key is easy-to-use,
access to all project data with the added benefit of generating custom reports and schedules to
improve the efficiency of the on-site teams” explained Ari Puuskari, Profox Managing Director.
Profox delivered and implemented the Fineweld solution and helped with fine tuning prior to its use
in production.
The Benefits
Fineweld concluded that using the Navistools Data Manager and Reporter have delivered real
benefits as part of their goal to maximise the efficiency of their on-site installation teams including:
Substantial On-site time and cost savings
Increased control and project management under tight time constraints
Accessibility of all required project data to all staff in one place
Increased accuracy and accessibility to project status reports
Increased customer confidence regarding requirements, plans and project status
Increased visualisation for control of project installations
Get it “right first time”
Extra value for the customer
Increased competitive edg
Fineweld Oy, Finland – April, 2011
Navistools Data Manager and Reporter
The Company
FineWeld Oy is one of the biggest Nordic companies specialising in the manufacture and
installation of industrial piping systems.
Piping modules including steelwork and equipment are prefabricated at their factory in Kokkola,
Finland and can be installed in minimum time with minimum on-site resource requirements. Due to
the high degree of prefabrication and efficient installation processes, modules can be supplied easily
to global customers.
Fineweld’s main customers operate primarily in the mining, forestry, chemical and process
industries in the Nordic countries. It recently completed major projects at the Kiruna mine in
Northern Sweden and at the Talvivaara mine in Sotkamo, Finland and is currently involved in a
large project at the Boliden mines in Gallivare, Sweden.
“We make industrial pipes in the Janismaa industrial area in Kokkola and undertake contracting
projects mainly in the Nordic countries although we have also delivered projects in the UK,
Germany and Austria”, explains Matti Laitinen, the company’s founder and Managing Director.
A privately owned company, Fineweld employs over 250 staff with a turnover of more than € 30
million.
The Current Situation
Fineweld has obvious strengths in this highly competitive sector. Reliable operations and project
delivery play a key role.
“We provide our customers with comprehensive deliverables including pipes, steel structures and
equipment. The pipes and structures are pre-fabricated in our work-shops and then can be quickly
installed by small on-site teams. Tightly scheduled investment projects in which design and
manufacture proceed hand in hand are routine to us and one of the fields we excel in. Our goal is to
transfer as much of the manufacturing process as possible to our own work-shop. Only the
installation of our pre-fabricated products is carried out on-site”, explains Ville Klaavu, Sales
Manager.
Fineweld use Autodesk Navisworks on every project. This is necessary as CAD models may be
received in multiple formats including AutoCAD, Microstation and PDMS in addition to
Navisworks aggregated data.
Navisworks allows Fineweld to visually inspect the received models, perform measurements and
mark up the model with any queries or requests for communication internally and with the
customer.
The Navisworks models are then used by work-planners and the site installation teams using
Navisworks Simulate or the free viewer, Navisworks Freedom, to help plan their processes in the
most efficient manner.
The fabrication team use external data including isometric drawings and various specification data
from excel spreadsheets in addition to the visual Navisworks models data.
The Need
“We need to make sure our on-site installation processes are as efficient as possible to ensure we
deliver our customers the highest possible quality and maintaining our competitive edge”, adds
Klaavu, “We noticed that in addition to the visual Navisworks model data, our on-site teams needed
access to a variety of additional different data and information from different sources including
isometric drawings, pipeline information including spool numbers, specifications, pipe supports
details, supplier information and additional drawing details. We also needed to have information on
the status of the installation, e.g. has this item been delivered or has it been installed yet. We
recognised that the easiest and most efficient way to access this diverse information would be if we
could via Navisworks – could we use Navisworks as a visual portal?”
Klaavu approached Profox as their Autodesk partner and Navisworks supplier and was already
aware of their specialist skills surrounding the application and software development of
Navisworks.
The Solution
“We sat down with the Profox guys and explained our requirements in detail. They quickly
understood the issues and developed a custom tool for us based on their Navistools Data Manager
and Reporter products” added Klaavu.
“Fineweld could see the benefits of using Navisworks to access much more than the CAD data and
property information from the original customer supplied designs. The Navisworks “Visual Portal”
concept is one that a number of our Plant and BIM customers are interested in by truly maximising
and making accessible all project data through Navisworks whether it be from the CAD model,
external database or other sources. That is why we developed our Data Manager and Reporter
Navistools Add-on products which the Fineweld solution is based upon. The key is easy-to-use,
access to all project data with the added benefit of generating custom reports and schedules to
improve the efficiency of the on-site teams” explained Ari Puuskari, Profox Managing Director.
Profox delivered and implemented the Fineweld solution and helped with fine tuning prior to its use
in production.
The Benefits
Fineweld concluded that using the Navistools Data Manager and Reporter have delivered real
benefits as part of their goal to maximise the efficiency of their on-site installation teams including:
Substantial On-site time and cost savings
Increased control and project management under tight time constraints
Accessibility of all required project data to all staff in one place
Increased accuracy and accessibility to project status reports
Increased customer confidence regarding requirements, plans and project status
Increased visualisation for control of project installations
Get it “right first time”
Extra value for the customer
Increased competitive edg
“If operational efficiency, planning and implementation all target the same area, both we and the customer benefit from excellent results. Using Profox Navistools solutions has enabled us realise our vision and use Navisworks as a visual portal to continue to improve these efficiencies. It’s a win win win for Fineweld, Profox and our customers”, concluded Klaavu
For more information on Fineweld, see www.fineweld.fi For more information on Profox, see www.profox.com or contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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