Construction is hot, ADSK + Vela

For many, the connection of construction with design is the next frontier in AEC. We may design in 3D and use elaborate construction planning software back in the office but on the jobsite, all is 2D. Paper that gets wet, lists that get lost. All of this paper causes huge inefficiencies that cost real money. Too, a great deal of useful information is lost in putting a 3D model onto a 2D drawing. Today, Autodesk moved one step closer to a more efficient AEC ecosystem with the acquisition of Vela Systems. Vela makes an eponymous product suite that combines cloud and mobile with building information management (BIM) to offer field management software to the construction industry. Vela’s solutions smooth the flow of information between the many stakeholders in a project by providing visual 3D information that lets them better track progress, document work activities and resolve issues. Vela Web lets project participants (contractors, trades, owners, architects and engineers) access documents via the Internet on any device. Vela Mobile works with or without Internet access to allow Apple iPad or email-capable phones to reach this information. Vela Reports is a web-based platform for project reporting. Lastly, Field BIM enables users to navigate models in the field for construction, commissioning, handover, operations and maintenance. Field BIM includes bar-coding and radio-frequency identification (RFID) tracking technology; this lets users track material production, delivery and installation, conduct quality control inspections, manage punch lists and create electronic handover documentation. Autodesk and Vela first collaborated in 2009, when they integrated Field BIM with Navisworks to make it possible for Navisworks 3D project models to reflect the state of objects within the design based on field-gathered data. Some of the largest AEC firms in the world use Vela solutions. I’ve seen Vela present with users like Skanska at industry conferences and learned about the real advantages such construction-site technology can yield. Better planning using 3D models leads to safer working conditions, improves methodologies, an as-designed building and, ultimately, shorter schedules. The key is getting to a technology that is helpful to the many functions in the construction process. Mobility, multi-touch interfaces, easy mechanisms to do mark ups, zoom in/out and scroll — all help get the less tech-savvy to interact on site. Vela, of course, isn’t the only company working on this type of solution, but it does come up often when I speak with AECO users. It will be interesting to see how Autodesk and Vela leverage this platform to projects outside Vela’s typical architectural/building domain and into process and power, civil infrastructure and other domains, where the need is just as great and the dollar cost of poor information flow even higher. Vela is also partnered with Bentley and Tekla (now part of Trimble) — no word on how those users will be affected by this deal. Vela Systems was initially funded by venture capital firms Commonwealth Capital Ventures and GrandBanks Capital and angel investors CommonAngels and Launchpad Venture Group. John Hirschtick, founder of SolidWorks, was nominated to the company’s board in 2007. Vela has a solid Massachusetts start-up heritage and is now part of a West coast company. Oh well. Its technology was used in the construction of Autodesk’s Waltham office, so there’s still that local tie. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but it is small enough to not have an impact on Autodesk’s May 2012 revenue and profitability guidance.