The Construction industry is currently faced with a gap between the digital tools for field management and enterprise resource planning tools in the office. Although the industry has started using BIM (Building Information Models) and field apps for collaboration, data still remains siloed and fragmented, which leads to cost overruns and time delays.

By leveraging Autodesk Forge, a small start-up, onTarget, is working to address the woes of the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. onTarget offers an integrated solution that features predictive visual analytics:

image courtesy of onTarget

The onTarget solution provides:

• real-time visibility and allows for immediate action
• a single source of truth
• visual and dynamic collaboration

These three tenets of the onTarget solution make them perfectly suited for Autodesk Forge. Recall that Autodesk Forge is Autodesk's collection of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) and supporting materials (e.g., sample code, documentation) backed by Autodesk and a community of non-Autodesk developers who are using those APIs (e.g., forums).

onTarget uses the Forge platform as the basis for their 3D viewing and data management:

• onTarget uses the Model Derivative API to convert the original data, their "single source of truth," to the Simple Vector Format (SVF, a format that the browser can display natively) so that teams can collaborate using the Forge Viewer and take action when problems arise. (Perhaps you may have heard of the Forge Viewer by its earlier name when it was used exclusively in Autodesk cloud services, the Large Model Viewer? Well, it's that same time-honored technology.) onTarget selected the Forge viewer because it is a WebGL/ThreeJs technology that runs across all browsers (Mobile/Desktop) that support these technologies where no plugin is required. It is purely web.

• onTarget leverages BIM360 to generate construction schedules and quantity take offs for project controls and predictive analytics. Using the Data Management API, onTarget enables auto-scheduling, quantity take-off, or map with an existing data instantly. Project members can compare cost and time impact. They can also leverage BIM on the jobsite with an easy-to-use mobile interface to exchange data about quantities, quality, manpower, progress and visualize it in a 4D (3D plus time) and 5D (3D plus time plus cost) environment.

By leveraging Forge, onTarget users can:

• Generate a task list, construction schedule, and quantity take off for cost estimation using up-to-date BIM model data.
• Compare and conduct impact analyses of changes in design, materials, specifications and quantities.
• Enable jobsites to update daily reports and map with BIM model data for visualization and productivity metrics.
• Use predictive analytics across projects to compare trades, mitigate risks, and predict delays and cost overruns to take immediate actions.

image courtesy of onTarget

It's great to see Autodesk Forge in action in the management of real construction projects. Check out Autodesk Forge for yourself.

Visualization is alive in the lab.