Digitalization

STEP BY STEP TO A DIGITAL TWIN

Immersive 3D models, a digital home, and apps that speak a common language: GR is digitalizing buildings, processes, and ways to cooperate.

It is very easy to make the following assertion: “We’re working on the full-scale digitalization of all sites.” This concept sounds lackluster and abstract, and most people will have no clue what it entails. Yet, digitalization is actually something tangible – a series of many small steps of real-world tasks done by actual humans.

Take, for example, Jan-Lukas Gehl. As process owner at Global Real Estate, he is in charge of translating analog work processes into software. So, when a large hole needs to be drilled, everyone needs to be involved, from the architects and structural engineers to the construction workers and the associates working in the office. Jan-Lukas Gehl and his colleagues start by looking at the task in greater detail and then determine if it can be done even moreefficiently. Then they look for and test IT applications that map this process, for example, a shared platform for everyone involved in the drilling to exchange information. There is a fair amount of effort involved when it comes to determining the best solution for a task. After all, “best” also means: As compatible as possible with other software components in the GR universe – and there are many. “Our IT system at GR is a decentralized one. To give you a better idea of what we’re dealing with here, we use 2,200 locks with 2,200 keys at our properties instead of a unified doorlock system with one master key,” explains Thomas Walter, head of the Business Digital Operation area. Each site in computer-aided facility management (CAFM) currently uses up to 50 different IT applications. It quickly adds up to thousands of isolated applications, which sometimes have completely different areas of focus. What’s more, it can give rise to security gaps, and these applications may not always be compatible with the other applications. This situation can be likened to the Tower of Babel.

Likewise, much of the work in planning and building the new buildings is being done virtually. It is now mandatory to use building information modeling (BIM), a collaborative process to digitally represent building models. Experts use computers to simulate architectural, engineering, and construction measures and equipment long before the first brick is laid. It enables them to construct the building keeping in mind aspects such as efficiency, environmental friendliness, and health as much as possible – avoiding mistakes from the very beginning of the process. BIM also means improving the flow of information, but there is more. All of the master data captured along the way can be useful to facility management later on when the building is in use. For example, it is possible to know the precise location of every thermostat in every building. The benefits are particularly striking when this data is mapped out using images. This has already been implemented at three sites: Dresden, Germany, Roseville, California, and Penang, Malaysia. Special cameras were used to scan all rooms and surfaces at each site – on all sides and in all directions. The results are impressive. “Until recently, if you wanted to take a look inside a cleanroom, you had to spend fifteen minutes changing clothes and then wear two sets of gloves. Now you can simply walk through it virtually,” says Thomas Walter. This is handy, not only for new associates. The master data is stored at “points of interest” and can be accessed at a click of the mouse, for example, to check out technical information about the facilities. From your desk, if you want, you can even look at every single screw. And if you get lost, you can consult the floor plan or access routes. A digital recording of all Bosch buildings will have been prepared by 2028.

Interview

Process Owner Jan-Lukas Gehl explains the advantages of digitalization for project directors and FCM teams.