Steel Projects Develops Interface with Tekla Structures BIM, Winsteel, Winser PLM, Steel Fabrication Machinery

Steel Projects, a French company specializing in integrated steel fabrication systems, has developed an interface between Tekla Structures BIM (building information modeling) software, WinSTEEL and WinSER PLM (product lifecycle management) software, and Ficep's steel fabrication machinery. The new interface supports the overall BIM workflow. "Since the management of project-related information is very challenging, the functionality to

manage and track project status by simulating schedules and tasks in the 3D model was originally added to Tekla Structures to benefit construction site management," according to Tekla. "This new interface allows adding the 'fourth dimension,' time, to the 3D model for steel fabrication, too."

All steel processing information for a project can be taken from the Tekla model, imported into the WinSTEEL software for the management and routing of steel parts to Ficep machinery, and then imported back to Tekla Structures software from WinSER for the visualization and tracking of assemblies' fabrication status in 3D. All fabrication data is exchanged between the software in XML format. The visualization in Tekla Structures includes illustrative coloring for different stages of fabrication, and the color-coded model is easy to review and share between the project team over the Internet using a free Tekla Structures Model Reviewer application, according to Tekla. The interface works from Tekla Structures version 15.0 and WinSER version 6.5 onwards.