Evening Smart Industry session provides 120+ steel fabricators with new insights

On Thursday, March 16, an evening session 'Smart Industry for steel builders' was scheduled in the new BCB Steel Construction plant hall, organized by Bouwen met Staal, Samenwerkende Nederlandse Staalbouw (SNS), ConstruSteel and Construsoft. Over 120 steel builders received current developments, practical examples and solutions during the session, with which they can organize the production process as efficiently and sustainably as possible. At the end of the session, there was an opportunity to tour the new factory hall and network while enjoying a snack and drink.

In the form of presentations, case studies and panel discussions, the theme of the evening session was "Smart Industry. Several speakers talked about the contemporary practice of the steel construction process and their vision of the future, focusing on automating and digitizing the production process. In a dynamic market with fluctuating steel prices, the introduction of the Quality Assurance Act, nitrogen problems and the rollout of the Steel Building Agreement (with goals to be achieved by 2030), there are opportunities for steel construction and metal construction companies that get involved now. But, how do you go about this without completely reversing the current process?

After chairman of the day Annemarie Hagoort (SNS), hosts Marcel van Os (BCB Staalconstructie) and Frank Maatje (Bouwen met Staal) opened the event, three presentations on 'Steel Construction within Smart Industry' followed. Nico Kleinman of Construsoft, one of the speakers, gave his vision of the future, where data is 'the future engineer': "By using parametric design tools like Rhino Grasshopper in combination with design software like Tekla Structures, designers can enter parameters and rules, creating a lot of data. Based on this data, an algorithm is created in the background. Based on this algorithm, the software can generate the output - in this case, the 3D model - and thus quickly determine the most optimal design based on the desired variables. Here, some required paramaters are entered and the software will generate different designs through Artificial intelligence, in an attempt to automatically determine the most optimal and efficient design solution."

The presentations were followed by an interactive panel discussion with statements and questions from the audience. Frank Maatje, Bob Evers (SNS), Gerik ten Berge (Smart Makers Academy), Marcel van Os and Jos Reijns (Innovation Platform Steel Construction) formed the panel and answered questions such as "In your opinion, is it possible to have completely paperless assembly on the construction site?" and "To what extent do you check your suppliers on sustainability and innovations?". This made for an interactive and inspiring half hour, opening several doors to a digitized construction world with streamlined design and construction processes, optimal communication and collaboration.  

At the end of the session, there was an opportunity to tour BCB Steel Construction's new factory hall, where the hosts proudly gave attendees a look behind the scenes. Meanwhile, the caterer made sure everyone was provided with snacks and drinks, and visitors were also able to visit various booths, where participating companies told more about their Smart Industry solutions. For example, Construsoft introduced visitors to Augmented Reality (the AR app) and Mixed Reality (the HoloLens).

For now, some Smart Industry solutions still seem far off in the future, but developments are moving fast. Construsoft tries to give steel builders an insight into current and future possibilities. The AR app or viewing a design as a hologram via the HoloLens are good examples. Just a few years ago still future music, now already integrated in the process at some construction companies and successfully used in projects.

Learn more about opportunities for the steel industry at the page about Tekla Structures for steel construction.