Customer Stories

TRANSFORMING THE WAY THE WORLD WORKS overview North Mechanical Contracting & Service is a full-service mechanical system solutions provider based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company provides premier custom mechanical solutions and services related to construction, contracting, design, fabrication and maintenance. North Mechanical was looking to speed the design and fabrication workflow for creating piping, fittings and accessories for a customer's research facility build. Location INDIANA, USA North Mechanical Contracting & Service has been designing, building and maintaining diverse Mechanical, Engineering and Plumbing (MEP) systems for over 40 years. A leader in the region, the company has worked on the MEP systems on several prominent Indianapolis landmarks, including the Indianapolis International Airport, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Anthem, Franciscan Health, Roche Diagnostics, Indiana University, Nestle's, Purdue University, and much more. North Mechanical was recently awarded the company's largest fabrication contract to-date by one of the area's largest manufacturers. North Mechanical is well known in the industry for successfully using the Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) method to deliver challenging industrial projects on time, under budget and with fewer risks. IPD is a collaborative approach to project delivery that integrates people, systems, business structures and practices of all stakeholders to optimize project results and increase value to the owner. Dustin Allen, project/BIM manager for North Mechanical, explains that technology is fundamental to the IPD process and it is critical to optimizing the design-to-fabrication-to-construction workflow. "Today we take on a lot of industrial integrated project delivery builds, which means we have a much bigger role in the actual project design piece," said Allen. "There is a real need for more intelligent, fabrication- ready models that have the actual system components included. That's why we turned to Trimble SysQue." SysQue add-on software for Autodesk Revit lets contractors design fully constructible models with real world intelligent MEP components. This makes it easier for North Mechanical's designers, fabricators and engineers to create precise and accurate project plans that are in line with detailing, fabrication, manufacturing, and installation requirements. As a result, labor and material costs are reduced, accuracy of designs are improved, and project timelines are shortened. Optimizing the fabrication workflow For the lab build in south-side Indianapolis, North Mechanical was hired to generate material takeoffs and to fabricate all mechanical and plumbing components for the laboratory building. Traditionally, manual processes were used for this type of work, including manual measuring of end-to-pipe, pipe-to-hanger dimensions, manual quantity takeoff and individual component labeling. With the typical fabrication cut sheets consisting of about 50 pieces, elevations and more than 30 fittings each, the process is tedious, prone to errors and inefficient. Looking to eliminate unknowns and create a more automated and accurate fabrication workflow, North Mechanical adopted SysQue and the Autodesk Revit platform — first for the fabrication of hangers, and then for pipes and components. "We knew we wanted to eliminate manual steps for fabricators and improve the accuracy and efficiency of everything from fabrication down to installation," said Allen. "When you add fittings into SysQue, the model is smart enough to give you the pipe length, and when you get to the end, pipe length is reflected in the schedule.

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