Bentley Systems acquires Synchro Software
June 20, 2018
By
CCE
The acquisition broadens Bentley’s ProjectWise construction offerings—which already include ConstructSim, the leader for 4D construction modeling.
Synchro PRO 4D model of airport construction project. (image courtesy Bentley Systems)
Bentley Systems has acquired Synchro Software a leader in 4D construction modeling software for scheduling and project management.
The acquisition broadens Bentley’s ProjectWise construction offerings—which already include ConstructSim, the leader for 4D construction modeling in project delivery of industrial plants.
With construction project management in 4D, benefits of BIM can extend throughout infrastructure project delivery and asset lifecycles, as traditionally disconnected workflows become digital workflows.
Synchro has been globally adopted, in particular, for building and civil infrastructure projects. It has become the standard for major constructors leveraging BIM through project delivery.
In industrial project delivery, characterized by EPC (engineer-procure-construct) contracting, integrated processes are already the norm—leading to ConstructSim’s digital workflows for advanced work packaging. However, in vertical buildings and civil infrastructure projects, notwithstanding the advancement of BIM for design and engineering, prevalent design/bid/build contracting has institutionalized disconnected workflows isolating construction planning from BIM data and geometry.
- Constructors have been constrained by the limitations of stand-alone planning and scheduling programs, without digital visibility into the engineering information coalesced within the separate 3D BIM environment;
- construction planning typically lacks the workface-level granularity and depth of detail, and exploration of sequencing alternatives, to sufficiently minimize risk and schedule variance; and
- constructors characteristically need to create their own independent 3D models to serve construction only, in the process orphaning the BIM deliverables which can then never, despite their engineering intelligence, accurately represent the as-built asset for operations and maintenance.
Within Synchro, 3D BIM deliverables are linked with the 4D time dimension to intrinsically synchronize, through digital workflows, the construction strategy, work breakdown structure, schedule, costs, resources, supply chain logistics, and progress.
Synchro’s 4D construction modeling incorporates other construction variables (human, materials, equipment, falseworks, and space) for safe, reliable, and predictable project delivery performance. Synchro includes intrinsic CPM scheduling, or users can maintain external project schedules.
By synchronizing changes from BIM, schedule and/or field conditions, Synchro provides visibility into both the project data and the design, making it quick and easy to communicate and analyze the impact of changes on the entire project delivery process.
This also enables Synchro users to compare construction strategy alternatives—even in early stages of design and bid processes—and to evaluate the feasibility and efficiency of different scenarios, deriving insights toward the best possible construction outcomes.
By incorporating Synchro 4D construction modeling through the ProjectWise CDE, infrastructure project delivery can now benefit from digital workflow advancements. For the first time, change synchronization can assure that BIM deliverables are updated for changes which occur during construction, aligning the as-designed, as-constructed, and as-operated digital engineering models to improve both project performance and asset performance.
And, in particular for civil infrastructure projects, constructioneering digital workflows can automate direct relationships between the project’s digital engineering models, the continuously-surveyed digital context of site conditions before and during construction, and positioning devices controlling construction equipment and feeding back as-built conditions.
