The DNA of an Integrated Factory Model: Combining Building, Factory, and Infrastructure

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Hello, everybody. Nice to have you here in this presentation, I think we will start. Maybe some people will come and join. My name is Robert. I'm a factory designer at Magna, and I've worked in several projects as a factory designer for different OEMs.

With me, I do have Ryan. You will introduce yourself. And by the end of the presentation, you will have a lot of time-- let's say, 20 minutes-- to ask us questions about digital factory, about this presentation. And I'd love to hear your questions concerning this. Ryan, please.

RYAN: So Robert asked me to join him for this presentation today. I'm Ryan [INAUDIBLE] I'm a senior product manager responsible for the factory design capabilities in the product design and manufacturing collection.

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Thanks, Ryan. But at the beginning, I will give you a brief introduction who Magna is. Afterwards, we will talk why digital factory is so important for Magna. And then, we head over to the main part of my presentation, the factory DNA and what it means.

Magna delivers different-- sorry, I missed the correct word. I'm from Austria. It could happen that I don't use English words correctly, but I think we will manage that. So Magna has body, and exterior, and structure divisions-- seed systems, power innovations division. And I am from the complete vehicle division. We are located in Graz, in Austria. And our services are engineering and complete vehicle manufacturing.

And here we see the site in Graz, where we produce all these cars. It is about 1.5 kilometers long and nearly a kilometer wide-- about 800,000 square meters. And at the moment we produce the Mercedes Benz G-Class, a BMW 5 Series, and a Z4. And for Jaguar, the I-PACE and E-PACE. I think everybody knows these cars.

At Magna, we have produced a lot of cars in the last couple of decades. Let's say, for you, interesting will be what happens to the future, or what is actually in production. A BMW 5. I-PACE, E-PACE, I mentioned it. And yeah, a new program that will start in 2019. But in the past a lot of cars you know-- the Jeep Grand Cherokee, I think you know it all. BMW X3. So a lot of cars reproduced at our site in Graz.

Why is digital factory for Magna so important? We have the quickly-changing markets. We have political and regional market changes. Very important, or challenging for us are new technologies, and they are increasing in complexity. And of course, we want to go to market as soon, as quick as possible.

For Magna, digital factory means that we have-- you see it on the left side-- we have virtual representation of a real car, and we have a virtual representation of the factory-- because we have engineering and we have the productions. So the objective for Magna is to maintain a competitive advantage. And to reduce or shorten production development processes, to reach production peaks and operating points as quick as possible. And for me as a factory designer, very important is-- you see it here-- the shutdown times. In shutdown times, we do all our modifications concerning the building and the machinery. And if you have a good digital model, and everything is correct in the model, this time can be used optimal.

But let's start with the main focus of this presentation, factory DNA. I'll begin this with a video.

[VIDEO PLAYBACK]

So again, you see our production site in Graz. And the video heads over to the building where the BMW 5 Series is produced. You see a conveyor bridge, with the conveying system inside. Then, you will see one of the first production lines, where the body is welded of the car.

And what you already can see is we have a lot of machinery. We have building structure. We have building infrastructure. We have steel structure-- a lot of models that come together within our factory models. Here you see some sub assemblies, and other production lines for the side frame and the roofs of the car. And again, steel structure conveying systems.

So when you see this video, are you impressed by the level of detail you see?

[END PLAYBACK]

I do have some questions to you. Do we have people who work in the AEC industry here in this presentation? How many? OK, very interesting. Manufacturing? OK.

Are there any facility managers, or owners of buildings? OK, brilliant. Would you believe me that you will see by the end of the presentation that this model we can walk through model via a live presentation, and it will run as smooth as you saw it here in the video? Would you believe in that?

AUDIENCE: Yeah.

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Who doesn't believe in that?

AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]

AUDIENCE: It is Las Vegas. You take money.

ROBERT OSTERMANN: OK.

[LAUGHTER]

AUDIENCE: I'm a ringer. I don't do [INAUDIBLE]

ROBERT OSTERMANN: [LAUGHS] OK. Yeah, we will prove that by the end of the meeting. Let's see if I am right or wrong. So why factory DNA? What is the, let's say, thing behind factory DNA? So for us at Magna, factory DNA means something like digital standards.

Why digital standards? As I told before, you have a lot of different models from different software, different suppliers, and you have to integrate this all in a whole factory model. And as you could imagine, if I don't have any good standards, and get all these different models, it could cost you a lot of time for remodeling, for proofing something, for converting something.

So you could say, if we wouldn't have good digital standards at Magna, every click, and all the converting and reworking of the model cost a lot of money. And you wouldn't get out the benefit of your digital factory. So it's an easy word. If you need something for describing the benefit of digital standard is to save time.

What do we have these days when we think of digital standards? There are a lot of visual and technical standards, I would say. But as soon as it comes to the factory, you wouldn't find any digital standards. Let's say, you wouldn't find any digital standard. You would find digital standards for building information models. But as soon as it comes to a whole factory-- think of the machinery inside-- I guess, you wouldn't find any digital standards.

The people who are in the AEC industry know there are some things like [INAUDIBLE] standard for facility management-- maybe master format, or only classes. But for a whole factory, there are no digital standards available. Digital factory for me means, too, that there has to be a shift in historical structures, and mindsets as well. The factory DNA describes for me a digital code, especially for the metadata within the factory model, the CAD system, and the data management system.

The purpose why we work on digital standards is to improve the overview and the structure of our data-- to maintain connections between different data within the digital factory. Yeah, to be able to have methods to inherit data properties, to enable mapping from different standards. We will see that later on. Set the basis for change management, and to enable an interface or interaction to other systems.

But before we look closer what digital standards mean, I'll share the slide-- which systems we use for model generation and data management. You see here, Revit, Navisworks, of course, Inventor, AutoCAD. But maybe what you won't have in your environment, or what you normally don't see is, we implement everything in our data management system.

So through all these CAD systems, we have a connection to our data management system. What it means, you will see that in detail later on. Therefore, we do have standards for data management, building model, our production facilities, and the factory model itself.

But let's begin with data management. We do have a data structure, lifecycle, and data properties in the data management system. The data structure is something like building documentation templates. What it means, we will have the chance to discuss this later on, because the presentation here is very high level. And you see just what we implemented. Sometimes, I think, it doesn't mean anything to you at the moment, but you will see things in more detail, and we will have the chance to have a close look by the end of the presentation.

So yeah, of course, data management means to have a lifecycle. Does anybody know what a lifecycle is for CAD data, or data properties? OK. Of course, we map and manage the data properties within the data management system.

So here you see it in the bit more detail, what data structure means. Everybody knows an Explorer environment, classical, as it is available in every system. Here you see as well a data structure, or something like an Explorer structure. But the difference is this data in the data management system have a lifecycle. And the data have different properties.

So I want to focus here on two of the properties. You will see them through all our systems-- not only in Revit, in Inventor. You will see you will find it everywhere in our system. It's a category and a type. It gives us the structure for all the data that we have in our factory.

Let's head over to standards we use in our building models. Our building models do have, again, data properties. Of course, level of details are very important for us. But maybe we have a different view to level of details, as you would have it in a BIM model. We have phases of change inside. And yeah, important for us, building evaluation.

Data properties-- again, we have a standard structure. We have project structures and data lengths. Again, this is high level. You will have the chance to ask in all detail you want to hear from me what it means. You will see it live in the model afterwards.

Level of detail-- everybody who comes from the AEC industry has a point of view to level of detail. I think you know level of LOD begins with 100 and ends with 500. 500 is a very detailed model. You would see everything inside. But we have a bit of different view to level of detail in a complete factory model, because for us it's important-- what level of detail is necessary to bring in, or coordinate your whole factory?

It is important what level of detail is necessary to analyze your model. And for analysis, it could differ. A very detailed model could be necessary, or a less detailed model could be necessary, because of the power your machine can deliver to calculate something. So the level of details, from the point of view of factory, are a bit different than you would find them in the AEC industry, or in the BIM standard.

Phases of change, we have different-- let's say we use phases of change for our authority management, and for project management itself. And building evaluation is something like structural analysis, structural physics, and energy analysis.

Here you will see in a bit more detail. And as I mentioned before, we use data properties through all our systems I told you before, we use category and type to structure the data management system. So we use these properties in Revit as well. You will see it in Inventor environment later on, too.

So this is a bit different as normally somebody would use a Revit. Because in Revit, you would bring in a description, or a type. You would define your type of properties. You would define it in the Revit itself, but you would never map it to a data management system. But we map that to our data management system, to have a whole view to our models, from the perspective of managing the data.

So is anybody here who has ever used Revit in combination with Vault, or a data management system? OK.

AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Did you ever think of benefits that could bring you, combining Revit with a data management system? Who was the guy from the AEC industry? I think you. Did you ever think of combining it with a data management system?

AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Yeah. We will discuss later on. So yeah, you see it here in a bit more detail. The example here is a resource code. This resource code gives a categorization of all the elements that are inside the factory. And as you see here, this property begins here with the model. The part itself, it is represented in the factory model, too, and it is represented in the data management system as well.

I do have a model with me where you can see it in detail. I told you before, we have a different view to level of details in the model. Here on the right side this level of detail could be important for a CFD analysis. So you don't want to have all the geometrical details inside. You don't want to have the door open. For an implementation in the factory, a mid-level would be the one we would need. And for somebody who is installing the door, the high level of detail could be necessary.

Phases of change-- at Magna, we use phases of change to see what has changed. Red means, here in this example, that it's new. Yellow is something that is broken down, or demolished. And black lines are things that are existing. So yeah, phases of change.

Building evaluation-- we have standards that all the material and the definitions can't be used in analysis software tools. So we worked on standards for this as well. But yeah, why are these standards important for us at Magna. You see it here in this building, number 81. You will see it later on again in the last presentation. Here on the right side, you see, we do have a lot of technical equipment within the building.

And if it comes to an integration-- let's say, a new steel structure and new conveying systems-- there are a lot of clashes that could happen. You have to think of how you would implement it. And so digital factory helps us a lot to be sure that our design will work. And it helps to make less mistakes when implementing something.

The standards for production facilities are similar to what you saw before. Again, we used the data properties. We have different level of details that were important. And supply integration by production facilities is important for Magna.

Of course, normally, a supplier would design our machinery. Magna doesn't build production facilities. We produce cars. So we have to manage that the supplier is able to use our software environment, to use our standards. What it means, you will see that in more detail. Again, we have standard structures, project structures, and data links. We have different level of details, that are important for factory integration and so on. And supply integration, I will show it in more detail in the next slides.

Methods for data properties-- and this is this could be interesting for people who are using Revit, or are in the AEC industry. The standards we are working on for production facilities, there are two cases we normally have. If you get a detailed construction, like you can see here on the left side, we use our data management system to define, or to bring the properties to the construction. Then, when we create the library part, or we create this part for the integration in the factory, we reduce this part.

I hope you can see it. We reduce small parts-- holes, pockets, or something like that. And this reduced level of detail will be used for the layout in the model itself.

But the properties that are defined on the detailed model will be inherited to this reduced level of detail. And what we do as well is to redefine instance properties.

What is the difference between type and instance properties? A type property is true for all this representation-- for every representation in the factory. An instance property is true as soon as you place this element in your factory. We will discuss this later on, what we do with type and instance properties.

A second case is if you have standard elements in your factory, and it is not, let's say, a single construction, or a detailed construction. We do have parametric models in our library, that we deliver to our suppliers-- that he can use it. And again, we have data properties inside that are important for that structure, and can be managed with the data management system.

So let's have a closer look which properties we use for elements in our library, and for the factory, and for the implementation of production facilities. So you see here, again, these properties for category and type, to structure our data. You see instance properties, as I mentioned before, for the location, the building, or the level. You see properties that describes which element it is.

Why do we create these properties, again? You see it here. The property in this example is the category, again. The category is created inside the CAD model. The category for structuring the data is available in the factory model, and you can find it in the data management system as well.

AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Yeah. We talked about level of detail. We talked about the supply integration. So we were able to head over to deliver our suppliers. He has build data in the library. Our supplier can work with this standard library, and with our [INAUDIBLE]. He uses it to design the machinery. And he gives us back the data, so we can coordinate the model. And after coordination, we bring it again into our data management system, so we have a kind of lifecycle. What it means, we will discuss this on the factory model, you will see by the end of the presentation.

Yeah, of course, you need standards to combine all this data in your factory. And therefore, we use a plant reference system. We have a plant-based building-base point-- something like that. We have some methods that are important, that the models are run smooth.

RYAN: Light weighting?

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Light weighting, yeah. Thank you very much, Ryan. And we have methods for integrating the models. As a plant reference system, we use AutoCAD. We use these DWGs to define something like building-base point. And something like plant-base point and building-base point, why AutoCAD? Because you can reference AutoCAD in Revit, as well as in Inventor. So this gives us a good basis.

Faceting factors are very important, because this is a different kind of level of detail. Normally, level of detail is something-- say, you have more or less geometry. But it comes as soon as it comes to integration in the factory, faceting factors are important as a level of detail, so these complete models can run efficiently.

AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Yeah. So for integrating, of course, you heard it yesterday on the main stage. Of course, you can coordinate the models, search for clashes. But you can see on the left side, you could do it with geometry, with laser scans, of course. But what we think about integrating is it would be optimal if you bring in-- as you see in this example-- your machinery into the Revit environment, and can design your [INAUDIBLE] You can design exactly with this machinery in the background as a reference. Ryan, help me.

RYAN: So the factory asset inside the Revit model, so that you can do the collisions protection-- so that they wind up being separable. You can do the factory design in one environment, and you have the Revit model in the other.

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Yeah, that is what I tried to say. Now we have half an hour to answer your questions and have a closer look. I'm going to give you an impression of how detailed this design is by this rendering. Give me a second. Yeah, it's panoramic, but I can't get it on the screen. Oh yeah, here it is.

So do you think this is a photo, or a picture?

AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]

ROBERT OSTERMANN: No, it is the factory model. You will see it soon. So on this panoramic picture, you see how high the level of detail is we use in our factory models. And as we talked before-- and you can prove me right or wrong-- this is the model where this rendering came from-- and the video you saw before. So maybe it's works you know. And let's have a look inside the model.

So here we see the level of detail we are working with. And why is this possible? Yeah, of course, because all the standards we use, because of faceting factors. You can't see it here-- everything looks smooth and very detailed. But in the background there is faceting. Because without this kind of level of detail it wouldn't be efficient and wouldn't work-- and it wouldn't be smooth in a walk through, as you see it here. Why is it possible to?

Of course, Navisworks has a good engine. Navisworks is capable to read all this data, and to use it efficiently. So let's take the next 25 minutes for your answers. Please ask a lot of questions. Take the chance. Ryan is here. He knows a lot of things that might happen in future.

I was very short with my descriptions, what digital standards mean. So I do have a second model with me, where you can have a closer look to the structure of the data. So you can see that here, we have our resource structure on this model. What does this resource structure mean? For example, you can filter for the building structure itself. So if I use this categorization, the resource code in the background tells the model, or describes the model concerning the building structure itself. So we use these codes to have an overview, or a better understanding of our data structure. You can see that as well here on this production facilities.

So here we have production resources. The production resources have different levels. If you want to see just the robot equipment itself, the information behind the resource code manages that you can see this element itself. So yeah, please, let's start with the questions.

RYAN: Can I make one comment about this?

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Yes.

RYAN: One of the things that's really, really compelling about this data set, and this particular application, is that this is the current as-built state of this factory. And so every change that they go into is managed from this particular data set, rather than starting from scratch for each new project. And so the benefit of having a project manager like this is you know that that's what it's going to look like when you are on the floor. That's the collisions that you might have. And you're not worried about how this is compared to the other project that we had.

This is sort of the master record. And a methodology for maintaining that master record with any project that you have has fewer errors, and you get your better results much, much faster. It's very, very cool.

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Yeah?

AUDIENCE: Looking at the robots [INAUDIBLE] manufacturer. What level of detail do they provide?

ROBERT OSTERMANN: The robot is not the optimal example. Because the robot is such a standard element, he has almost the same level of detail. Interesting here is, for example, one of these fixtures. Let's focus on one of the fixtures.

So this element here in the middle was designed in CATIA. We take the full detailed CATIA model. We reference it into in the environment. We reduce the model, with all the standard functionalities Inventor provides. And then, we create, with the factory design utilities, the asset. The asset itself is meshed. Because of what you saw before, it's a problem of computer power you have. Because if you would not mesh it, it would be a problem to implement this element.

And what we do is, we reduce holes time for us-- small parts, something like that-- to reduce the geometry.

AUDIENCE: I didn't ask a good question. Do you have a standard for the level of detail you request from a floor supplier?

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Yeah. We wrote down the standard, how we want our supplier to generate these elements that are used inside the factory.

AUDIENCE: How level of detail will they give you?

ROBERT OSTERMANN: They give us both, because we need it on the one side for maintenance. But for the integration in the factory, we have a definition which level of detail we use for the integration. And yeah, the data properties on the elements, we use Vault, and the Vault add on, to map the information to the data-- if they are not automatically inside the model. You understand?

AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Yeah, this is maybe something I wasn't able to describe exactly because of my English. This is a construction that only consists one or two times. So Magna buys this construction. It says to a supplier, we need this fixture. It has to look like that kind, as you can see it here. So normally, we buy this construction.

I know what you mean. We have several suppliers who deliver us conveying systems. And yeah, sometimes it happens, that they won't give the data in the full level of detail. What we do in this case is we tell them, you don't need to give us a native CAD format-- maybe SolidWorks, or CATIA. We tell them, give us a STEP file. And you don't have to geometry process how this construction is defined. You don't have it in the STEP file. That solves a lot of problems. And if you don't want to give us the element as a STEP file, or something like that, you could say your supplier used this method-- and give us the factory element, as I described. Then it's just a question if it is important for your maintenance to have the detailed object. Yeah?

AUDIENCE: You said this is as-built conditions.

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Yeah,

AUDIENCE: So did you go and model everything, or was this a brand-new constructed facility?

ROBERT OSTERMANN: It is a brand-new construction. We gave our suppliers the process how to generate this model. But what we do is we take laser scans. And I don't know if you know it, with ReCap, you can load these Navisworks files into the ReCap project. Then, you can do a visual improvement. You can check it visual. And if you see that there are differences between the reality and the as-built model, normally you would say, supplier, you have to rework it.

AUDIENCE: Do you do that in-house, or do you hire a company to do that?

ROBERT OSTERMANN: It depends. All these methods are pretty new. So if it is a newer project, we tell our supplier, you have to do the scan, and you have to check it. And you have to give us an as-built model that compares to the reality, as good as possible.

AUDIENCE: So Navisworks is the key [INAUDIBLE]

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Navisworks is the key to combine everything. Yeah?

AUDIENCE: Can you put point clouds in the Navisworks?

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Yes. When you use ReCap and check if there is a difference between reality and the model, it's easy to see, and it's visual. If you want to have a closer look, we use Navisworks.

Bring the point cloud into Navisworks, and you can measure it, and you can see it in more detail. The next step would be, use the same point cloud in your CAD. So it depends. A quick check, we use ReCap. To have a closer look, or to see in more detail where the problem is, we use Navisworks. And if you really want to adjust something, we bring the point cloud into the CAD system.

And as you might know, ReCap is implement-- in the last couple of years, Autodesk has implemented it in AutoCAD, in Navisworks, in Inventor, in Revit. So the same point cloud is available everywhere. You don't need to convert it. You can use the structure within your CAD data.

RYAN: And if you use sync, so if you were to put the point cloud in the AutoCAD file and sync it with Inventor, the point cloud goes with it. Or if you sync it from there to Navisworks, the point cloud will go with it.

AUDIENCE: Right now, I bring the point cloud into AutoCAD. [INAUDIBLE] I usually use AutoCAD 3D to walk through. But again, it's really slow.

ROBERT OSTERMANN: It's slow in AutoCAD to use the point cloud?

AUDIENCE: Yeah. Well, from point cloud--

RYAN: And all the objects, yeah.

AUDIENCE: In that, the file size gets pretty big, so it slows down.

RYAN: [INAUDIBLE] put it in [INAUDIBLE]

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Yeah, of course to use such a big data size, like you have in a point cloud, normally we do have a very quick server with SSDs. And I would say if it is slow, AutoCAD is not that slow in using a point cloud. Normally, it depends on how fast your data transfer is.

RYAN: But if you put four or five-hundred solid objects in there with that point cloud?

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Solid objects are a problem. But since we are using the factories and utilities, we are synchronize 3D and 2D. 2D, it's just two-dimensional object in AutoCAD. And to combine 2D data with the point cloud is efficient. So if you use it that way, it is an efficient process. But to use solids in AutoCAD, yeah OK, this might be that this is a problem.

RYAN: The way the factory works-- the way it sees it is AutoCAD is a 2D environment. That's it. So it's corollary 3D objects in Inventor. So we can go from AutoCAD and sync to Inventor, and create the 3D model from it. So it works a lot better.

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Next question, please. Is anybody interested in how it is property mapping, or how we were able to bring in these properties to all these elements?

AUDIENCE: Very interested.

ROBERT OSTERMANN: OK. [INAUDIBLE] have a look. Are there any other questions we should talk about, or that are important for you? Somebody from the AEC industry, again? Data management? I always ask that.

AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] Did the guideline for the [INAUDIBLE] to you as well? Or do you use the standard [INAUDIBLE]

ROBERT OSTERMANN: We start to define the standards, to bring in the data properties. Because it is not so easy to synchronize data properties from Revit to Vault and the data management system. This is not the standard process.

This is why I always ask for AEC and data management, because the data aren't mapped to the data management system. But we have a workflow, which we generate in the Revit model as [INAUDIBLE], with all the properties we want a map to Vault and the data management system.

Then, we use Vault enterprise add-on-- the input property function-- and map this schedule to the data management system. So we are able to have all the properties from a family part of Revit within Vault as well. And this is why we were able to have the same structure for all the tools, and libraries, and elements we have in our factory, in the data management system. But this is not a standard process.

And is why I always ask somebody from AEC, do you use data management? Is it important for you? Why don't you use it? I think normally in AEC, you have a project, you hand it over and then it's finished. I was in several sessions where AEC industry or building owners say, as long as the facility manager or the owner of the building doesn't say which properties you're going to have, you don't get the right properties.

And there is a study in America-- you lose 45% of the properties. And as soon as the building is sold, you lose 95% of the properties.

RYAN: You have to start all over.

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Yeah. You have to look in your building to see what you have outside. How shall I describe? You buy something, but you don't know what you have bought.

RYAN: Yeah, exactly. You have to start over. You don't know what you have.

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Recreate [INAUDIBLE] how a wall is built, which layers the floor consists. I don't know. All these properties get lost. Because as soon as somebody, Magna or whoever, tells the AEC industry what is important, you don't get that. And we started to define the standards for the data categorization, because this is so important to have a common view to all our data in the facility.

AUDIENCE: What program are you housing all this data in?

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Vault, the data management system from aura from Autodesk. We use Vault to manage all the data in the properties. But we also write the data that are important for us into a database, because we combine the database within the facility management system. And if the data aren't created in the CAD environment, it could come from an ERP, or whatever. We use the database re-import the properties to the element. So yeah, it's a database. And the Vault data management system, to manage all these properties.

How is it possible? I'll show you. You do have it in the presentation in the handout. You do have all the detailed information, how it is possible to write properties in the factory design [INAUDIBLE] Because this is not-- Ryan will help me-- not everything is a standard process. You need to use maybe the API, or iLogic rules. Or in Revit, you need to use a Dynamo to create these properties, or to make sure that the standard is used correctly.

RYAN: Yeah, to Rob's point, you can see the scale of the project [INAUDIBLE] and the amount of data that's in it-- in order to be able to make that all work, you have to automate many of the processes to be able to achieve that kind of scale. But taking advantage of Dynamo and iLogic [INAUDIBLE] database to be able to reconstruct these things.

But it's a foundational pattern for being able to manage large-scale projects that we see at many of our customers' sites. But if your project is smaller and you don't have some of that complexity, you can still apply the vast majority of the methods that Mr. Ostermann has presented here, to achieve the same kind of thing for smaller kinds of projects.

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Does anybody of you use Dynamo, or iLogic rules? OK, Dynamo. OK. Do you use Dynamo to check standards within your models, or to define standards? And do you use iLogic rules to check standards, or to implement standards?

RYAN: Or to make sure that everything is put in properly. [INAUDIBLE] that's a good idea [INAUDIBLE]

ROBERT OSTERMANN: What we did, you can see it here. We used iLogic. And you saw before this resource code. The resource code builds the data structure within our models. And of course, nobody would know the number of a special object. So we used iLogic, to make it possible for the user to make a decision. This is a production resource. It might be production infrastructure-- maybe a safety fence. And the user just selects the object he has. And the iLogic rule maps the code to the element.

So we use iLogic and Dynamo to make it easier for the user to maintain the standard. Because otherwise, you would have maybe an Excel sheet. You will have to look inside the Excel sheet which code is the element. And you would have to put it manually in the property. And this is a workflow nobody would deliver that. Nobody would do it. How should I tell you? You could make a lot of mistakes if it isn't automized.

RYAN: Yeah. Those manual processes, one, arae tedious, repetitive. People don't want to do it. If you can't validate the field by looking it up-- looking up what it should be, and populate those things automatically-- we dramatically simplify things for the users that are interacting with this.

AUDIENCE: And then if the data you have there are standardized and formatted properly [INAUDIBLE] use it for things like going into CMS systems, for example-- like a maximum. Take information from here and dump it into there [INAUDIBLE] That's why it's so important to have that all standardized.

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Yeah. And for the people who are in the AEC industry, we use Dynamo to generate the standard properties, to generate the standard values. So they user just has to choose, or select the correct properties. So it helps that there are less mistakes within the project, or within the definition of the families.

RYAN: [INAUDIBLE] apply the values more consistently, fewer errors. It's a lot faster. [INAUDIBLE]

ROBERT OSTERMANN: So here's another example. When you think of a parametric model, a parametric model could have a length, or height. Let's say 1,000 millimeters, one type. The other type, 2,000 millimeters. And if you want to write a part number that identifies this object exactly, we use iLogic rules to teach the element what the correct part number, or the correct code is. So otherwise, you wouldn't get a correct code for this element.

In Revit it's a bit different, because you define types. But for the uses of the factory [INAUDIBLE] activities, you would find the rule inside, where we generate codes to make an identifier for this element.

AUDIENCE: And also, when you [INAUDIBLE] codes [INAUDIBLE] generates [INAUDIBLE]

ROBERT OSTERMANN: This is dynamically. So if you understand the code, he uses the width to write the code-- to correct. And every time, if you changed a parameter, it generates a new element and writes the code. Some things that are tricky in the whole Autodesk universe is Inventor or Revit normally behave different. Let's say it like that. But there are possibilities to make a whole factory consistent-- have same properties inside. Some more questions? Yeah?

AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] How do you share the asset with the suppliers?

ROBERT OSTERMANN: So we manage the assets within the library in Vault We deliver the library to our supplier. The supplier uses it for his design, and then we take back the DWG and the new assets that he created. And then, we synchronize it to the model.

So because the libraries are standard, he doesn't have to deliver the standard elements, but the new ones he created. The new ones he created, we bring them into the Vault data management system-- because we have a standard. And standard properties, the structure and everything is correct. And afterwards, we synchronize the DWG to the model. So it's smaller data. You just need the DWG. And because of all the standards, everything stays consistent within the factory, within the data management system.

So yeah, of course, we have to work to create these elements-- that they are correct. But, let's say, you save a lot of time because of the standard--

AUDIENCE: That makes sense.

ROBERT OSTERMANN: --because of the standard asset you gave to the supplier. In Revit it's always a problem. Every project has a different standard. Every project has different naming conventions. For example, in Revit, normally, everything is a naming convention. And so we have this description property inside. So we say it doesn't matter how you name your family in Revit.

We have this property where the description is inside. The description is read by the data management system. And so we can reduce this problem of naming conventions, or the standard processes inside the CAD systems. Does that help you, or give you the answer?

AUDIENCE: How often do you have to rebuild your production there, with these digital [INAUDIBLE]. How many [INAUDIBLE]

ROBERT OSTERMANN: I can't tell you exact values for the money. I know you're trying it-- all this. You've tried it. But I can give you an example. Rebuild-- let's go back to one of the initial slides. How old do you believe is the oldest building we have on our production site at Magna?

AUDIENCE: 100 years.

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Not exactly 100 years. But in 1942, the first buildings were created. And the factory model you saw here in the presentation started with-- you see it here-- BMW X3. We bought the building when we implemented the BMW X3. And this was in the year 2003.

After the BMW X3, we put to use the Mini Countryman and Paceman. That was from 2010 to 2016. And then, the BMW 5 Series. And this is now. So this building was used by us for 15 years. And when you ask how often we recreated the machinery, normally we at Magna try to reuse as good as possible all the machinery and equipment. Over these 15 years, we renewed the steel structure and the conveying system only once. So we used it for seven or eight years.

And if you ask for rebuild, when the processes are OK and you deliver your standards to your supplier, you won't do the reconstruction by yourself. You will get the model. And your job is to implement it, and see if everything will work. And if you ask for saving money, when we integrated this steel structure and conveyor system the last time, it had on an area of 10,000 square meters. And the whole technical equipment of the building, it was not necessary to change anything of the main system-- no main pipe. The main HVAC system, or something like that, all this we were able to reuse it.

And so I know an air supply, system with these big dimensions-- let's say, 20 meters-- cost about $5,000, or $10,000. Because it's in the height of 10 meters, you're working somewhere over a production line, it really costs a lot. And 10,000 square meters, you might calculate, and so you might get an answer.

AUDIENCE: Related this question is, how frequently are you modifying that model. So you're changing out one of your processes makes it-- you have a work cell that needs to be changed. How frequently are you making those kinds of changes?

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Yeah, with every new project, or with every new integration of a car.

RYAN: Do you introduce a new car? So the Countryman there ran for six years, but undoubtedly there were changes on that line in that six years-- certain processes along the way.

AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Yeah it depends on the project [INAUDIBLE] integrated. But it happens that the machinery has to be renewed because it doesn't work correctly anymore. Yeah, sometimes that happens. But normally, it depends on the project that will be integrated. So our time is over, but nobody wants to get in. So please ask as long as we are able to answer questions.

AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]

ROBERT OSTERMANN: Yeah, OK. Yeah?

AUDIENCE: So from an operating perspective, now that we have the modelling, is there anything surprising that you have to use the model for, outside of the asset management team? Does it help you make decisions on a business sense, as far as operations of the plant-- the processes? Maybe you have an example [INAUDIBLE] it wasn't intentional when you started to build this model.

ROBERT OSTERMANN: I'm not sure if I understand your question exactly. You want to know when we build up these models and we implement the standards-- what was exactly the question?

AUDIENCE: Does Magna use the model for business-to-asset management? Is there an example of something that wasn't expected? Any benefits you've seen from the model that you didn't intend when you started building it?

RYAN: Someone else is using this data. You build this thing out for a factory design, but are there other people in facilities, in operations, in whatnot, that are getting value out of doing this, that are unexpected?

ROBERT OSTERMANN: I will show you something. So for me, unexpected was that we were able to integrate everything. At the beginning, because of the difference between Revit and Inventor, or the systems, we didn't know if it was possible to combine everything to work in both systems-- to have a machinery in the Revit environment, or vice versa.

So unexpected was that we were able to combine this data, and really make our design decisions in the system where we design-- and that it is possible these days. So you could bring something into Revit from your machinery. And you can bring machinery into a Revit model.