DPR Construction Boosts Alzheimer’s Drug Production with SYNCHRO™ 4D Digital Construction Monitoring
Technology Category
- Functional Applications - Enterprise Asset Management Systems (EAM)
- Functional Applications - Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)
Applicable Industries
- Cement
- Construction & Infrastructure
Applicable Functions
- Facility Management
- Logistics & Transportation
Use Cases
- Construction Management
- Construction Site Monitoring
Services
- System Integration
- Testing & Certification
About The Customer
The customer is a leading neuroscience research and development company based in Durham, North Carolina. They initiated a $32 million project to upgrade their drug production plant to increase the manufacturing capacity of an innovative drug that furthers Alzheimer’s disease therapies. The upgrade required a three-month plant shutdown and involved complex construction work. The company had frequently modified their 20-year-old drug plant, making it difficult to locate assets. They needed a contractor who could not only handle the complex construction work but also provide a digital solution for asset tracking and construction monitoring. They chose DPR Construction for the task.
The Challenge
DPR Construction was tasked with upgrading a drug production plant in Durham, North Carolina, for a leading neuroscience research and development company. The $32 million project aimed to increase the manufacturing capacity of an innovative Alzheimer’s disease therapy drug. The upgrade required a three-month plant shutdown and involved complex construction work, including the installation of over 7,000 linear feet of stainless-steel piping, 11 miles of new power and data cabling, and over 40 tons of steel platform work. The project also required the removal of existing equipment to make space for larger vessels and new skids. DPR faced significant pressure to keep the project on schedule to meet the client’s commissioning timeline and resume operations as quickly as possible. The company also faced challenges in integrating new and existing assets within the confined space of the plant. The client had frequently modified their 20-year-old drug plant, making it difficult to locate assets. DPR needed a digital solution that could provide a quantitative, visual representation of asset tracking and construction monitoring.
The Solution
DPR chose SYNCHRO 4D for digital asset tracking and virtual construction planning. The application provided an accurate representation of all piping in the factory and the current state of assets throughout all stages of construction, eliminating the guesswork of manual and visual inspections. DPR integrated their 3D models created from various modeling applications and established digital workflows and processes. Bentley’s interoperable technology provided a flexible environment, enabling seamless integration with third-party design software to import their 3D models and point clouds. As the project scope changed, the modifications were modeled and updated in SYNCHRO, providing accurate data to run scripts that helped coordinate crews and labor requirements. DPR established an integrated digital construction and scheduling environment, modeling progress updates in real-time and importing milestone dates, labor, materials, and asset location information. This data improved planning, predictability, and quality. With task and model-based data accessible to all stakeholders through shared dashboards, DPR established collaborative digital workflows that streamlined communication and drove informed decision-making.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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