3D Collaborative Design: Driving the Next Generation of Metallurgical Industry Upgrades
Highlights from the 3rd Metallurgical Industry 3D Collaborative Design Technology Exchange Conference
The 2013 Metallurgical Industry User Seminar and the 3rd Metallurgical Industry 3D Collaborative Design Technology Exchange Conference, co-hosted by China Aluminum International Engineering Co., Ltd. and Bentley, recently took place in Beijing. Experts in information technology from metallurgical survey and design institutes, as well as engineering firms, agreed that 3D collaborative design is a crucial driver for upgrading the metallurgical industry amid current overcapacity challenges.
3D Collaborative Design: Navigating the Era of Overcapacity in Metallurgy
According to Barclays Capital and economic analysts including Keqiang Economics, many Chinese industries are grappling with overcapacity and slowing growth. This situation calls for new drivers to sustain industrial development. Experts in the metallurgical sector predict a plateau or even a decline in the coming years. As new project construction decreases, survey and design institutes along with engineering companies will face significant challenges in business growth.
Challenges often spark technological innovation. Qin Feiyu, Director of the 3D Design Office at China Enfi Engineering Technology Co., Ltd., stated, “Business challenges frequently drive technological advancement, which in turn fuels business development.” The non-ferrous metallurgy market is no longer booming, but this shift encourages the adoption of technologies like 3D collaborative design.
Previously, survey, design, and engineering units hesitated to adopt new technologies or invest in developing in-house skills due to the pressures of project deadlines and traditional workflows. Now, with a lighter workload, there is an opportunity to embrace new technologies and elevate technical capabilities.
Competition in the metallurgical industry is intensifying, prompting companies to prioritize efficiency. Trends such as globalization, consolidation, and general contracting are accelerating the adoption of 3D collaborative design across China.
Chinalco International: Leveraging 3D Collaborative Design to Win Projects and Boost Efficiency
Chinalco International Engineering Co., Ltd. emphasizes that 3D collaborative design enhances the competitiveness of survey and design institutes and engineering companies, helping them secure projects, execute them well, and improve operational efficiency.
Liu Jinbo, Vice President of Chinalco International Engineering Co., Ltd., explained, “Ideally, engineering projects should be approached with multiple bids. Yet, in today’s increasingly competitive environment, winning often comes down to offering a reasonable price. Leadership demands precision and refinement in cost accounting.”
“Previously, using CAD required manual quantity calculations, leading to uncertain estimates. With 3D collaborative design, engineering quantities are generated automatically, allowing us to learn from previous project costs. Accurate past data translates into more precise future bids, enabling us to offer competitive prices and improve our chances of winning contracts.”
As a general contractor, accurate quantity and material calculations help cut costs. For example, manual cable length estimations might be 20 meters, but 3D collaborative design technology can calculate 21.2 meters automatically. While the difference may seem small, over large projects it can translate into kilometers and significant cost savings.
Beyond solving design collision detection, material calculations, and construction efficiency challenges, 3D collaborative design supports project delivery, operation, and full lifecycle management. In the past, Chinalco International’s design teams required 20 people for on-site support, covering various specialties. Today, with 3D collaborative design, just three to five people suffice.
Delivering 3D collaborative design models also benefits construction. For instance, on a steel project in Brazil, providing the client with a 3D model helped them intuitively understand the installation sequence of bearings and screws, saving significant labor and travel costs. Moreover, when the plant is operational, the owners don’t have to worry about losing design experts, as 3D models facilitate ongoing operation and maintenance.
Liu Jinbo noted that adopting 3D collaborative design not only aligns enterprises with international standards but also accelerates domestic business development.
Zhu Jiaming, General Manager of the Technology Management Department at Chinalco International, shared that the company has established four platforms: two for production (3D design and project management) and two for management (office and financial systems). Notably, Shenyang Aluminum Magnesium and Guiyang Aluminum Magnesium adopted Bentley’s 3D collaborative design technology as early as 2007.
China ENFI Engineering Corporation: Minimizing Project Costs Through Early Design Changes
Qin Feiyu, Director of the 3D Design Office at China Enfi Engineering Technology Co., Ltd., said, “About 20% of our projects currently use Bentley’s 3D collaborative design, primarily large-scale projects. The decision to adopt new design technologies is driven by input-output efficiency, with market demand as the key factor. Expanding foreign business, client requirements, and general contracting needs are all pushing 3D collaborative technology forward.”
Qin emphasized that entering overseas markets without 3D collaborative design is unfeasible. For instance, projects in Australia require 3D collaborative design for proposal discussions and design submissions. Domestic projects often prioritize progress over design detail, but international projects demand meticulous design refinement.
He recalled working on a $3.7 billion iron ore project overseas, where a one-month delay could cost the owner $100 million. This high-stakes environment necessitated precise design, including drilling and bolt hole placements for pipe clamps, with no allowance for on-site welding — all requiring exceptional design standards.
Domestically, some major clients have also started demanding 3D collaborative design. For example, China Enfi Engineering Technology Co., Ltd. undertakes projects like Shandong Optics and Fine Mechanics and Jinchuan Nonferrous Metals, where clients appreciate the intuitive, efficient 3D models that clearly demonstrate progress and responsibility.
China Enfi Engineering recognizes that general contracting projects must use 3D design to reduce material procurement costs. Metallurgical engineering is highly multidisciplinary, with diverse materials where shortages cause major disruptions, and excess leads to waste. 3D collaborative design enables precise material calculations, minimizing these issues.
Qin Feiyu remarked, “Engineering changes significantly impact project costs. The earlier changes occur, the smaller the losses. Among all lifecycle stages—design, procurement, construction, and operation—the design phase is earliest and controlling changes here leads to the lowest overall cost. Achieving refinement and visualization in design is crucial, and 3D collaborative design is the best tool to accomplish this.”
Shougang International: The Economic Value of 3D Collaborative Technology
Zhang Yan, Chief Engineer of the Information Network Department at Beijing Shougang International Engineering Technology Co., Ltd., stated, “The real value of 3D collaborative design technology lies not in the 3D models themselves but in the economic benefits they generate. This technology helps survey, design, and engineering firms improve economic returns through general contracting, material control, and operational services.”
In 2012, Shougang International undertook a project in Brazil where the client did not require 3D collaborative technology but stipulated that any increase in total contracting cost over 5% would be grounds for breach of contract and compensation demands. 3D collaborative technology helped reduce costs and enhance economic efficiency through detailed calculations and management.
While domestic steel engineering projects typically completed within three months, Shougang International’s overseas projects have a standard duration of 22 months—10 months for design and 12 months for construction. The longer timeline and higher management demands underline the need for 3D collaborative design. As general contracting periods extend and profits grow, applying 3D collaborative technology becomes increasingly justified.
Shougang International’s enterprise design institute, serving Shougang Corporation, now employs 3D collaborative design technology to provide operational services, representing a promising innovation.
Bentley: Collaboration as the Cornerstone of 3D Collaborative Design
As the metallurgical industry advances in informatization and industrialization, 3D collaborative design has become inevitable. Currently, collaboration remains the biggest challenge in this development.
Yu Xingyang, Sales Director of Bentley’s Greater China Factory Industry division, explained, “Collaborative design has two dimensions: collaboration across disciplines and collaboration throughout the project lifecycle.”
Metallurgical projects involve multiple specialties—architecture, structural, piping, plumbing, electrical engineering—each contributing models that are integrated into a shared file. This integration is like placing equipment pipelines inside a room, the room within a community, and the community on the earth. Success depends on the collaboration between disciplines.
Two collaboration types exist: loose and close. Loose collaboration means each discipline works independently and their models are only physically combined later. Close collaboration, however, resembles online gaming: professionals using architecture, HVAC, and plumbing software work simultaneously on the same platform in real-time.
The other dimension is full lifecycle management. From design through construction to operation and maintenance, different software tools are used at different stages. The question is whether design data can be carried through construction and later operations without redundant rework, saving costs and improving convenience.
Achieving seamless collaboration across various software platforms is challenging but essential. Bentley focuses on this by using 3D information modeling for precise design-phase simulations, reducing project risks and boosting efficiency through shared workflows, content reuse, and dynamic feedback during design and construction phases. In operations, this approach provides owners with accurate digital assets and operational information platforms, enabling true data continuity.
Bentley recently introduced OpenPlant to the Chinese market—a 3D engineering design software built on this philosophy.
Bentley’s Global Vice President of Architecture, Electrical, and Factory Products, Ken Adamson, shared, “OpenPlant is based on the global standard ISO15926, emphasizing openness and data interoperability. For example, the recent Bentley-Siemens collaboration uses OpenPlant to create a system that collects, exchanges, and leverages data throughout the factory lifecycle—from engineering to operation—across multiple disciplines, ensuring data authenticity at all times.
European and American users fully exploit OpenPlant’s 3D capabilities, data openness, and interoperability to maximize benefits in factory engineering and operations. This serves as a valuable model for domestic metallurgical users.”
OpenPlant is a 3D factory design software based on MicroStation, tailored to address process layout challenges in industries like metallurgy, power, and petrochemicals. It excels in refined and complex designs, enabling optimized equipment and pipeline layouts within limited spaces, avoiding collisions, and reducing spatial conflicts.
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