Transferring data automatically from design to maintenance

Say goodbye to the era of Excel sheets: now, device data transfers automatically from design to maintenance.

The data created in designing a building can easily be moved into maintenance with the press of just a single button. Sending unnecessary emails and fumbling with Excel sheets will be a thing of the past because all of the device data needed in MEP engineering are now automatically transferred from Granlund Designer (the device data software) to Granlund Manager (the maintenance software).

This service, offered by Granlund, is the first of its kind in Finland and meets the demand for digital building lifecycle management.

“Operations become more transparent as the customer is better able to track design and maintenance. No data is lost, even after the building is completed. That makes data easy to locate for repair projects,” says Joni Oksman, Product Manager from Granlund.

No data lost

The visual user interface of Granlund Manager is easy to use. That is why the user can locate the required technical data without any special expertise. Before, the air conditioning breaking down required looking for device technical data from the maintenance company’s folders. Now, the data is available to all interested parties.

According Granlund’s Business Director, Kimmo Mattila, not transferring data manually reduces the likelihood of human error or even removes it completely.

“Before, people would select what data to transfer to maintenance. Now, maintenance will immediately start with all information that come from design. There is no need to look for lost documents in case of issues,” says Mattila.

Already tested in practice

The new system was already successfully utilised 2019 in one of Finland’s largest construction projects. In the project, the device data of several buildings were transferred automatically. All put together, the technical data includes thousands of devices and tens of thousands of device parameters.

“This is the first project in Finland in which contractors’ device approvals were stored in our design software from the very beginning and were then transferred to the maintenance software. Everything was done with a database,” says Oksman. According to Mattila, the most significant feature of the data transfer is that it enables a completely new way of utilising information modelling.