The challenge:
Forsep Engenharia is a Brazilian consulting firm specializing in substation and transmission line projects, founded in 2013. During its early years of operation, the company did not work under BIM methodology. However, in 2023, it faced a major challenge: delivering a considerable volume of electrical substation projects under BIM standardsin the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil.
To overcome this challenge, Forsep needed to adopt BIM software that would guarantee agile, accurate, and reliable deliveries. During the evaluation process, it was identified that, although many organizations associate BIM with architectural software such as Revit, this type of software is not the most suitable for the design of electrical substations.This is because such software was originally developed for architecture, and adapting it to the needs of electrical engineering involves complex, extensive, and inefficient workflows. A clear example is the layout of a conductor between equipment. In architectural BIM software, this task is tedious and non-intuitive, resulting in a loss of time and efficiency.
Forsep did not see BIM simply as a contractual requirement, but as an opportunity to transform its internal processes, reduce working times, and, at the same time, improve the quality of its deliverables. That is when the search for a specialized BIM solution for the design of electrical substations began.
The solution:
After evaluating several options, Forsep chose primtech 3d as its BIM software because it is specifically designed for electrical substations and has a library of more than 5,000 components. This functionality was decisive in responding to high project demand and meeting deadlines.
Unlike many companies that adopt architectural software because it is trendy, Forsep decided on the primtech solution as a specialized tool aligned with its sector. Implementation was quick: after just two weeks of basic training, they were already developing projects using the existing library. The fast and specialized technical support in Portuguese, together with the guidance of instructors, improved the quality of the deliverables.
The use of primtech software reduced design time and effort by 50% compared to previous methods, exceeding typical BIM savings (15–20%). This allowed for increased project production without expanding the team and achieved an exceptional return on investment (ROI), recouping the investment in less than a year. To date, Forsep has developed more than 60 substations with this solution.
According to Antonio Ribeiro, executive director, features such as the calculation and plotting of the lightning protection area, accurate bills of materials, and virtual reality models that eliminate interference on site stand out. The choice of primtech 3d was consolidated as a strategic decision that transformed their BIM design processes, increasing efficiency, quality, and customer satisfaction.
The results:
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Time reduction: |
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Accurate lists that reduce costs: |
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primtech DT virtual reality: |
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More than 60 projects with primtech 3d in just 2 years: |
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Return on investment in less than a year: |
I feel confident using Primtech. We can design substation projects and know that everything will work out.