How GSK used AR to design a new manufacturing facility

How GSK has embraced a new Augmented Reality (AR) app from BakerHicks to validate the design of a new Aseptic Manufacturing Facility at Barnard Castle.

Designing a modern manufacturing facility is a challenge, and that challenge is even greater in the pharmaceutical industry where the need to demonstrate strict adherence to the highest level of regulatory standards and quality control is imperative.

When the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) began building a new Aseptic Manufacturing Facility at Barnard Castle in County Durham, therefore, they needed to be certain that the equipment and plant being installed was a direct match for the design they had created. They needed the validation and assurance that the completed facility could secure the future of aseptic filling of vials and syringes and the handling of cold chain products for the next 10-20 years. And, they needed to be sure that such a heavily serviced and highly complex facility complied with an equally complex set of industry standards.

The project’s Lead Designer, multi-disciplinary design and engineering company, BakerHicks found the solution in Augmented Reality (AR), creating a customised AR app which could be viewed using Microsoft’s HoloLens technology to quite literally bring the facility to life.

The technology enabled the team to project the 3D Building Information Modelling (BIM) design model onto the plant space within the facility, allowing them to view and interrogate the actual plant and equipment installation against the model. This meant they could quickly and easily identify any potential issues with the build, which if not noticed early on a facility of this size and complexity would have had significant implications on programme cost and delivery.

Technical application

BakerHicks’ specialist BIM team exported the project team’s live construction model from Revit and loaded it into the customised AR app developed for the purpose. This app was then loaded onto the Microsoft HoloLens headset with an image tracker preset to a known location on the site. This tracker acts like a QR code, but displays the 3D model instead of a web link; once the headset registers the tracker, the holographic BIM model is superimposed onto the live site.

The team were then able to walk through the facility wearing the headset, which acts as a self-contained holographic computer. This allowed them to view the AR model overlaid on the real world environment, providing a very visual way to compare the two and identify any inconsistencies.

The headset has the ability to record what the wearer is seeing as they walk through the facility, as well being fully interactive. Any issues identified can be recorded in photographic form, allowing them to easily be communicated to the project manager and contractor to be resolved.

The application of this technology is still very new in the construction industry. GSK are a highly innovative company and are willing to push boundaries to drive better project delivery. The walkthrough identified a number of areas where the installed elements differed from the 3D design. By capturing this information, the project team was able to work with the contractor to rectify these quickly and easily early on in the process.

The BakerHicks team returned a month after the initial walkthrough to carry out a second installation check to ensure the issues had been resolved satisfactorily. Once the facility is complete the team will return a further walkthrough to validate the as-built model against the finalised construction installation, providing GSK’s facilities management team with accurate data to help automate their processes.

Quicker, easier, smoother

Had standard detailed installation check methods alone been relied upon, with a facility of this complexity, it is possible that some of the issues may not have been picked up, causing delays or further problems later on. AR technology offered the GSK team the ability to be confident that the services, even those located in areas difficult to access had been checked against the design and that the construction could progress to programme.

The use of this technology may still be in its infancy but its use on GSK’s new Aseptic Manufacturing Facility at Barnard Castle has been a great success. The validation process was made quicker, easier and smoother, ensuring everything was constructed as per the design. And, on a project where the design team’s priority is ensuring complex multi-disciplinary designs integrate seamlessly into one cohesive facility, this is invaluable.