Objective of the Research Project

With the CoLa – Collaborative Factory Layout Planning research project, thinkBIC aims to fundamentally improve factory planning in brownfield contexts. Existing factories present particular challenges regarding the data foundation and communication in the planning process, as complete digital models are often lacking and numerous stakeholders must coordinate across complex processes. CoLa develops an intuitive, collaborative, and VR-based planning approach based on point clouds of real existing factories. This approach enables the joint and efficient design, evaluation, and optimization of alternative layout variants. This significantly shortens the early planning phase, makes the data foundation usable from the outset, and improves collaboration among all project participants.

Project Partners

CoLa is being implemented at Fraunhofer IGCV in collaboration with partners from research and industry, including Side Effects AG, Building Information Cloud GLWG GmbH, and Gexcel SRL. As thinkBIC, we contribute our expertise in digital planning processes, collaborative methods, and innovative visualization technologies to actively support the development and application of the VR-based planning system. Together, we combine technological innovation with pragmatic applicability for factory planning practice.

Our tasks in the project

In the CoLa project, we support the design of a fully collaborative and digital planning process: from developing the foundations for using point clouds as a planning data basis, through the design of interactive VR scenarios, to defining suitable key performance indicators (KPIs) for evaluating layout variants. We help to design the integration of the various data sources and tools in a user-oriented manner and, together with our partners, test approaches for effective collaboration in virtual planning spaces.

Added value for the industry / customers

CoLa addresses key challenges in brownfield factory planning: the early availability of reliable digital data, efficient coordination between departments, and the collaborative development of layout decisions. By using a VR-based, multi-user environment, planning cycles are shortened, errors are reduced, and planning quality is improved. Companies gain transparency regarding alternative scenarios and a sound basis for decision-making, which offers a decisive competitive advantage in times of high dynamism, scarce resources, and increasing performance demands.

Conclusion

From thinkBIC’s perspective, CoLa demonstrates how digital methods, immersive technologies, and collaborative working methods can work together in factory planning to make brownfield projects more efficient and of higher quality. The innovative point cloud and VR approach creates new opportunities for interaction, data utilization, and joint decision-making, thus paving the way for modern, data-driven, and participatory factory planning.