Video summary
Christoph Schulte from ISL Kocher introduces the ISL Construction Site Manager, a software solution designed to integrate the core functions of CAD, GIS, and quantity surveying into a unified digital workflow for infrastructure projects. With over 30 years of industry experience behind the company, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, the product targets a wide range of clients from small excavation teams to major European construction firms like Strabag. The software is particularly well-positioned in the mid-market sector, serving not only construction companies but also planners, municipalities, and utility associations who need to manage dynamic processes in civil engineering, earthworks, road, sewer, and pipeline construction.
The primary innovation of the system lies in its ability to digitize the entire process chain from planning to billing, effectively eliminating manual paperwork. By using parameterized 2D inventory plans and digital terrain models, the software automatically generates 3D models and calculates quantities compliant with German VOB regulations without requiring extra effort. This seamless integration allows data to flow directly between the construction site manager and external accounting systems like AutoCAD or AFA, ensuring that measurement sheets and invoices are always up-to-date. The system acts as a versatile hub that can import various file formats such as IFC, DWG, DXF, and Easybau, while also exporting results in formats like 3D PDFs for client presentations without the need for specialized viewing software.
Beyond simple data management, the Construction Site Manager facilitates real-time communication between the office and the construction site by breaking down large models into actionable data for machine control and staking out. As work progresses on-site, changes such as compression protocols or photographic documentation are fed back into the system to update the digital model instantly. This bidirectional flow ensures that any modifications made during execution automatically trigger recalculations in the quantity surveying module, allowing for accurate billing of partial works or deductions based on actual performance levels rather than static initial plans.
Ultimately, the software aims to create a comprehensive digital ecosystem where all project participants can collaborate efficiently throughout the lifecycle of a construction project. Whether it is verifying distances against point clouds for canal construction or handing over an as-built model to a client, the system ensures that every object invoiced is represented with its full attributes in a 3D environment. Christoph emphasizes that the tool is not merely an invoicing aid but a strategic platform for building a transparent, data-driven process chain that connects planning, execution, and commercial management, thereby modernizing how infrastructure projects are documented and billed.
Read the full video transcript
Welcome to my
topic today in infrastructure construction. The goal is to
combine the most important functions of AFA, GIS and CRD for the dynamic processes in construction, and to do so with
our product, the ISL
Construction Site Manager. My name is Christoph
Schulte and as I just said, I
work in Siegen at the company ISL
Kocher. This year we are celebrating our
20th company anniversary
and
our product is the ISL
Construction Site Manager.
With the senior boss, we have over 30
years of experience in construction, but in principle
we are a young, dynamic team,
although I then
fall outside the pattern and
am actually one of the oldest members. Yes, the
application areas we have with
the ISL construction site manager are
classic civil engineering, earthworks, road construction,
sewer construction or pipeline construction
to our customers. It's mostly
construction companies. However,
our customers also include planners who use the software,
and cities, municipalities or
wastewater associations
that benefit from the system, the
construction site manager.
And what exactly the construction site manager is,
I just want to
explain a little bit now,
so that you can see what
we do there. Yes, generally speaking, to our
customers. We have a wide range of
customers. It ranges from small, one-
man excavation operations, like Bagger
Schenk, for example,
the classic medium-sized businesses, but also
large companies like Strab and Winchi, which operate throughout
Europe, are part of our
customer base. But we are primarily
positioned in the mid-market sector, where our software is then
used accordingly.
Yes, the beginnings of the ISL
construction site manager were actually like
this: we set ourselves the goal of
bringing a product to the market to
digitize billing. And what do we need for
that? A digital survey, i.e., a 2D
inventory plan. What do we do to
then issue measurement sheets? We
parameterize everything we do in the
graphic, enrich it with further
parameters, and link the whole thing
to the specifications.
This results first in a
measurement sheet, but also in a
quantity calculation compliant with EB regulations, which we can provide at any time
. That means we
always have the 2DP plan and an EB Comfort
billing that match up.
But the 3D model has also been added
. Without us having to do anything extra,
the 3D model is automatically created
in the background based on the parameters.
Yes, with the construction site manager we have
this area of CRD, digital plan
and model creation.
We have a rule-based
model and we have a
parameterization, so that the model
and therefore the corresponding sets are
constantly changing. We have an
Airbform quantity determination system and are
therefore clearly taking over the work of an existing
system
and, uh, have outsourced the whole thing. The
whole thing simply means that we have
initiated the end of paperwork. This means that
manual measurements were no longer taken, but were
generated digitally with the construction site manager, and the quantities were no
longer manually entered into the AFA system
to generate the invoice
, but were
transmitted digitally and imported there.
Yes, the combination of CAD and AFA with
our software, the ISL
Construction Site Manager, leads to a
digital process chain in the
construction companies. Specifically, we can
start in the calculation phase,
create a simplified model, and
determine quantities at this early
stage, which we then compare against the
quantities in the bill of quantities. Once we have the model
, we also have simple
information such as lines and points that
we can send to the construction site, or
digital terrain models for
machine control, which are derived from the 2DP or
3D plan. However, the construction site
also brings changes back to us
, so we can simply modify the plan
and thus have our digital
billing in 2D, in 3D and RB compliant
again. If we extend this a
little further
to all project participants,
then this
parameterized creation of models is
actually interesting for everyone. A
planner can go and
create a quantity survey, uh, that is,
generate their bill of quantities. He can
make changes again at any time.
As just mentioned, in the
calculation, execution, and
billing, the whole thing is interesting for
the construction companies and also for the
client.
We have the option of holding the models
against an IS, e.g. against a
point cloud, in order to simply
measure distances and ultimately
also as an SBIL model for the client. The
Easybauat system is already
being used, especially in canal construction.
The construction company creates
the built model of the canal,
determines the quantities, performs the RB-
compliant quantity survey, and
in this case, an Easybau file is
handed over to the client so that the whole thing
can then be entered into their system and
the newly added information can be added.
Yes, the CRD serves as a connecting element to the
construction site in the execution area.
Um, just like you would expect from
other CRDs. The construction site is
prepared in the office using lines, points,
and digital terrain models.
We do this at that point, well, I'd
say more or less as a
byproduct, that we break down the
information we need
from the large model into smaller pieces and
output it to the machine
or to the rover poles for
staking out.
Yes, when we are further out on the
construction site, the construction site
also provides us with information
back. What did we actually
build? These can
be protocols, such as compression protocols.
It can be photographic documentation to
show what we actually
built, to prove what we are
also billing for. Or when it
comes to deductions, that we
have performance status reports and only
bill a portion of the model
and hand it back to the AFstem.
Yes, documentation and performance levels,
that basically means that we
have this information like in the GIS system, that
we collect information again on
our site and then
process it further accordingly. So, that means the
construction site manager can
send information to the
construction site in both directions or receive it back in,
so that we can continue working with this information
or modify the plan
accordingly. Yes, the changes
in the parameterized CRD mean
that, as I said, we get new quantities
and we don't need to
make any changes in the Afer system,
but we recalculate the quantities and
then transfer this information
digitally back into the Aasystem
so that we can generate our calculation there
. Yes, basically, what
is a construction site manager? I always like to demonstrate this
here with this little
wheel. Well, you could say it's an
omnivore. Uh, we can
import any data, we can
edit sub-areas. We do
n't always have to be the big player in
the large process chain. That means we
can start modeling, uh,
parameterizing; we can
determine quantities; we can generate all the models
ourselves. However, we can
also import external data such as IFC, CPXML,
Easybau or Shape, and of course
the classic DWG
and DXF plans. Communication with the
construction site is always maintained so
that we can
provide live updates on the current status, ensuring that work is being carried out according to
the execution plan
and that the construction site
continues accordingly. Right at the very
end. Oh, sorry. At the very
end, we of course have the
option to submit everything in
different formats.
IFC CPXML files, the canal construction as just
mentioned, as Easybau. We can
output shaped files. However, they can
also now be 3D PDFs, in order to introduce the
client to the digital world of
models, where
the invoiced objects are included as 3D models
including their attributes.
And without needing any special
software, you can simply view the whole thing in
PDF format. Yes, that brings me to the end of my brief
introduction to the construction site manager. It
's not just about invoicing;
our goal is to build a digital
process chain, including
communicating externally to the construction site
or subsequently to the commercial
area and the Afer systems. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you
for your
attention. M.