Case Study: Intelligent Automation In Cost Estimation
Using computer vision we automated the process of interpreting schematic drawings of oil refineries for the purposes of extracting a bill of materials.
Outcome: Increase In Output By Factor Of 100.
Problem Description
When building new refineries oil and gas companies engage engineers to design the refinary. The design is typically captured in a schematic drawing. These schematic drawings contain components such as pipes, fittings, valves and instruments. Prior to building a refinary a bill of materials is estimated from the schematic drawing. This is a manual process called a "take-off", where a civil engineer aggregates relevant components. The extraction of relevant components is not just a matter of lookup, it involves the application of complex domain rules. A typical process is as follows:
- A collection of schematic drawings, some of which stretch across multiple PDF documents, is submitted for cost estimation
- A team of cost estimators manually reviews the drawings and extracts a summary of materials used
- The extracted bill of materials is uploaded into an engineering system for cost estimation
- The cost estimation system generates a final cost estimate
The entire process is costly since it involves a manual review. It is slow and also error-prone. When reviewing schematic drawings across multiple pdf documents, it is easy miss something.
Reliancy Solution
We used Intelligent Process Automation to semi-automate what cost estimators do. The intent was to provide an assistive technology rather than to replace cost estimators. The solution consisted of the following steps: