The solution
Ingenco successfully modernized its engineering document workflows, ensuring efficient updates, seamless accessibility, and real-time collaboration across its growing network. GTX solutions have helped Ingenco maintain its record for ingenuity, innovation, and high-quality service in the power and utilities sector.
Ingenco: Enhancing engineering collaboration across multiple sites
Ingenco, supporting power and telecommunications, required a digital solution to manage 274,000 drawings across multiple locations. GTXRasterCAD®, integrated with Altris CAD-Connect, provided remote redlining, fast raster editing, and seamless data sharing, improving collaboration and efficiency across all operational bases.
Ingenco, a spin-off from Scottish Power’s Technology division, has emerged as one of the UK’s most innovative engineering companies, providing expertise in heat, power, and telecommunications systems. With a team of 420 skilled engineers and scientists, Ingenco supports utility, power production, distribution, mobile telecommunications, healthcare, and industrial markets. However, managing legacy engineering drawings across multiple sectors posed significant challenges, requiring a sophisticated, digital solution for efficiency and accessibility.
Challenge
As Ingenco expanded, it inherited an extensive archive of paper-based technical drawings and CAD files, primarily in the Power production and Distribution sector.
- Engineers faced difficulties in maintaining up-to-date documentation due to the limitations of manual redrafting.
- Collaboration across offices - including London, East Kilbride, Prenton, Newtown, and Bonnybridge - was challenging due to fragmented access to engineering drawings.
- The organization needed a centralized drawing management system that allowed real-time collaboration, redlining, and efficient updates while preserving historical engineering records.
Solution
Ingenco implemented Spescom/Altris CAD-Connect, linking it with AutoCAD® and GTXRasterCAD® to optimize their document management workflow.
- Hybrid raster & vector editing: Engineers can modify scanned power schematics without full vector conversion, ensuring fast, precise updates.
- Remote access & redlining: Transmission engineers across multiple locations redline the latest drawing revisions, which are then electronically processed by the Drawing Office using GTXRasterCAD®.
- Wide-area network accessibility: With 274,000+ drawing files stored on central servers, GTX-powered seats in regional centers enabled fast and secure remote access for engineers nationwide.
Result
By integrating GTX and Altris solutions, Ingenco achieved seamless digital collaboration and efficient engineering documentation management:
- Updated drawings are accessible organization-wide, improving workflow efficiency.
- Rasterized corrected drawings are available for engineers without AutoCAD®, making documentation more inclusive.
- Cost-effective editing methods have streamlined processes, reduced the manual workload and improving accuracy in engineering operations.
"We have found that updating our drawing files using the hybrid techniques of GTXRasterCAD® has proved to be more cost effective and easier than anything else we have used."
- Bobby Laird, Ingenco EDMS Application Administration Manager