Bentley Synchro acquisition to extend digital workflows through 4D modelling

Leading software solutions provider Bentley Systems has announced the acquisition of 4D construction modeling software company Synchro Software. Synchro has been widely adopted for building and civil infrastructure projects and this major acquisition broadens Bentley’s ProjectWise construction offerings. 

With construction project management in 4D, benefits of BIM can extend throughout infrastructure project delivery and asset lifecycles, as traditionally disconnected workflows become digital workflows. Synchro’s strong growth has coincided with the burgeoning adoption of BIM for design workflows, but these stop short of considering construction planning, scheduling, and project management strategies. 

For London’s Crossrail, now being completed on time and on budget, Synchro digital construction innovatively applied Bentley Systems’ iModel work packaging to complete the reach of its BIM application portfolio and its CDE. Synchro has increasingly become the standard for major constructors leveraging BIM through project delivery. 

With Synchro, 3D BIM deliverables are linked with the 4D time dimension to intrinsically and immersively synchronise, through digital workflows, the construction strategy, work breakdown structure, schedule, costs, resources, supply chain logistics, and progress. Synchro’s 4D construction modelling appropriately incorporates other construction variables (human, materials, equipment, falseworks, and space) for safe, reliable, and predictable project delivery performance. 

By synchronising changes from BIM, schedule and/or field conditions, Synchro provides clear visibility into both the project data and the design, making it quick and easy to communicate and analyse the impact of changes on the entire project delivery process. This also enables Synchro users to compare construction strategy alternatives - even in early stages of design and bid processes - and to evaluate the feasibility and efficiency of different scenarios, deriving insights toward the best possible construction outcomes.  

“I’m very excited about what Synchro brings to Bentley’s capabilities for comprehensive project delivery, not only in terms of technology, but also by the proven construction expertise of the Synchro team,” said Stephen Jolley, vice president of construction for Bentley. “In construction modelling for industrial projects, the market is already converging around ConstructSim’s advanced work packaging and workface planning. In the advancement of going digital for civil and building construction, the needed impetus for these ‘industrialised’ advantages is precisely what we are now announcing. For infrastructure projects, integrating Synchro’s 4D construction modelling completes the reach of our ProjectWise CDE,” said Jolley. 

Tom Dengenis, founder and CEO of Synchro Software Ltd, said, “This combination reflects my conviction about what’s imperative for finally driving infrastructure construction substantially forward. At Synchro, we accomplished the breakthrough of 4D construction modelling software many years ago, but we have wanted to advance the market faster than our own continuous growth. With my 40-plus Synchro colleagues in the UK, Boston, San Francisco, Shanghai, and Moscow, I look forward to working more directly with our new Bentley colleagues, thanks to our now so much greater combined power and commitment, to accelerate the global industry in going digital.”

Malcolm Taylor, head of technical information, Crossrail, commented, “Using specialist software from Bentley Systems and Synchro, our project schedule could be linked to the 3D information to produce 4D models that could show the progress of design and installation at any particular point in time. For me, the news of Bentley Systems’ acquisition of Synchro Software is excellent, and will help reinforce how 4D can be used to improve construction management.”

Bentley Systems’ CEO Greg Bentley said, “Synchro has already inflected upward the construction productivity curve, by leading the adoption of 4D construction modelling for significant projects worldwide. The opportunity to extend digital workflows from BIM to institutionalise 4D construction modelling across infrastructure project delivery, superseding disconnected planning and scheduling, is enormous and immediate; its magnitude is confirmed by the clamour of new start-ups. Every constructor and every infrastructure project can gain from going digital through our 4D construction modelling!”