At the technical evening held on 8 October 2025, the SAIMC Johannesburg Branch had the pleasure of being hosted by Proconics Advanced Solutions. The topic of the session was ‘Turning Big 3D Data into Actionable Engineering Insights – Challenges and Smart Solutions’.
The insightful presentation sparked thought-provoking discussions around key questions:
• How do we process vast amounts of data effectively?
• How can we extract meaningful insights?
• How do we get technology to truly work for us?
Despite the availability of smart solutions, engineers often find themselves spending more time cleaning, converting or locating data than performing actual engineering tasks. Data remains siloed in specialised tools, hindering collaboration. To put things into perspective, a typical project in 2014 involved around 20 GB of data, whereas today’s projects average 800 GB, bringing new challenges in data storage and accessibility.
Proconics Earth was introduced as a game-changing solution. This is a cloud-based platform enabling visualisation of large 2D, 3D and point cloud datasets. With browser-based access and AI-driven analysis, it eliminates the need for heavy local software installations.
Proconics demonstrated how their smart tools and data platforms are streamlining collaboration between office and site teams.
The impact is clear:
• Faster design and modification cycles
• Improved accuracy
• Fewer errors due to enhanced contextual understanding
The Johannesburg Branch extends sincere thanks to Robert Theron and PC Annandale for an outstanding and enlightening session.
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From left: PC Annandale, Ann de Beer, Robert Theron.
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