Wessex Archaeology, established over 40 years ago, is a leading provider of archaeological and heritage services and an educational charity, supported by over 350 industry experts.
With an international network of offices, Wessex Archaeology’s Geomatics team is renowned for delivering a wide range of technical survey services to the heritage sector, including terrestrial and UAV photogrammetry, laser scanning, remote sensing, and landscape surveys.
Faced with the challenge of balancing comprehensive CAD functionality with cost-efficiency, Wessex Archaeology made a strategic decision to transition from AutoCAD® to BricsCAD, facilitated by KTF Software.
Before adopting BricsCAD, Wessex Archaeology was keen to explore ways to reduce their existing CAD products’ escalating costs and restrictive subscription models. As a company that relied heavily on CAD, the ongoing expense of maintaining a large number of AutoCAD® licenses became increasingly difficult to justify, especially as the company’s workflows began shifting towards GIS platforms. Despite reducing their dependency on CAD, the need to maintain specific tasks within a CAD environment remained essential. The challenge was to find a solution that could offer the necessary functionality at a more manageable cost.
Wessex Archaeology chose BricsCAD primarily due to its cost savings and value for money. Having previously overseen a transition from AutoCAD® to BricsCAD while working for a previous company, Geomatics Technical Manager, Tori Wilkinson was confident in the software’s ability to meet their diverse needs. Tori told me, “BricsCAD’s versatility in handling GPS and TST data processing, 2D drawings, 3D models, Point Cloud functionality, Revit/BIM compatibility, and civil tools made it an ideal fit for the wide range of tasks required by the company.”
Tori and other experienced CAD users within Wessex Archaeology’s Geomatics department spearheaded the transition to BricsCAD. Working closely with key members of other teams, they identified potential workflow stumbling blocks early on, which were resolved with support from teams at KTF Software, Bricsys, and Spatial Manager.
This collaborative approach ensured that the implementation was smooth and that the wider company could quickly adapt to the new software.
One challenge encountered during the implementation was with some of the bespoke tools and workflows used by the company. However, with the help of KTF Software, Bricsys, and Spatial Manager support teams, these tools were successfully redesigned from the ground up, enabling a seamless transition for all users, including occasional and less experienced ones.
We wanted to get an idea of how the transition to BricsCAD has impacted Wessex Archaeology, so we asked for comments on the following areas of real-world impacts and benefits:
COST SAVINGS
“The switch to BricsCAD has resulted in significant business cost savings, allowing the company to maintain full software functionality while maintaining the number of fully functional CAD licenses.”
EFFICIENCY
“BricsCAD has proven to be more powerful than AutoCAD® for certain tasks, such as handling large .tif files and volume calculations. The company also benefits from BricsCAD BIM, which enables seamless work with Revit files.”
FLEXIBILITY
“The lower cost of BricsCAD has enabled the company to retain more licenses, providing maximum flexibility across the business.”
THIRD-PARTY ADD-ONS
“The use of Spatial Manager and the KTF Pointcloud plugin, along with Leica Cloudworx for BricsCAD, has enhanced the company’s capabilities in mapping underlays, shapefile compatibility, and laser-scanned building survey work.”
Wessex Archaeology has been highly satisfied with the support and resources provided by the Bricsys and KTF Software support teams. The online resources have been extremely helpful. The Bricsys Help Centre played a crucial role in the early stages of the transition, assisting the team in identifying command line prompts and other subtle differences between BricsCAD and AutoCAD®.
The support received from KTF Software and Bricsys was particularly noteworthy. The team took the time to investigate issues, make alternative suggestions, and redesign tools to overcome challenges related to existing workflows. We gave Wessex Archaeology a personalised service to show them they are a valued customer, with their feedback seemingly considered for future software releases.
Tori told me, “I would recommend BricsCAD to others. It provides us with everything we need at a fraction of the price while retaining much of the same functionality as other CAD programs”. Wessex Archaeology primarily use GIS-based systems for the workflows. However, their Built Heritage specialists, for example, now exclusively uses BricsCAD for Historic Building Recording and digitizing from laser scan Point Clouds. They are also likely to replace their remaining CAD seats in favour of BricsCAD.
Wessex Archaeology’s transition to BricsCAD, supported by KTF Software, showcases how a strategic move to more cost-effective software can not only maintain but enhance a company’s operational efficiency. The successful implementation of BricsCAD has allowed Wessex Archaeology to continue delivering top-tier archaeological and heritage services while achieving significant cost savings.
Like Wessex Archaeology, you can take advantage of a powerful CAD tool with an easy learning curve that can help you create detailed and accurate plans that are compatible with your customers.
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