Digitaltransformation& AI.

Tool mapping by function, engineering, production, sales, procurement, finance, HR. Flow mapping, where data is born, how it circulates, where the breaks are (manual re-entry points, CSV exports, shared Excel files becoming de facto sources of truth).

Hidden cost analysis, time lost in re-entries, translation errors between phases, site rework due to engineering/workshop inconsistencies. On a company of EUR 50-80 million in revenue, the documented hidden cost frequently exceeds EUR 1.5 to 3 million per year, hidden in the wage mass and in the project margin that erodes.

End-to-end file-to-factory flow, from parametric design to CNC machines, cutting, machining, drilling, thermoforming, SSG assembly. Automation of regulatory checks continuously during design. Centralised project data management on a single 3D model.

Interoperability through open standards, IFC 4.3, BCF, proprietary APIs of ERPs and production machines. Data governance, who creates, who validates, who archives, with auditable traceability. The target architecture is not a generic schema, it is built for the client's workshop.

Analysis of thousand-page tender documents in minutes, structured extraction of requirements, detection of at-risk contractual clauses, indicative pricing, risk scoring. Generation of shop drawings from the native 3D model, 50 to 70 % reduction in engineering time on standard shop drawings. Continuous compliance verification during design.

Site risk anticipation from historical projects, detection of at-risk interfaces, recurring claims, critical supplier dependencies. Project financial reporting automation. The 2025-2026 models (Claude 3.5/4, GPT-4o/5, Gemini 2 Pro) enable use cases not viable two years ago. Model selection by technical criteria, not by hype.

Vonbuild, the agentic AEC platform founded by the same studio, can be deployed to complement the mission. Shili & Partners advises and carries the transformation; Vonbuild equips when the client chooses to equip with our agents. Vonbuild is proposed, not imposed.

The client can select any AI platform available, generalist solutions (Microsoft Copilot, Claude for Work, ChatGPT Enterprise), AEC-specific solutions (Augmenta, Higharc, Spacewell), in-house developments. Our advisory remains neutral, we recommend the architecture fit to the situation, not a proprietary solution.

The change is not cosmetic, it modifies the way of designing, documenting and transmitting.

Typical gains observed on missions post-transformation: engineering time reduced by 30 to 50 % on repetitive tasks (bay drawing generation, dimensional annotation, consistency checks), production defects diminished by 40 to 60 % through elimination of re-entries, volume throughput capacity increased at constant headcount. The investment cost, licences, training, engineering process restructuring, is typically amortised in 12 to 24 months on a company of EUR 30-80 million in revenue.

Automated reading of the specification, extraction of technical requirements, cross-reference with the company's pricing base, production of an indicative quote in a few hours, validated and enriched by the senior pricing lead.

Typical gains: pricing time strongly reduced (50 to 70 % on standard dossiers, 30 to 40 % on complex dossiers), win rate improved by personalisation of the response (the pricing lead spends time on commercial strategy and technical differentiation, not on data entry), margins protected by the precision of the initial pricing, fewer under-priced dossiers that bleed in execution.

The model carries all business views, geometric for engineering, bills of materials for procurement, sequences for installation, health log for the operator, without re-entry between phases.

The operational effect goes beyond productivity. Drastic reduction in translation errors between phases, cycle acceleration, handover quality improved by data continuity. For an owner or portfolio manager, the operated handover dossier becomes a documentary asset, intervention base for renovations at 15-25 years, post-incident expertises, regulatory energy audits (CECB, DEET, EPC).

Integration of CAD data directly into production chains, cutting and machining CNCs, thermoforming presses, SSG assembly lines, quality control stations. Machine data rises in real time to the MES or ERP, utilisation rates, stoppage causes, detected quality deviations.

Typical gains: productivity increased by 20 to 35 %, more regular quality through reduction of manual setting errors, flexibility strengthened on short series and variable geometries, the norm on iconic projects where each bay may differ. The associated capacity investment (machines, MES licences, SI integration) is significant, the diagnostic phase specifies the order of magnitude and the amortisation phasing acceptable for the client's financial structure.