2023: Tekla’s year in review in the UK & Ireland

And just like that, it’s the end of another year. Read on, as Steven Insley, our Business Director, takes a look back at the last twelve months…

A busy event calendar

2023 has certainly been a busy year for the Trimble team, with over 20 in-person and online events taking place across the UK and Ireland.

From Digital Construction Week, Offsite Expo and UK Metals Expo to our own Construction Robotics Day and the successful ‘Delivering Differently’ webinar series with Arup, it’s been fantastic to get out and meet colleagues, customers and industry leaders. A common recurring theme across the events has been the idea of ‘connected construction’, something that is at the heart of what we offer at Trimble. For us, it’s about connecting the physical and digital worlds through the use of digital tools from our wider Trimble portfolio including software and hardware, enabling you to work faster, cheaper, greener and safer.

Celebrating customer's successes

Our UK Tekla Awards has been another resounding success, with a total of 24 projects entered across the six categories. New for 2023 was the ability to enter both Tekla Structures and Tekla Structural Designer projects into all categories, placing further emphasis on the importance of software interoperability.

As always, we would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who took the time to enter – each entry was a fantastic example of how our portfolio of software and hardware solutions can be used to streamline construction, improve accuracy and enhance productivity levels. Not only is it a fantastic opportunity to show off the skills and expertise of your team, the awards are also a great way for us to see the innovative ways our software is being used in the real world, with this feeding into future updates.

In September, we hosted our Tekla Awards Ceremony at our Leeds office for all the deserving winners – and what an action-packed day we had! With a host of activities on offer, from clay pigeon shooting, go-karting and 3D model building against the clock, there’s nothing like a bit of healthy competition, all topped off with our very own pizza truck on site.

We’re already excited to see what the 2024 UK Tekla Awards will bring – don’t forget that it’s not the size of the project that is important, it’s how you use our Trimble technology.

Software updates

As always, 2023 saw the launch of our 2023 and 2023i software updates. The world of technology is always moving forwards and looking to the future, and we’re no different. With the industry constantly evolving, we’re always listening to customer feedback and looking at how we can further streamline the user experience.

Tekla Tedds 2023 featured a host of new and improved calculations, aiding the design and analysis process; Tekla Structural Designer 2023 offered a new footfall analysis functionality, as well as enhanced interoperability with the direct Revit 2023 integration; Tekla Structures 2023 focussed on user-experience improvements and feature updates; while Tekla PowerFab delivered improved cost structures, enabling fabricators to gain transparency and confidence in their estimates.

2023 has also seen more customers switch to our named user subscription licensing structure. In fact, over 60% of our UK user base are now using subscription products, benefitting from the ability to effectively use and distribute cloud-based licences all around the world, scale up or down depending on immediate needs, and have collaboration tools (including Tekla Model Sharing and Trimble Connect) included as standard.

In November, during our Tekla Virtual Experience, our technical experts presented 14 sessions with hints and tips on how to make the most out of our Tekla software. All sessions are available to watch on demand here.

Valuing our partnerships

Of course, where would we be without our customers? For us, it’s all about building on those relationships and seeing how we can better support you and the wider construction industry.

2023 has seen the spotlight shone on some fantastic ongoing partnerships. We visited the Design4Structures team at their Telford office to learn more about their unique approach to engineering and detailing, taking responsibility for the full RIBA workflow, as well as how our software supports this. Check out the case study video here.

It was also great to chat with the team at Lindapter, who we’ve partnered with for many years. The Tekla plug-in tool featuring Lindapter’s innovative Holl-Bolt system, available in Tekla Warehouse, is a brilliant example of what can happen when manufacturers and software providers collaborate. Incorporating manufacturer-specific content within your 3D model can only have positive results, bringing enhanced levels of detail. Learn more about this collaboration by watching their testimonial video.