Tell us about TMX Transform and your role?

My name is Tom Yang and I’m the Head of Design and Innovation at TMX Transform, based in Bangkok. TMX is an end-to-end supply chain consultancy. We work with clients worldwide to optimize supply chains and transform businesses. Our services broadly fall into design or solution and network design, industrial real estate, and project management. 

My role as the Head of Design and Innovation is to lead the global architectural division, and champion innovation initiatives across the business, including the TMX Metaverse. 

TMX Metaverse is an immersive platform which digitizes solutions to support design validation and decision-making.  

We have been doing this for a few years and recently have been given the opportunity to test out the new XR workspace, Autodesk Workshop XR. I am encouraged by what I see and excited for what is ahead.  

What is your company’s history with VR?  

TMX has been around for fifteen years, but since our humble beginnings we have always been underpinned by innovation and entrepreneurship. We have always been a disruptor. We develop industry-first tools and explore strategic gaps in the market to provide value to our clients. 

Virtual reality (VR) became a focal point for us coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic.    

Our clients often have high capital expenditure (CapEx) projects around the world. But because of the pandemic, we had to explore long-term sustainable ways of bringing stakeholders together when they were not in the same physical place. We needed an immersive, scaled, and connected environment. 

That’s how the TMX Metaverse was born. Within this space, we can visualize, collaborate, and validate solutions. For example, we can detect operational clashes and capture inefficiencies, which contributes to an overall effective solution.  

How do you currently use VR/XR? 

We use virtual reality (VR) to enhance our in-house solution/DC design capabilities. The technology has been revolutionary because our clients are traditionally non-technical operators. 

Enabling clients to experience, engage, and adjust their future-state facilities at 1:1 human scale has elevated alignment and collaboration and streamlined the design and decision-making process.  

Working collectively within this scaled environment, project stakeholders ensure every facet of a solution is designed and tested to align with operational requirements, including items like ergonomics of the people who will ultimately work within the facility.  

And that’s what’s revolutionary about virtual reality. The ability to understand a system from one hundred thousand feet down to two feet. To see the forest for the trees and then zoom in on that bacteria growing on a leaf that may kill the plant one day.  

Support through change management 

Beyond the design process, we are also supporting our clients through change–management and operator training, which has exploded in popularity across the past decade. 

Leveraging VR technologies to upskill and orientate future operators so they hit the ground running come “go-live” is essential. 

Change management is about people. It is their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that will determine the success or failure of any change initiative. 

We have only scratched the surface of this conversation. VR platforms like Workshop XR and its integration into Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) I would predict is a catalyst for the future of design collaboration within architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC).  

Can you describe a specific project you’ve completed using VR? How did it go?  

Farmbyte is a subsidiary of Johor Corporation (J-Corp), one of Southeast Asia’s largest conglomerates. Farmbyte aims to revolutionize the agri-food industry in Malaysia as part of a regional effort to secure food supplies and minimize waste.  

TMX was engaged to design and develop a temperature-controlled sorting and grading facility for Farmbyte. Since this was Farmbyte’s first facility of this nature, we utilized XR and VR to collaborate with teams in different locations.  

These technologies were critical in decision-making and fast-tracking approvals. Towards the end of the project, we flew to Kuala Lumpur to present to J-Corp’s board. The leadership were just as impressed with experiencing their facility in VR as they were with the design! This helped secure swift approval of the CapEx.  

Benefits of VR/XR

Why use VR/XR? What specific benefits have you experienced?

We are a global company, and collaboration is fundamental to our success. VR-centered platforms such as TMX Metaverse and Workshop XR enable global teams to meet within the same shared, connected, and scaled environment, across different regions. 

The benefits are immense. It allows clients to develop solutions with confidence, communicate concisely, gain transparent approval, and manage change. And it is done in the client’s language, which is to save time, cost, headaches, and risk. 

And frankly, it’s the future. If you don’t adapt you will be left behind.

What future value do you see in team collaboration and design reviews using Workshop XR? 

Workshop XR has incredible value in teamwork and design reviews. The ability to engage with other designers and stakeholders in a shared virtual environment allows for a more flexible and interactive process. With the connection to ACC, we can design solutions in Revit and conduct virtual walkthroughs in real-time and as quickly as the solutions develop.  

This capability will revolutionize and streamline decision-making, collaboration, and validation in projects moving forward. The ability to quickly visualize and interact with a solution before physical construction begins adds a significant advantage

What would you say to others who might be hesitant to try VR/XR technologies or think they are not worth the time or valuable?

I get the hesitation. Change management is difficult. To demonstrate value effectively, the solution needs to balance cost, value, and practicality. But it needs to be relevant, and stakeholders often want immediate results and gratification. 

The value this platform offers is immense in AEC. But it is human nature. We need to dip our toes in first before we fully embrace it. I would encourage people to speak to the team at Autodesk or visit them during Autodesk University conferences to test out this solution. It might be the tool to revolutionize your business and competitive edge.  

Issues & Rework Costs

Can you describe how working virtually in a model at human scale (within Workshop XR) improves spatial context, design understanding, and decision-making?

As human beings, we rely heavily on our senses. Vision is one of the most important. When we use VR to create spatially accurate virtual environments, it measurably reduces the mental effort. For example, reading a 2D plan requires processing to interpret the scale and spatial relationships, which is not as intuitive as walking through a virtual environment at a human scale.  

In VR, professionals can more easily detect potential operational or design clashes at a granular level. This ability to work in a true-to-life virtual space improves understanding, reduces uncertainty, and leads to better decision-making. 

Integration with ACC

How does immersive interaction with project data through Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) help you manage spatial issues and align on different views and layers?  

Having an immersive scaled model at our convenience and with integration to ACC and project data, we can identify and address design issues at a rate that was unimaginable a few decades ago.  

The ability to toggle through different views and layers gives operators design flexibility, to look at problems from different perspectives and promote out-of-the-box thinking and solutions. They say hindsight is 20/20; this tool gives you the ability to look forward, identify areas of improvement and/or clashes, and the luxury of acting now.