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Moving from drawings to coordinated production models using hsbcad.
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Green Timber Technology Pty Ltd, based in Orange, New South Wales, was established with a clear objective to reduce the inefficiencies between design intent and what ultimately gets built. Founded in 2021, the business has focused on residential timber systems delivered through a kit of parts approach, supported by local supply chains. (main image: GTT’s prefabricated timber wall panels are installed on site, demonstrating how factory-produced elements translate into coordinated assembly during construction.)
That direction reflects the background of CEO Pete Morrison, whose experience in Design for Manufacture and Assembly has shaped the business from the outset.
“My background in MMC has shown me the benefits of building smarter systems,” Morrison said. “GTT’s focus has always been on creating solutions that work efficiently for residential projects.”
Operating from its Orange facility, close to New South Wales’ central forestry region, GTT combines locally sourced timber with automated production through HOMAG WEINMANN lines. The focus is not simply on panel manufacture, but on structuring a process where design, engineering and production remain aligned from the outset.
That alignment is enabled through two layers within the hsbcad ecosystem: hsbDesign for Revit and hsbView.
Linking design to manufacturing through hsbDesign
At the front end of GTT’s process sits hsbDesign for Revit, used to develop and coordinate the building model for production.
Rather than translating drawings for manufacture, GTT extends architectural and structural models directly into production data.
“It draws from existing architectural and structural models to then develop the data required for our machines,” Technical Design Director Fale Tapara said. “We wanted to make sure that we didn’t have to redraw architectural and structural models.”
From early on, the priority was not just capability, but usability within the Australian context.
“One thing that we were quite focused on was the support available in Australia,” he said. “All the software is from either the US or Europe, so we wanted to make sure that whatever software we partnered with, it was the localised support base that we could tap into.”
Interoperability followed as the key requirement.
“We wanted a software that really had a smooth transition from design through to development, through to manufacture, through to install,” Tapara said.
The result is a process where design and production preparation run in parallel.
“We’re running our hsbcad model in parallel,” he said. “So when a window moves or a door gets added, it’s an automated process within our system.”
That removes the pause where manufacturing typically waits for fully resolved drawings. Instead, GTT progresses design and production at the same time, with the model updated as the project evolves.
“It made us realise we were referencing an outdated architectural model,” Tapara said. “If we weren’t modelling everything, that could have turned up onsite in a different dimension.”
The issue arises when parts of the team continue to work in 2D environments rather than within the coordinated 3D model. In those cases, documentation can fall behind, updates move out of sync, and coordination begins to break down.
“Where consultants are still working in 2D, the documentation can’t keep up,” he said. “We reached a point where we couldn’t coordinate services in time, and coordination shifted back to site.”
Within GTT’s workflow, hsbDesign addresses this by keeping stakeholders aligned within coordinated 3D models, reducing the risk of documentation falling out of date and ensuring information remains current.
The resolution is less about adding capability and more about alignment, ensuring that consultants contribute to the same coordinated model. Within GTT’s process, hsbView reinforces that approach on the factory floor by ensuring the same model is used consistently in production.
Shifting the factory from paper to hsbView
Where hsbDesign resolves the building, hsbView brings that information into the factory digitally.
This is where GTT’s shift away from drawings becomes tangible. Instead of managing large volumes of printed documentation, factory teams work directly from the current model through digital interfaces, including desktop and app-based screens.
“Projects can have up to 400 to 500 individual PDFs,” Tapara said. “The significant shift for us was going paperless.”
hsbView allows operators to access and interrogate that information in a format suited to production through digital interfaces, where they can view assemblies, check dimensions and work directly from the latest data.
That transition required more than a system change.
“It took an education piece and a confidence-building piece as well,” Tapara said. “There’s a tactile nature to paper that people trust.”
Once adopted, the benefit is consistency.
“With a digital model, it’s completely seamless between what gets updated and what the factory sees,” he said. “It reduces the risk of someone working off an outdated plan.”
Rather than managing multiple drawing revisions, the factory is working from a single, current dataset.
Building repeatability within a kit of parts system
The file to factory approach sits within a broader system built around repeatability. GTT’s kit of parts model allows variation, but within a defined structure.
“We use lightweight, timber-framed panels that are pre-assembled in the factory to ensure consistent quality,” Morrison said.
As production has increased, that structure has been reinforced through internal libraries of connections and standard details.
“We’ve captured learning and created a library or database that can be adopted across all projects,” Tapara said. “It’s not a complete rebuild of every project from the start.”
Adapting global systems to local conditions has been part of that process.
“A lot of offsite connections are European and designed for European wall build-ups,” he said. “The biggest challenge was finding connection systems that suited the Australian market.”
Once resolved, those elements are embedded into the system.
“Once we developed our connection library, it now seamlessly integrates into our models.”
On the production side, integration with CNC machines has been straightforward.
“The way the software and the machine talk to each other has been pretty seamless,” Tapara said.
The challenge has been operational.
“The main challenge has been learning how to use the CNC machines to their full potential and how to manufacture efficiently.”
Prefabricated wall elements are craned into place on site, then transition quickly into completed interiors, showing how factory-built precision carries through to the finished spaces.
Bringing clients into the process earlier
The shift to model-based processes has also influenced how GTT engages with clients. Earlier involvement is becoming more common, particularly where the model is used to communicate constraints.
“Digital modelling at an early stage really helps clients understand the process,” Tapara said.
“Until it’s in a digital model that you can move around with a client, it’s hard to explain why certain design decisions won’t work.”
For Morrison, that engagement reflects a broader issue in the Australian market.
“There was clear demand for offsite construction, but the supply chains weren’t there to support it effectively,” he said.
Taking clients into the factory reinforces that understanding.
“If you get a client into a factory early, they get a much better outcome because they understand the process,” Tapara said.
Time remains an under-recognised factor.
“One big factor that often isn’t considered is time savings,” he said. “Clients don’t always factor in the financial benefit of delivering a project earlier.”
Within GTT’s process, that advantage comes from removing rework, redraw and delays between design and production by using hsbDesign and hsbView.
Through this approach, information moves directly from model to factory without being reinterpreted along the way. The model operates as a single reference point across design, coordination and manufacturing, supporting consistent delivery as production scales.
