"NLCS is the drawing standard of the future"

Mike Heesbeen recently joined Derks GWW, an experienced subcontractor in civil engineering. In his daily work, Mike has a lot to do with the NLCS, the Dutch CAD Standard. And he is downright positive about this standard. "Thanks to the NLCS, the drawing work is clear at a glance."

Mike has been working at Derks GWW since early 2024. "I already knew the company from working with a previous employer," he says. "I once started my career as a crane and shovel operator. But that wasn't quite my cup of tea after all. One day I got a GPS measuring stick pressed into my hands. I was told, 'You go and set out some picks'. I liked it so much that I decided to retrain as a surveyor, a position I held for several years with my previous employer. And since early 2024 I have been employed as a surveyor at Derks GWW."

Mighty beautiful

At that time, Derks GWW had already adopted the NLCS as its drawing standard. "The NLCS is mighty fine," Mike believes. "Layer structure, use of color, line thicknesses... In an NLCS drawing, you can see at a glance what it's about. Every drawing, no matter how different, you read the same thing. And the overview and clarity make for perfect portability. Want to continue working on a colleague's design? Then you can do so without any problems."

NLCS 
The NLCS (Dutch CAD Standard) is a uniform drawing standard for civil engineering. The information in an NLCS drawing is unambiguous, complete and clearly structured. As a result, drawings can be exchanged easily, the chance of errors is smaller and the entire GWW chain can save on costs. The NLCS is a BIM level 1 standard and is managed by digiGO.

Fewer failure costs, more time

Mike experiences several benefits of working with the NLCS. "An important advantage is the reduction of failure costs. You see exactly what the draftsman means by his design, so you also know exactly what he expects from you. That also means that the chance of errors is smaller, and in many cases also leads to time savings. Apart from the fact that it's just much more pleasant to work with."

InfraCAD as a tool

To work in compliance with the NLCS, Mike and his colleagues use InfraCAD, one of ARKANCE's (formerly CAD Accent) software solutions. "ARKANCE was already a supplier of our AutoCAD licenses, so the line was short," Mike says. "They didn't disappoint us with InfraCAD either. It is a clear program with a clear interface and excellent functions. I find the 'create photo book' function very handy. The photos I take in the field, for example for water adjustments, I can easily import into my NLCS drawing via InfraCAD. They are immediately in the right place in the National Triangulation System, including description. And by then exporting them and making them available as PDFs, our excavators and sewer engineers can use them in their work. That goes perfectly!"

Gigantic time savings

Furthermore, Mike mentions such useful functions as determining quantities, importing aerial photos, processing cadastral data (and KLIC notifications); modules from InfraCAD, InfraCAD Map and InfraCAD CE, respectively. "Each program has its own fine features. In InfraCAD CE, for example, the 'process measurements' function saves a huge amount of time. The right objects are immediately on the right layer, properly sorted, scaled and with the right symbol attached. On a large measurement, that just saves me half a day of drawing work."

About Derks GWW
Derks GWW (Nijmegen) has been active in the ground, road and hydraulic engineering sector since 2000. As a subcontractor, the company works on a variety of infrastructure projects. In addition, Derks GWW maintains and services earthworks, road and hydraulic engineering projects, and civil engineering works. It does so with its own equipment and drivers, mainly in the central Netherlands region. Derks GWW also provides transport services and supplies raw materials for the GWW sector.

Excellent teaching material

Mike also speaks highly of the software supplier, ARKANCE. "I took several AutoCAD courses there and each one was clear. The course material was excellent, as was the reference material. And if you have questions afterwards, they are always available. For example, when I wanted to display the number of meters of a cross section in three instead of two decimal places. I quickly received an e-mail back with explanations and screenshots. In no time I had it done."

Standard of the future

Back to the NLCS: Clearly, Mike is an enthusiastic NLCS advocate. "Definitely. It's nice to see that the standard is gaining wider support in our industry. The previous digiGO user day, for example, was well attended. As a matter of fact, I was able to attend some nice, instructive tutorials there. How do I see the future of the NLCS? I think it will remain the drawing standard for years to come."     

About ARKANCE 
ARKANCE is a specialist in digital transformations and supports companies in the Building, Infrastructure and Manufacturing sectors. The organization helps customers standardize CAD environments, transition to BIM, Industry 4.0 and Dutch CAD Standard (NLCS) and optimize work processes and working methodologies. ARKANCE is a global organization of specialists with a complete portfolio of digital solutions such as software, courses, support and consultancy.