Grand Prize – Industrial Category

Jayaghosh Rajendran & Vinayadas Vijayan receiving the Grand Prize — Build Forward Conference 2025, Omaha, Nebraska

Project Details

Client	Novelis Corporation
Detailers	Cronus Steel Detailing
Location	Arizona, USA
Tonnage	210 tons
Software	SDS2

Novelis Corporation is the world's leading provider of sustainable aluminium products and recycling. Cronus Steel Detailing merged complex ductwork systems and structural steel elements within a single SDS2 model — setting a new benchmark for collaboration and efficiency in industrial facility design.

Novelis Corporation Aluminium Recycling Plant, Arizona — SDS2 3D Model by Cronus Steel Detailing

The plant's design brings together an exceptional network of rolled plate ducts, stacked hoods, expansion joints, and high-capacity rotary drums — all engineered to handle demanding recycling workflows and thermal loads. By weaving in platforms, stairways, and custom support systems, the detailing team ensured seamless access throughout the plant, tackled complex space constraints, and modelled every transition and connection for maximum durability and ease of inspection. The result is a resilient, high-functioning industrial facility ready to meet the pace and scale of modern aluminium recycling.

• Complex ductwork and structural steel unified in a single SDS2 model
• Rolled plate ducts, stacked hoods, expansion joints & rotary drums engineered for thermal loads
• Custom platforms, stairways and support systems for seamless plant access
• Delivered for Novelis Corporation — world leader in sustainable aluminium recycling
• Received by Directors Jayaghosh Rajendran & Vinayadas P. Vijayan

Innovation Award

Vinayadas Vijayan receiving the Innovation Award at Build Forward Conference 2025, Omaha, Nebraska

The Innovation Award at the Allplan Awards 2025 honours the teams who put their tools to work for maximum impact — creating new workflows, applications, or processes that make a real difference in project and business outcomes and push the industry forward.

Coordination between the office and the shop floor is one of the most persistent challenges in steel construction. Vinayadas Vijayan and his team at Cronus Steel solved this with a custom application that embeds QR codes on SDS2 shop drawings, linking directly to an interactive 3D model of that drawing — making complex member geometry instantly accessible to everyone on the floor.

The Innovation: QR Code to 3D Model

The integration is fully automated and built directly into the SDS2 detailing process — adding zero extra time to the detailers' workload. When a fabricator or fitter scans the QR code on any shop drawing, they are instantly presented with an interactive 3D model of that exact member, helping them understand geometry and connections far faster than a 2D drawing alone allows.

This tool is especially transformative for inexperienced fitters, welders, and fabricators — reducing errors, accelerating onboarding, and bridging the communication gap between the detailing office and the fabrication floor.

QR codes on shop drawings link fabricators directly to interactive 3D models

• Custom application embeds QR codes on SDS2 shop drawings, linking to live 3D models
• Reduces errors and miscommunication between detailers and fabricators on the shop floor
• Fully automated — zero additional workload for the detailing team
• Helps inexperienced fitters and welders understand member geometry faster
• Makes construction safer, faster, and more intuitive

“Receiving this award is a testament to our team’s dedication to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in steel detailing. We prioritize innovation at Cronus Steel because we see technology as a way to solve age-old communication challenges. By integrating 3D models directly into the hands of those on the floor, we are making the construction process safer, faster, and more intuitive.”

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Second Place – Industrial Category

Cronus Steel Detailing was awarded Second Place in the Industrial Category at the SDS2 Solid Steel Global Competition 2023. The recognised project involved the design and detailing of a 330-ton chute support framing system for a mine expansion — featuring robust connections, multiple chutes, and an ingeniously cantilevered walkway section encircling the surge bin. SDS2 automation played a pivotal role in delivering this highly functional and visually striking industrial structure efficiently and accurately.

• 330-ton chute support framing system for a mine expansion
• Innovative cantilevered walkway with skewed supports around the surge bin
• SDS2 automation used for shear connections, plate work, stair and handrail items
• Recognised for excellence in design, efficiency, and aesthetic engineering

Project: 330-Ton Chute Support Framing System

Team at the SDS2 Solid Steel Award Ceremony