Documenting the Workflow

5.12 Documenting the Workflow

Companies should create a manual to support the workflow by documenting the process that the firm has developed to use the new digital BIM tools. The manual should:

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• Describe the workflow to produce the office product;

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• Describe the best-practice methods for each application and hardware that the office supplies;

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• Contain protocols for managing data and communication between internal office teams and the external project teams;

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• Be updated as new tools and methodologies are incorporated into the work.

5.13 Summary

The BIM process has expedited the process of creating a building from inception through its demise. The digital single database along with the ability to exchange data between multiple applications support the open team effort resulting in work of superior quality for the life cycle of a building.

BIM will continue to evolve as new technologies are developed for the building industry. As automatically generated records become embedded in the database, data and communication protocols will assist the documentation of projects. This high level of documentation detail will continue to facilitate maintenance and ad-aptation of a building throughout its life cycle.

Implementing a BIM workflow can increase the productivity and quality of your firm’s work. In order for this to happen, you must first construct a BIM work-flow appropriate for your firm’s projects, and management must understand this workflow in order to lead the implementation process. During the transition, it is imperative to track progress and control costs to achieve profitability as quickly as possible.

References

[1] Environmental Simulation Center, Ltd., www.simcenter.org, 2011.

[2] Onuma.com.

[3] Graphicsoft.com.

[4] Kulusjarvi, Heikki, and Jonathan Widney, Introducing Deficiency Detection the Nest Gen-eration of Quality Control; Solibri, Inc., 2010.

61 C H A P T E R 6

Collaboration

6.1 Introduction

In this chapter we look at BIM collaboration, sharing of information, and the col-lective decision-making process. Integrated project delivery (IPD) in the AEC sec-tors has been a stepping stone to the acceptance of BIM and the benefits of sharing project information. Using a collective single database is integral to the success of the collaborative BIM process. Here we will also look at the benefits new commu-nication methods have utilizing the BIM process.

Collaboration using BIM is aided by innovations such as webinars to expe-dite meetings via cell phones and the Internet. In this chapter we examine how the newer technologies are improving their speed and availability and how teams maintain communication. Voice, data, and meetings have all benefited from the digital medium. Webcams that can be set up on construction sites are becoming standard, so when problems arise, team members can remotely view the situation and work together to resolve the issues in fewer steps.

Closer collaboration, sharing data that molds and defines a project, increas-ingly faster paced schedules, teams assembled from multiple countries, and projects located around the globe are now possible because of the digital BIM revolution.

The global connectivity that has transformed all aspects of today’s society has re-structured how firms in the AEC/FM industry work together and redefined the way that the building industry creates and maintains projects.

BIM has set new collaborative and quality standards. The methods of how to manage risk as the work process changes and the boundaries of work and respon-sibility became blurred are still being debated. As the industry incorporates this new way of working with BIM using open standards, sharing project data that defines the project is measurable in the higher quality of the work throughout the process, the shorter project schedule, and the resulting lowered cost of creating and maintaining the work.

Integrated project collaboration (IPC) software has taken the BIM process to cloud computing, making possible real-time collaboration and exchange of data between project teams. The teams continues to work within their various applica-tions, but are able to share and communicate their work and data in Web-based ap-plications. In yet another fashion, this has drastically reduced the time and costs by

62 CollaborationCollaboration allowing these steps to take place via Web meetings and Web-based conversations and to simultaneously view and interact with the project from screens in multiple locations. Teams that once were formed locally to facilitate meetings and close col-laboration are now often being chosen for abilities and experience first rather than physical proximity. The team’s need for geographic closeness is now supplanted by its abilities to work via the Web using digital technology.

The advantages that IPC applications offer have grown because many now include the ability to review the database and present it in formats that measure required benchmarks such as LEED assessment. This integration with metrics that are now routinely assessed throughout projects facilitates meeting such project goals. As with many rule-based checking applications, checking for compliance of all kinds is done from the beginning of a project. This is done economically and generates reports as needed essentially on the fly. Once a database is established, how to access the data becomes the criterion for measuring IPC applications. Data management and the facility with which metadata can be extracted become the prime importance of the database. IPC assists teams in leveraging the data that they have assembled.

6.1.1 Collaborative Applications

Collaborative applications have been developed to facilitate the flow of data be-tween teams during projects. Some of these applications focus on the management aspects of project coordination. Others bring together the many types of applica-tions used in projects to facilitate data exchange and sharing. These applicaapplica-tions assist with graphic visualization, reports on the status of the projects, and checking for project-defined standards.

The collaborative applications rely on open standards to successfully transfer data between applications and across operating systems. As we have seen, the IFC standards of classifying building data used by applications throughout a building’s life cycle have simplified the process of developing BIM applications, including IPD.