Is BIM working? Is it helping us to Work Together?

Professor David Boyd

Birmingham School of the Built Environment

• Construction, • Quantity Surveying, • Building Surveying, • Architectural Technology,

• 1 HNC, 6 BSc, 6 MSc, PhD • Research: Environment, Urban History • BIM Research:

Collaboration Facilities management Construction Supply Chain Learning development

• Planning, • Real Estate, • Environmental

Sustainability

Placements

• Engineering Design and Manufacturing Systems • Computing, Telecommunications and Networks • Digital media technology

To improve graduate competence

Martyn Radcliffe Jon Baldwyn

MSc Building Information Modelling and Management

A critical and active approach to managing IPD

and BIM

Technology Organisations

People

Is BIM working?

Yes

What do you mean by working

• We have used Revit to produce a 3D model

• We have federated a number of models from different consultants

• We have visualised the model.

• We have planned the construction

• We have connected the building model and construction plan

• We have produced building operation data from the model

Tremendous achievement

Yes

BUT it takes an

awful lot of work

BIM Projects Work

• We are all Investing in them for learning

• Resource available

• A positive commitment to make it work

• A positive commitment to work together

• People have skills to see and overcome problems induced by BIM

• People work hard to make it work.

Have we seen any benefits?

How can we get benefits

• Efficiency

– Automation

• Differentiation

– informating

• Innovation

– Structural & collaboration

• Reality of Industry

• Reality of BIM

• Benefit of change

Reality of Industry

Flexibility = resilient and low cost

Reality of Industry

Buildings not about Building

Clients Users

Intangibles

Benefits of Change

Benefits of Change

Better Buildings

BIM

Geometry checker

Visualisation

Data communications

Illusion: gap to reality

Hard work; model problem vs design problem

Inappropriate detail Apparent certainty

Myths

It is easy as the diagram shows

the software does it automatically

More detail means better

Common model has same meaning to everyone

2D bad 3D good

Clash free means no clashes

Costs will go down

Modelling makes People work together

Clash detection

Too many clashes

• Design clashes vs modelling clashes

• Whose responsibility

• Object owners?

Clash management strategies

• What is a clash free model?

• Manage own clashes

• Dynamic nature of model

• Modified Clash detection rules

• High number of similar: common mode or model

• Low number: unusual

• Mark clashes as approved (even if not)

Cloud Scanning

Cloud Scanning

• Its dots to interpret lines.

• It creates errors (we don’t know where).

• Going from points to BIM model is complex.

• It’s NOT low cost to get what you need

Collaboration as Interoperability

BIM way of working together

Representations Activities Operations

Lines Components Geometry Connectivity Space Attributes Processes Systems

Storage Communications Visualisations Verifications Clash detection Simulation

Project Management Integrated Project Delivery Facilities Management Parametric design Generative Design KBE

Parts Wholes Interoperability

Automation

Engagement

BIM is creating fragmentation

• Design

• Model

• Both are problematic, complex and dynamic

• This exposes value conflict:

• What is important to people

ERP9807E - Rev G Enterprise Interoperability

Interoperability Area

Shared Resources

The Data Vault

Manufacture

Quality

Distrib- ution

Financials

Sales & Mktg

MRP II

HRM

ERP

Part Master

BOM

Config Mgt

CSM Concurrent

Eng

Management Reporting

WBS

Project Mgt

CAE

CAM

ECAD

MCAD

Workflow

Redline

PDM

Design

Eng Doc Mgt

EAI

EAI EAI

EAI = Enterprise Application Integration (Middleware) GERM

APS

CRM

B2B

?

Routing Work Ctr

Bill of Material

Routing

Work Center

Part Master

Bill of Material

Routing

Work Center

Part Master

Complexity

Complexity

Meaning of Interoperability

“The Airbus problems underscore the enormous cost of poor interoperability across the entire global supply chain. This is only one incident of a growing challenge” “Do not just rely on the digital mockup -- it's a critical tool but not the answer to the overall process of design validation. On top of that, layer it with a change and configuration management system so you can quickly sort through the different variants you need to validate, and make sure the data you're working with is up-to-date."

Move to People Interoperability

People can deal with uncertainty Requires Certainty

Conclusions

• BIM is working but may not be delivering benefits

• Hard work: software, hardware, purpose

• Need to understand information: efficiency, differentiation and innovation

• Need to face: Who benefits, reality of industry

• BIM needs managing: detail and certainty

• Make the model a tool not the reason d’etre

• Structural and process innovation around people