C3 for Project BIM Success

Recently, I was asked to advise on "Design BIM" setup for a large tower project with the team dispersed in different geographical regions. I spent some time establishing BEP, Model break down, BIM resourcing and the like. During my time with them, one of the team members asked me for some tips on successful BIM management on that project.

My advise to him was C3. Having robust BEP and other protocols and procedures setup is a first step toward successful BIM implementation on a project. But what sits above all is this C3. I advised them to focus on the C3.

Here what C3 looks like.

COMMUNICATION

Communication is the first ingredient for BIM success on any project. So what should you communicate? Basically everything that you do in your 'BIM' model (oops!) that affects a person sitting next to you should be communicated. For instance, in Revit world, simple things like tidying up project browser and filing views under appropriate folders, introducing new workset or migrating objects on appropriate workset, areas in abeyance, key changes in model elements, introducing new method of doing something, deviating from family/type naming convention etc. The list could go on and on. Also, decide protocols for internal communication and external communication; i.e. what, when and how for internal communication will be different to external communication. Establish some basic communication protocols and "communicate" that to the entire team in a clear manner.


CONSISTENCY

Consistency is the next ingredient for BIM success, specially on a large project with disperse teams and multiple users. When I was managing "Design BIM" side of things in my previous roles, I used to tell my users that focus on consistency and not what is right or wrong. Nothing is right or wrong, at least in BIM world. Agree a method and stick with it. Consistently 'wrong' can be rectified quicker than a mixed bag. The reason why I used to insist this to my teams is because many times a "User A" would come to me and say look! I have found a sophisticated way of doing 'something' so I think we should model in this way. Next is "User B" who finds another way of doing that 'something' and he/she thinks we should approach modelling that way. Now as a BIM Manager my focus shifts from BIM management to people's management, you know what I mean! To avoid that I used to tell my users that focus on consistency so that we can achieve efficiency in what we do. Sophistication can be achieved later.


COMMITMENT

Commitment is the third and last ingredient for BIM success, specially on a large project with disperse teams and multiple users. You need commitment from all users so that they communicate as per established protocol and maintain consistency throughout the project.

If you manage to achieve C3 on your project then BIM success on your project is virtually guarenteed.

Holy Grail

Forget BIM for FM or O&M. Here is the ultimate BIM for end users.

"Rio de Janeiro is mixing technology with tradition to provide tourists information about the city by embedding bar codes into the black and white mosaic sidewalks that are a symbol of the city."

"We use so much technology to pass information, this makes sense," he said, noting he'd seen QR codes on tourist sites in Portugal, where they were first used for this purpose. "It's the way we do things nowadays."  

Read full article HERE

Level Of Alphabets

These days I come across so many 'Level Of.....' acronyms that It is difficult to remember them all. It is about a time for me to list them all somewhere so here it goes. Enjoy!

Feel free to leave your version of  'Level Of ....' under comments.

Level Of  Awareness
Level Of  BIM
Level Of  Completeness
Level Of  Detail (or Development)
Level Of  Engagement
Level Of  Functionality
Level Of  Granularity
Level Of  Hindrance
Level Of  Information
Level Of  Junk
Level Of  Knowledge
Level Of  Leverage
Level Of  Modelling
Level Of  Naivety
Level Of  Output
Level Of  Predictability
Level Of  Quality
Level Of  Resolution (or Reliance)
Level Of  Satisfaction
Level Of  Transparency
Level Of  Usage
Level Of  Viability
Level Of  Willingness
Level Of  X-factor
Level Of  Yelling
Level Of  Zen

Is BIM for me? and Who Benefits from BIM?

BIM is for everyone in AECO industry and everyone benefits from BIM(full stop).

I came across this question recently on an on line forum and thought share following slides with my blog readers. Feel free to drop your thoughts here.

Courtesy: Alan Edgar

Courtesy: Alan Edgar

Courtesy: Erin Hoffer

BIM ROI and LOE - Part 2

I wrote a blog post back in Oct 2012 about BIM ROI and LOE (Level Of Engagement). Two months later, I find this idea published in the latest McGrawHill Construction SmartMarket Report: The Business Value of BIM in North America 2012.

I didn't know that the SmartMarket team is reading my blog and would steal my idea!-;)

Looking at the report it is evident by their survey that BIM ROI is closely linked with Level Of Engagement from everyone in your company.

"This analysis demonstrates the powerful relationship between ROI and a company's level of BIM engagement, quantifying the rewards of greater BIM experience, skill and implementation levels."

Download full report from HERE

AU2012 Summary

I realize I am a little bit late on this one, mainly because AU2012 was so excellent (and full of information) that it took me almost a week or over to go through my 'phase-1' filtering of information.

Hats off to my talented friend Shaun Farrell, who was blogging live from AU2012.If you haven't seen his AU2012 blog posts then I highly recommend visiting his blog.

For my AU2012 summary, I have captured it in pictures in a document attached with this post, link below. I highlighted key slides from each classes I attended as key takeaways for me. As others mentioned, the key message was the future is in the cloud!

Download my AU2012 summary HERE.

  

Trimble/Bentley Raises Their BIM Game

Trimble and Bentley announces strategic alliance to enable intelligent positioning on site, and potentially more!

"Trimble's Provisioning of the Connected Work Site and Bentley's Provisioning of Virtual Positioning Leverages 3D Precision for Construction and Operations Quality, Efficiency, and Safety...Intelligent positioning now enables these engineering models to be real-time and real-place referenced, from and into mobile devices in the field, through immersive environments from both Bentley and Trimble. Users piloting the integration of physical positioning from Trimble with virtual positioning from Bentley, facilitated by information mobility innovations, have identified significant savings of time and money, and continue to uncover new benefit cases."

This is a big news from BIM/VDC point of view. Many of us have been thinking about this idea of linking positioning with BIM models etc. In fact I attended couple of classes at AU2012 where they showcased some examples of digital layout etc. This new partnership/solution would enable digital layout in more intelligent way. I am quite excited by this new partnership and looking forward to explore this further.


Read full announcement HERE.