Life, the universe and everyBIM?

Once upon a time, long ago, a band of super-intelligent beings (mice) decided to finally answer the great question of Life, The Universe and Everything.

"Deep Thought"

To achieve this, a great super computer called Deep Thought was built.  The most powerful computer ever built spent 7.5 million years in serious consideration before announcing the answer.

The Ultimate answer to Life, the Universe and Everything is...

(You're not going to like it...)

Is...

 

Which suggests that what you really need to know is 'What was the Question?'.

What this great computer kindly pointed out was that the problem really was that no-one knew the question.

Recently, we have seen a massive uptake in interest in ‘BIM’, with countless websites, conferences and commentaries all offering their own slant and definitions to what ‘BIM’ is and why we need it.

The fact is BIM can mean so many different things to different people.  When implementing a BIM strategy, make sure you know what your ultimate goal is.

The great thing about BIM is that the principles of data integration and collaborative work processes can be applied to so much, including – but certainly not limited to…

BIM for design integration

BIM for error avoidance

BIM for construction coordination

BIM for building management

BIM for manufacture

BIM for project collaboration

BIM for energy efficiency

BIM for facilities management

BIM for asset monitoring

Or simply, BIM for visual appreciation

 

When moving to such a potentially powerful and inclusive management process, it could be easy to lose track and find yourself off message… The end result may still be fantastic, but was it what you originally aimed for?

In developing your BIM answer – make sure you know what the question is, and that your conclusion addresses this.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

The title for this post was glaring out at me following my first visit to the hairdresser after looking back over my recent holiday photos.  The increased presence of visible (and rather sunburnt) scalp resulted in the decision to start becoming a bit more aggressive with the ‘pruning’ of the remaining hair – a process that, so far, seems to be fairly successful in minimising the visual impact.

What was most alarming was the seemingly short time-frame within which this androgenetic alopecia (apparently) has occurred.

There are various theories as to what causes hair loss, ranging from genetics to environment, covering pretty much everything along the way.  However, there is now a new factor on the table…

At a recent BIM seminar, I was presented with the following explanation:

BIM causes baldness!

It didn’t take long for this suggestion to sink in… the history fit, and the evidence was there (or rather, not there) on the top of my head.  The more time I’ve spent over the past couple of years speaking about BIM, attending seminars, carrying out presentations, and so on has coincided with a definite reduction in my scalp covering.

Forget concerns over model ownership, and interoperability exchange formats… what we have here is a REAL issue.  Contract form and company policies will inevitably need to undergo some degree of evolution (or altogether re-structure) in order to give fully collaborative and open project execution a fighting chance – these are matters that can (and must) be overcome.

Choice is a powerful thing.  With regard to BIM, one of my favourite quotes came from Paul Morrell, who said...

“Very soon looking back on BIM and thinking it was a choice will be funny”.

For me, the reality is, looking back on wearing a hat in the summer and thinking it was a choice is funny.

What about the people?

To date, this blog has been an outlet for predominately BIM related posts.  BIM is a hot topic at present in the construction world, but it is not currently the main business area for projects undertaken at McCafferty Consultancy Ltd.

The majority of projects completed to date are a mix of 2D cad projects to assist in the planning and / or construct phase of construction schemes and 3D ground modeling to determine volumetric requirements for proposed building sites.

BIM and VDC remains more a personal interest at this stage, while the benefits of these processes are explored and identified by the wider UK construction community.  Perhaps, this will progress to become more of a business interest in the future, or perhaps we will continue to exist as “non-practicing BIM advocates”… time will tell.

Behind the blog, exist real people with real (and often exciting) lives.  It has been suggested that this blog should maybe attempt to vary from technical commentary, and introduce some content that might give more insight to what the real people at McCafferty Consultancy have been doing away from work recently.

Stevie with Pluto (Disney)

  

Well, there has been a good mix of happy times, sick times, fun times, sad times and geeky times over recent months.  July saw broken bones and viral infections – not nearly enough to destroy our spirits as a family vacation to Disneyland Paris followed soon after, along with further fun times in France catching up with old friends and taking time out to relax.

Stevie with Lisa (IRT)

In August, "geeky" fun was had ‘fuelling’ (sorry) Stevie’s petrolhead side with a great day out at Truckfest.  In addition to admiring the shiny, noisy things on display, this proved to be another opportunity for Stevie to utilise skills refined at Disney and partake in the rubbing of shoulders with celebs – no Disney personalities this time, but Alex & Lisa from TV’s ‘Ice Road Truckers’.

  

The coming months are guaranteed to be just as interesting as we await a new addition to the “McCafferty group”.  Company expansion may well be on our minds, but this time it is family expansion, with the newest arrival expected at the start of October.  I can report that Jennifer has managed to put the “sick times” in the past and is looking forward to beginning her leave later this week.

So, there we have the first non-technical blog post, considering some of the more human sides of what happens behind the scenes here.  This may be the start of something, or could turn out to be just a rare insight along the way.  Perhaps I’ll let the visitor stats or comments decide…

BIM - Are you ready?

 

Construction is on the brink of a revolution – this is not the first time you’ve read this recently… but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.  The BIM era has been making its approach and is now on the brink of infiltrating mainstream methodology here in the UK.

It can be difficult to avoid the seemingly endless discussions and debates that surround the emergence of BIM as a process, but the fact that so many people are talking about this and looking at ways to realise the benefits of BIM and VDC should be a good indicator of the way things are going.

Paul Morrell

The point to note is that BIM is coming and it’s coming FAST.  Anyone fortunate enough to have received a talk by Paul Morrell on the subject will have been given a clue about the pace of BIM, in the lightening-fast powerpoint presentation that will probably have accompanied the subject.  This may prove to be one of the biggest challenges to the historically-lethargic UK construction industry, as the trend is to sit back and “see what everyone else does first”.

The fact is, there are some who have decided that things need to change before change is forced.  Last year’s report by the Innovation and Growth Team recommended BIM be mandatory on government projects over £50m.  In order to achieve real, wide scale integration and adoption this could be made broader.

At a talk this month, Paul Morrell seemed to agree as he labelled the above recommendation as “unambitious”.  Instead, we can expect a further announcement in June that outlines a plan to roll out BIM as mandatory on virtually all government projects within five years.

Surprisingly perhaps, this may come as welcome news to some UK contractors.  There are people out there who have been working on strategies and plans to lay the foundations required to make BIM & VDC real and effective parts of everyday construction methodology.

Among those who have developed BIM strategies are Atkins, Balfour Beatty, Laing O’Rourke and Skanska.  Excitingly, some of these firms have also put in place their own mandates to ensure that BIM can be not only enabled, but encouraged.

A recent presentation by David Philp (see http://vdcandme.blogspot.com/) of Balfour Beatty outlined the strength and determination of their global BIM strategy to improve construction methodology across the board.  Over a significant period of time, Balfour Beatty has developed procedures to allow BIM to become embedded into their core management processes.  This is a recognition of the business value of BIM as a process and the benefits it can bring across the life of a project.

 

A personal childhood favourite of mine, Lego, is also operating in the BIM world.  David Philp alerted me to the existence of “Lego Digital Designer”, a tool that has legitimised my newfound return to the world of plastic bricks.  This tool allows for the “virtual design and construct”, scheduling, conflict resolution and cost planning of lego models.  It may seem like silly fun, but the principles are the same and the processes are very real.

So, BIM is coming… or BIM is here?  With mandates pushing from the top down, contractors pulling from the middle in and hoards of eager schoolboys pushing from the bottom up where do you find yourself when it comes to being prepared for BIM?

The day I met the Ambassador

 

This month, I had the great pleasure to be invited to a reception at the private residence of the Ambassador of Finland.  This was to be a forum to promote and enable communication centred on innovations in construction – specifically the development and adoption of BIM in the UK.

It was very interesting to be in the company of people who were all concerned and obviously deeply interested in the emergence of BIM and the potential for improvement to current processes that it could release.

Thanks must be made to Tekla and to the Finnish Embassy for allowing and enabling this gathering to take place.  For the uninitiated, Tekla are a leading light in the development of BIM solutions globally, and a visit to their website (www.Tekla.com) is definitely worthwhile.  Specifically, their new product (Bimsight) is available for free download from their website – a fantastic tool for BIM analysis and collaboration.

Readers of previous articles will by now recognise a trend whereby I am trying to initiate and encourage discussions and thought processes that might help us all to understand and realise the potential of this concept.

Back in October, I attempted to define BIM and break down this definition to make it relevant and applicable to UK construction activities (see http://mccafferty-consultancy.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-thoughts-on-bim-by-stevie-mccafferty.html ).  At the close of this piece, I made the following comment…

“Communication and collaboration, enabled by technology and harnessed by BIM could make the ideal of the fully integrated work process a reality over the coming decade.”

Not content with this, (and struggling to get feedback) I became concerned that I was understating the importance and potential of BIM.  In a following article (http://mccafferty-consultancy.blogspot.com/2010/12/what-does-2011-hold-for-construction.html) I offered my thoughts for the future.  This time I closed with the following…

“With the potential to transform the construction industry as we know it through technology, develop our methodology to aspire to a new level of excellence and undertake a wave of exciting major projects, 2011 could represent a re-birth and renewal of construction in the UK.”

I have no doubt that the future of construction is a BIM enabled one, whether it be for design, analysis, estimation, manufacture, collaboration, workflow management, facilities management, financial planning, any other activity or all of these together.

It was a pleasure to be able to hear Paul Morrell OBE give a talk at the same evening, outlining some of his thoughts and points for wider discussion and consideration.  Furthermore, I find myself encouraged by the general tone of the presentation in that it reaffirms my own beliefs.

Near the opening of Paul Morrell’s presentation, a dramatic and definite statement was made…

“BIM is coming… soon”.

Little else really needs to be added to this for those who can appreciate BIM and how it can be leveraged to give rise to collaborative and integrated workflow processes for construction.

This month, we are expecting a report based on a current trial of BIM in government projects that is expected to recommend that BIM be used for future government projects.  The best estimate is that this mandate could take place over a five year timescale.  Obviously, there is a huge amount of work, investment and learning to be done by individuals, businesses and the industry as a whole before such a global change could be fully adopted.  A minimum one-year adoption period could be expected to allow this to take place.

Among the many good and thought provoking points raised by Paul Morrell (along with some of his slides) were the following, as things to be addressed by BIM…

 

The “silo problem” refers to the all-to-common problem of different teams and stakeholders being separated by virtual “walls” or barriers – contractual or organisational.  This leads to poor communication and increased risk of waste through non-collaboration.

 

 Reducing the number and value of “change orders”.  Better planning, integration and collaboration can lead to improved efficiencies for project delivery.  Fewer errors, alterations and reduced rework can all be a product of an integrated project method.

 

Readers of my most recent article (http://mccafferty-consultancy.blogspot.com/2011/02/bim-takes-on-environment.html) may have given some thought to my notional ideas around the environmental benefits of BIM (although I had hoped for more of a discussion, given the grant-centred proposal contained in the piece).  Again, the issue of waste and carbon reduction was highlighted during the keynote presentation… 

“If cash is king, then carbon must be queen” – Paul Morrell.

In my earlier piece, I questioned whether there was merit in the thought of government grants towards BIM development and investment for UK companies.  The following slide from Paul Morrell’s presentation gives us some idea…

 

Unfortunately, this is the sad reality of today’s situation.  In fact, it seems that the government is likely to undergo a period of “negative asset building”, in that overall assets will be reduced and downsized rather than added to with new large-scale builds.

It is often the case that great innovations and progress in methodology can be achieved during times of financial hardship and austerity.   

On different occasions recently, I have read articles containing statements suggesting that non-adopters of BIM are likely to be those who are left behind on the as the construction industry moves into a new era of process management.

“BIM is coming… soon”