Simple BIM Process Improvement Ideas
Building Information Modeling (BIM) can provide amazing benefits – HOWEVER – without the optimum BIM processes in place teams can create a lot of BIM activity without actually gaining much value ????
INTRODUCTION
Good BIM (Building Information Modeling) can require the understanding of many new three letter acronyms (TLAs) and BIM process maps.
Here are a few BIM design processes that you may have seen before?:
Some Common BIM Processes ????
THE PROBLEM: traditional project management teams can sometimes find BIM processes unfamiliar and confusing.
The true BIM leaders know that forcing new BIM processes on traditional teams can complicate things and can unfortunately lead to project failures ⚠️
In this article and mini video series ???? we hear some great insights from Jean Ghazal about some common BIM challenges that he experiences and the practical strategies that his company, Nesma and Partners, uses to win with BIM!
We also summarize some of these simple pieces of advice at the end.
[WARNING: Some audio is a little broken ???? – please bear with it]
1. The Impact Of Incomplete Requirements On The BIM Process ????
The starting point for using BIM on a project could be a company’s desire to build efficiencies within their organization however it can also start with an Owner just “asking for BIM” on their project.
OWNER: “Please use BIM on my project!”
TEAM: “Ok, but what does that mean?!?”
Owner: “I’m not too sure”
The main challenge with an owner request like this is that the team tends to start with an incomplete set of requirements.
Jean shares that a lack of documented requirements, especially during tender stage, is a huge challenge when trying to gain value through using BIM.
This makes it difficult, if not impossible, to achieve the client’s expected BIM results let alone perform the accurate 4D simulations and 5D calculations that contractors may require.
So how do teams overcome this?
In order to overcome this challenge, Nesma and Partners combine all the necessary input requirements across disciplines and fill the gaps of potentially missing inputs.
The key idea here is to establish better control by defining BIM processes with a clear BIM Scope – as early as possible.
2. How Templates Can Help THE BIM Process
The use of templates is very important for a successful BIM process, however historically there had been a lack of unified templates.
“With Plannerly, we can overcome all challenges” says Jean Ghazal – he extends his appreciation for all the things that Plannerly has done to enhance the platform with templates.
With the help of Plannerly, Nesma and Partners is aligning themselves to their customers expectations, but also are putting together their own set of templates which will serve as the unified starting point of future projects.
3. Using Templates Aligned With The ISO 19650 Process
So how do templates help?
The new ISO 19650 standards are helping align BIM processes and raise the bar when it comes to defining BIM requirements.
…and to make this even easier a group of over 200 teams have been working on some supporting BIM management templates.
These templates are freely available in the Plannerly platform:
The key idea here is that starting with templates helps standardize the BIM process and collect more clear requirements in a structured fashion.
4. Overcoming BIM Misconceptions
BIM has been the talk of the town for several years, yet there is still a misconception around it.
Is BIM a technology, a process, a 3D model?
Even after collecting clear requirements it can still be a challenge for all teams to understand that BIM is so much more than a just software tool or a 3D model.
Jean explains what he particularly loves about BIM and how it is an integral part to bring together the entire process of a project from the beginning to the end.
Plannerly is an integral part of the digital process for Nesma and Partners, bringing the whole BIM process of the project together from beginning to end.
Jean admits:
“We cannot live without BIM”!
The key takeaway here is that there are many misconceptions when it comes to implementing BIM and it is important to ensure that teams are aware of the true benefits of BIM as soon as possible!
5. What Tools Can Help Your BIM Process?
Nesma and Partners is dedicated to turn BIM into the backbone of their digital processes from the first sketches right through to covering the entire project lifecycle.
They use Plannerly not just as a tool – Nesma sees Plannerly as “a mechanism of process creation for managing all the information about the project”.
Essentially, Plannerly makes continuous contribution possible claims Jean.
???? CONCLUSION
BIM success relies heavily on the correct balance between digital and traditional to ensure that ALL teams adopt and gain the most benefits from BIM.
It is important that all teams know that BIM is more than just a piece of software or a 3D model!
Without the right tools and BIM processes it can be a challenge to gain the advantages that BIM promises.
Being both a tool and a process, Plannerly helps to make this easier.
If you would like to learn more about how to do this just connect with the Plannerly team! Our chat bubble is always open ↘
Which template will you use first?
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