COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Damodar Ramachandra Katti, Managing Director, Design Group Engineering Consultants shares his thoughts on BIM and its benefits to clients
Sustaining business success relies on making smart decisions. BIM is one such technology which provides competitive advantage.
With the trend shifting to EPC, Design & Build, Cost plus, etc., it is important that the entire supply chain consisting of Client, Consultants, Contractor, vendors, etc., need to work together to strategize and minimise risks that can impact budget and completion timelines.
While some consultants are happy sitting on the sidelines and grumble that their clients aren’t interested in BIM, at Design Group Engineering Consultants (DGEC), we take a proactive approach and go all out to demonstrate the benefits of BIM. This ranges from clash detection and dimensional design checks to spatial awareness assessment and data asset information retrieval, thus allowing DGEC personnel, contractors, and suppliers to interact and make live design changes. A spin-off of this technology is that it augments workers’ capabilities enabling them to make construction more efficient. It is about improved productivity, ushering in a faster delivery process and getting it right the first time by avoiding defects.
“The adaptability and capabilities of the BIM department determines your growth appetite and capacity. Investing in BIM technology invites immense growth and savings potential.”
BIM affords more accurate designs and budgets for new projects along with live tracking of progress and also simplifying management of existing facilities
Working with consultants like DGEC who are implementing BIM — and who have customized its pre-set formulas and data sets with information that is closely tailored to specific project situations, owners can reduce risk and improve on predictability of projects.
Decision-making is enhanced when owners and team members are engaged in the transformation of a model as the footprint, building material type, massing, siting, and more are adjusted. Each project is unique and has specific facility requirements. Various alternatives and “what-if” scenarios can be quickly and accurately compared. Also, the design-estimate cycle can be reduced significantly.
The unique selling point (USP) of building information modeling (BIM) since its inception has been its ability to facilitate and enhance coordination between the various parties working on complex projects.
Building Information Modeling was first applied in project design, and it was initially viewed as an upgrade for 2D drawing software. However, the potential of BIM goes beyond design and construction. In existing buildings, BIM has demonstrated potential to be a facility management tool. Construction firms can also use BIM as a marketing aid, since they can showcase their technical expertise prior to signing the deal.
Besides being useful from an engineering perspective, BIM also offers benefits that are highly valued by clients:
• Reducing change orders and unexpected costs, thus providing an accurate budget and minimising risks.
• Allowing the project to be visualised in three dimensions before starting off.
• When used with allied construction scheduling and cost management, the client benefits from live monitoring of both time and cost of the project thus enabling faster turnaround vis-avis changing scenarios.
A construction company delivering an accurate budget and a realistic model of the project, makes the client comfortable and confident. The complexity and details revealed by the BIM models can also impress a potential client, increasing the probability of bagging projects.
When BIM is used in a building project, the digital model becomes a useful tool for property management. Future projects can be planned and executed more easily, since all technical data can be verified in the digital model. BIM is also useful when planning preventive maintenance, since the layout of all building systems can be visualised clearly.
To summarise, BIM affords more accurate designs and budgets for new projects along with live tracking of progress, and also simplifying management of existing facilities.
Engineering firms and contractors who deploy BIM not only have a technical edge, but also derive marketing advantages. Clients are able to take informed decisions when their facilities are modeled in BIM, since they are able to visualize the impact of their choices better.
Organisations may benefit from outsourcing BIM in the following cases: In-house talent is lacking or not available to work on the required solutions; there is an urge and need to increase efficiency across all levels within the organisation; time and cost savings are envisaged.
Design Group Engineering Consultants have been implementing BIM on all their in-house projects as well as serving various clients on implementing BIM. “We are also creating visibility & awareness on BIM by organising various seminars, CPD lectures and so on. DGEC has taken the first step in imparting the knowhow on BIM, as well as creating awareness on advantages as well.”