What Are the Greatest Benefits for Off-Site Construction Companies from Digitalizing Their Processes?
Although this subject could be addressed with a more negative approach by asking "What Are the Off-Site Construction Companies NOT Implementing BIM Missing Out on?" it is better to bring out the positive - the negative is obvious in today's fast developing digital world - being a "dinosaur" of the bunch, left behind. Higher Productivity Through the Rise in Efficiency
The key issue for most construction companies is how to achieve more for less - how to increase productivity and thereby increase the profit margin? Digitalization affects all operations from start to finish and connects everything into a whole (if applied correctly, of course) - the wise saying that goes "the chain is as weak as its weakest link" is relevant here.
Avoid Mistakes and Lower Costs
By having great synergy in Your company You can really make a difference for not only the outcome of the work (reduction of quality-related costs) but also for the all-so-important people involved in the process. Human errors can greatly be reduced by giving the team the right tools for the job at hand and through that a better sense of achievement will boost the morale of the whole crew.
Data Analyzing and Agile Project Management to Lower Risks
Sometimes taking risks offers great rewards but in general all the stakeholders in construction projects wish to minimize the unnecessary risks - right!? - The ability to collect, organize and analyze Your company data will give You a great advantage here. Having up-to-date information at Your fingertips at all times will enable You to make the right decision at the right time - the right time being at once, whenever an issue arises.
Improve Deliverables for All Stake-Holders in Projects
The hand-over of a construction project consists of many as important parts - the product itself, a comprehensive set of documentation (process and product) but as importantly the overall "feel" delivered to the Client and other project members. Digitalization will in many ways enable You to improve the end-product everyone works towards but also structure and manage the extensive amount of information created in modern construction projects.
10 Principles We at build.works Recommend to Follow When Planning Your New BIM Processes:
1 - Data that is not stored according to Your system rules and processes that are not followed do not exist! The system must guide You! You must NOT guide the system! - Processes that have been thoughtfully developed to create a good workflow must not be omitted by the excuse of laziness or discomfort - everything is there for a reason. Of course, all systems need to be managed and improved, but take care not to make changes for the wrong reasons!
2 - Data should be introduced to the system only once (!) and be used by all following processes!
Data continuity is crucial for an efficient process but what is as important is that the right data is handled by the right roles at the right time. Information management planning is vital for achieving a well-oiled overall process as its easier for everyone involved to know their obligations towards the team.
3 - Up-to-date and validated data should be accessible to everyone involved equally - collaboration is key!
Every decision is as good as the information it is based on - everyone must be enabled to make the best decisions for the best outcome. Implementing collaborative routines in the processes is an essential requirement in improving the data by continuous validation and upgrading by all of the users involved.
4 - Follow the path of "no-more-paper-copies"!
Saving a couple (or many) trees from being made into paper sheets is a great goal but the real benefit comes from the operability of the information between all parties involved - a server for Your documentation management is a much wiser choice than an old filing cabinet!
5 - Organize Your data and develop Your product through utilizing the new insights!
In order to be able to really sense and get a comprehensive overview of Your company data You need to organize it to fit Your needs. Many new previously uncovered details about Your products may appear through data-wrangling and visualizations which can and should be used for continuous R&D.
6 - Predefinition is the key to successful operational actions!
We all want to be as operative in our work as we possibly can these days and that can result in a few different outcomes - a great pile-up of badly made rushed decisions and actions OR a great success story when having the right preparations made beforehand. Predefining Your processes, products, etc. is THE KEY to conducting successful operations.
7 - Automate as many repetitive processes and integrate them all into one well-functioning whole!
While planning Your processes for the future (or improving them based on new knowledge gained) You must take care to avoid as much of the "stupid work" as possible - "stupid" not in the sense of its lack of necessity to the process but as in "something a machine can do". It is crucial to use the right processor type for the right job - machine processors where large data and repetitive tasks come to play and human processors where more creativity and communication is involved. Integrating all that into a logically operating machina will result in great results!
8 - Analyze and measure Your processes to see continuous efficiency improvements!
A key component in having a success story within the company is to acknowledge Your goals and Your success in fulfilling the plan - bit by bit, piece by piece, process by process - even the small achievements should be valued and celebrated. In order to see the difference made You must not forget to make it possible to measure the progress by honest evaluation of processes before and after.
9 - Train Your staff and build a digital culture in the company before throwing them into cold water!
Everything You plan and execute can go to waste if the team is not ready for it - invest in training and consulting Your staff as much as possible as the people are where the value is created - take care of them in order to maximize their potential and make the relationship last as long as possible. Creating a good digital culture in the company is critical when undergoing digital transformation - having the right mindset and values for a collaborative and data-driven workflow are the key to achieving digitation goals.
10 - Get professional advice to help You succeed!
If You are reading this… You are already on the right track! - the best decisions and developments are done based on having sufficient knowledge. Do not be afraid to take advice from those who already have experience in what You are or are planning to go through!
How Can We at build.works Help You?
At build.works we are already convinced that non-collaborative Excel use through different processes is of the Devil and the mother of all mistakes! (most at least - some mistakes are of course traceable to the link between the office chair and the computer - the human)
We can help You feel and understand the same and find all the solutions You need for advancing to the next level with Your enterprise - be it digitalization of Your sales quotation or project production execution processes - we got it covered and are ready to help You implement it!
build.works empowers You with the cloud-based tools to introduce integrated business processes from BIM to supply chain planning and execution. If You are already using an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution by vendors such as SAP or Microsoft, build.works connects Your enterprise applications with BIM to enable Engineer-to-Order production scenario on industrial scale.
Keep focus on what You wish to achieve and involve those who have knowledge to help You out - We are here for You at build.works to provide You with expert advice and world-class innovative solutions to help You really make use of BIM!
You are most welcome to contact us through our web-page at https://build.works/ or myself directly through LinkedIn messages or by e-mail!
Joonas Mauer I Customer Engagement Executive @ build.works