{"id":24467,"date":"2016-06-08T10:08:41","date_gmt":"2016-06-08T10:08:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=24467"},"modified":"2016-11-09T14:31:21","modified_gmt":"2016-11-09T14:31:21","slug":"utilising-structured-bim-data-offsite-construction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/digital-construction-news\/bim-news\/utilising-structured-bim-data-offsite-construction\/24467\/","title":{"rendered":"Utilising structured BIM data in offsite construction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ensuring that you utilise structured BIM data in offsite construction is a vital aspect of BIM as Peter K. Foster Jnr, Director of Manufacturers and Merchants at coBuilder UK explains\u2026<\/h1>\n

Having worked in the modular construction\/offsite industry for 16 years and since moved onto working for a business that delivers data solutions, one of the messages I seek to get across when discussing BIM, data and processes with an offsite construction business is for them to utilise structured BIM data for their own benefit.<\/p>\n

Without a doubt structured data is a vital aspect of BIM and if an offsite business has not been asked to develop or provide such information already it will certainly be asked within the next one to three years.<\/p>\n

So, instead of waiting for the request to be made, it is of a great advantage for businesses to take the initiative and develop and use this data in a meaningful manner.\u00a0 Through this article I will provide you with a few aspects that such businesses would be wise to consider; not only will it assist in developing and improving internal process solutions, but can also be used to develop metrics to benchmark and measure improvements against the investment costs.<\/p>\n

Disadvantages of silo data in the manufacturing process<\/h3>\n

Silo data, be it in Excel or PDF form is hard to find, hard to control, difficult to ensure the correct versions are being used, error prone due to this fact, and labour intensive due to too many people either looking, re-creating or struggling to find this data source.<\/p>\n

One particular aspect that causes risk is the transfer of data between internal departments within an offsite business, this can be a fragmented process, especially if Excel is the data software of choice and each department has their own \u2018version of the truth\u2019.<\/p>\n

Additionally, obtaining information from the supply chain can compound this area of concern. Receiving data in PDF form, or via mediums such as Excel or even email, will generate further internal labour content for the offsite business, and in turn generate risk due to errors and the possibility of a material not meeting the client\u2019s needs (U values for example).<\/p>\n

Internal Benefits \u2013 What the data can do for you<\/h3>\n

So, what to do? Structured data is clearly of an advantage to the offsite construction business, however integrating this internally, and upskilling the supply chain to assist with this can be quite a challenge.<\/p>\n

Businesses such as ours assist with this by providing BIM data tools (goBIM) that provide the easiest and fastest way for manufacturers to \u2018BIMify\u2019 their construction data.<\/p>\n

What is meant by \u2018BIM-ifying\u2019 is simply the process of digitising all of the manufacturers product information, by getting it from their PDFs, Word, Excel, etc. and structuring it as product DATA according to a master Product Data Template (PDT).<\/p>\n

Once a business has their structured data, goBIM allows them to share this in BIM formats so that the contractor can then collate and use this data via our ProductXchange solution. The system also allows the designers and contractors to select product properties that they can then check against when the actual products are uploaded, so as to make sure the products being used meet the design requirements.<\/p>\n

However — and I can\u2019t stress this fact enough — the biggest benefit is that the FM receives rich, accurate as built data about their building or infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Once the data is structured and is part of the offsite constructors working process, the internal gains can start to be benchmarked, measured and achieved, using the data internally to assist with processes such as:<\/p>\n