Autodesk, Inc. unveiled the Autodesk Construction Cloud this year at the Connect & Construct summit. There has been much conversation in recent times about the need for the construction sector to embrace new technologies like the Cloud to improve effectiveness. Collaboration seems to be a focus for everyone. The Construction Cloud promises much in those areas. Of course, Revit has been a key part of our own business operations for years now so we keep a close eye on the innovations emerging from Autodesk. In that context, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at what could change with the Autodesk Construction Cloud.

The Construction Cloud is being spoken of as a best-in-class innovation to connect teams, workflows, and information. It’s an innovative approach to bringing together a network of professionals and firms, and ground-breaking predictive analytics to enable your business to flourish across all the phases of construction.

The construction industry is at a crucial turning point. Organizations no longer want to settle for fragmented teams and disconnected information. This is a great opportunity to break down barriers and build a foundation that supports all the members – from contractors, subcontractors, builders, designers, and owners – through all stages of construction and development, from structure to operations.

With the Autodesk Construction Cloud, a new way of working of connected construction and unmatched integration between the office and field teams could begin.

Autodesk Construction Cloud is based on the basic principle of:

· Design

· Plan

· Build

· Operate

At the center of Autodesk Construction Cloud are some proven development solutions:

· Assemble

· Building Connected

· BIM 360

· PlanGrid

The Construction Cloud incorporates three core components to help construction companies work more effectively and efficiently, collaborate with experts, and get insights that will help then plan and execute, even future projects, better.

1.  Advanced Technology: The solutions we know so well. These are built for simple operations that help in aligning organizations, offices, and teams from design through to development and operations.

2.  Builders Network: This is an ambitious attempt to build the industry’s biggest network of owners, builders, architects, and contractors. The platform could enable these folks to connect with the right partners for the right projects. This is exciting because it could create a kind of thriving marketplace that provides more opportunities for the people with the skills and more functional bandwidth to the people with the need.

3.  Predictive Insights: This is a look into the future. Most industries have embraced Big Data and Analytics. The availability of data is not a problem with our business. Now we can leverage that data to get AI-driven analysis that provides the designers and builders with powerful insights to reduce risks by predicting effective outcomes. This can help plan projects better, optimize resource requirements, improve construction safety, and help drive more sustainable practices.

The benefit to construction companies is that they can harness the power of the latest in construction technology to connect the entire construction cycle seamlessly. This will help them to create winning strategies to bring more efficiency to projects by improving project management to control costs and increase profits.

At a more granular level, Autodesk Construction Cloud:

1. Promises to help team members collaborate from anywhere. It should enable the easy flow of data from design creation to the job site.

2. Is built with BIM 360’s CDE or common data environment. This guarantees that the entire team will collaborate on a coordinated record set.

3. Brings the construction industry a step closer to a unified solution with all our information available on the same platform so that the data is not lost.

4. Makes it easier for field teams to capture videos directly.

5. Could enhance BIM 360 modules.

Jenny Moshea, head of technology at Sellen Construction said at the launch, “Autodesk Construction Cloud brings together advanced technology—which Autodesk has always been known for—with the network of the building community—which is the core of what we do as an industry—underpinned by predictive insights. This is the next evolution, the connected tissue that brings it all together, so the construction lifecycle is no longer disjointed.”

The connected tissue of the construction lifecycle -that’s a good way to look at a solution that seems to be all about creating efficiencies through connection and collaboration between teams, business entities, and the data our projects produce in such large quantities.

Did you know that over 100 workers died during the construction of the Hoover Dam? The scale of the effort and the challenging location was found responsible for many of these tragic deaths.

It’s largely true that the face of the construction industry hasn’t changed dramatically since the early 20th century. But small and significant changes have been seeping into every area even as we speak here. Innovation has started infusing everything within the industry from the hardware of our machines to the software being increasingly used. But the construction industry is a dynamic work environment, requires the use of heavy equipment, and carries some inherent risks. Much of construction involved environments that are inherently hazardous. Think bridges, tunnels, oil rigs, and roads across harsh landscapes. These hazards contribute to an unacceptably high injury and illness rate among those who work in construction and this has become one of the major concerns for the industry.

Construction companies and contractors have been implementing safety tools and programs to decrease and even prevent work-related hazards on construction sites in hazardous locations.

Research has shown that it becomes harder to influence or prevent construction injuries as the project progresses and that “the most effective form of safety programme elements occurs at the planning and preconstruction phases of a project.”

But this post is about another tool that can help with safety on such construction sites located in hazardous environments. That tool is Building Information Modeling (BIM). BIM-based software models could be a significant asset when used by design and construction professionals for site layout and safety planning.

BIM enables the company to create plans in sequential order alongside a 4D model. Having a 4D BIM model helps visualize the job site and work through various areas and events. It shows where there could be risks and where the weak points are with more accuracy. These can be taken into consideration when putting together the site.

That apart, Building Information Modeling (BIM) can be used in worker security training, safety planning, job hazard analysis, mishap investigation, and facility and maintenance stage safety.

BIM and Improving Site Safety at Hazardous Locations:

The attributes of the modern construction business, its projects and site activities are very challenging because of the complicated interchange of numerous partners and organizations. This complicated set up is also a test for site safety management. BIM technology-powered new tools, communication possibilities, and strategies addressing site security aspects can help construction companies advance to a higher-quality of site safety planning.

BIM uses include visualization, scope explanation, logistics planning, coordination, collision identification and avoidance, structure approval, construction planning, analysis, virtual mock-ups and what-if scenario visualizations. This information can be tightly integrated with relevant information about the hazards of the location to deliver insights and predictions about what could go wrong. The combination of information can help safety managers and supervisors check safety arrangements across the site in different conditions. Each item can be validated and married to additional information such as the location of safety equipment, areas of storage of potentially hazardous materials, and, even, temporary obstructions created during the ongoing construction.

BIM provides safety managers with the ability to perform advanced sequencing and dimensional analysis to track and oversee site logistics and layout. The information can be used to identify potential patterns, problems, and hazards around the site. This could pave the way for coming up with alternate solutions to minimize risk on site. For instance, if a large portion of the structure is created off-site in a restricted environment, this implies fewer risks on the job site. Slips, trips, falls, and other issues can be avoided as the work is being done under controlled conditions on a construction site. This can also lead to lower risk in various risky activities in hazardous conditions. This could also, potentially, reduce the need to store equipment and material on site. Essentially, less work and less material at hazardous locations equals less risk.

BIM also allows for better integration of design processes. The outcome is that designers taking advantage of BIM can create and demonstrate design in manners that have been unimaginable in practice until now. These capabilities also facilitate better coordination and collaboration between teams on-location. BIM prevents such errors by enabling dispute detection where the computer model highlights which parts of the structure are wrongly in contact. There are fewer clashes, less need for rework, and fewer occasions to address issues “on the fly” and under time pressure. This reduced vulnerability and improves the potential for compliance with laid down safety norms.

In essence, this is the crux of BIM for improving worker safety in such locations. BIM defines the virtual development of a facility before its actual construction. This allows a “risk-free” pre-analysis that allows construction companies to reduce vulnerability, improve safety, and simulate and analyse the potential effects of all actions. And that is central to improving safety across construction sites located in hazardous locations.

Surely everyone here now knows that BIM (Building Information Modelling) is a 3D model-based software that provides architecture, and construction professionals the knowledge and tools to design, construct, and maintain infrastructure more efficiently.

It’s probably just as well known that BIM serves as a common knowledge resource for information about a facility forming a reliable basis for a variety of choices during that lifecycle. BIM creates a common language between all the parties involved in a construction project and brings them together on an integrated platform. BIM becomes the framework to plan, collaborate, and evaluate the cost and time performance of projects. In essence, it draws a big picture of a project using visualization.

Central to BIM is its accurate geometrical representation of the parts of a structure in an integrated data environment. Other related benefits naturally follow:

• Enhanced project collaboration
• Better project quality and execution
• Improved productivity
• Faster project delivery
• Reduced construction costs
• New revenue and business opportunities

But with that array of benefits, there are some complexities the construction industry must address with regards to BIM.

1. The cost of BIM: The biggest concern for any business organization is the cost of adopting BIM. The initial expense of the solution is not a major problem. BIM implementation is not complete just by upgrading of software. To draw out the full benefits, all the related components of business operations from applications to vendor component specifications would have to be integrated into a coherent system. Additionally, different levels of training would be required.  And then there’s the cost of specialist BIM talent. And speaking of talent.

2. Lack of BIM experts: Most construction companies do not have sufficient staff equipped to deploy BIM techniques and principles. Hiring these people seems like an obvious solution but that’s not so easy too. Especially for small and mid-sized construction companies in locations away from the major technology centers, it’s hard to find people skilled in technology and amenable to make their career in such organizations.

3. Data exchange: Data exchange between teams has traditionally been something the construction industry has never been great at. This problem could be exacerbated by BIM. BIM models have complex 3D geometry, behaviour, and a lot of data attached to each object. Also, BIM models deliver tremendous volumes of data to the onsite construction teams on a regular basis. This suggests a consistent and high volume bidirectional flow of information is necessary. Creating and maintaining that level of data exchange could become a problem for traditional construction companies.

4. Level of project complexity: Construction projects range in complexity from the trivial to the truly massive. The issues are very different as the projects become larger. BIM users having insufficient experience in addressing complex projects may actually cause critical coordination problems while trying to implement BIM for such projects.

5. Cultural issues: Changing a long-established method of working can cause some problems. Processes would have to change, entrenched habits would have to be transformed, and new layers of reporting, monitoring, and feedback would have to be deployed. BIM has its own characteristics that need addressing. Combined with the staff skills issue this could cause friction between teams and management layers. This could impact BIM adoption on site as well as reduce the impact of the implementation.

There are a variety of changes that could be undertaken by a construction organization to successfully adopt BIM.

6. Seek a BIM service partner: A painless way to kick off your BIM journey is to partner with a BIM service provider organization who can understand your requirements, be it architecture, structure, design coordination, or development plans. A BIM service provider will bring the required expertise and experience to the table that can all but eliminate the hurdles that may arise in the project.

7. Make it realizable to everyone: With the adoption of BIM, there can be paradigm shifts that can be experienced at every stage of structural development. Drive home to everyone involved the benefits of the platform and the new collaborative approach. Focus the training on the specific context of the benefits of the solution to their day-to-day work. Make it obvious how this will help them do better at their jobs.

8. Train even your BIM trainers: While it is a given that training is fundamental, imparting training to the correct sources at the right time is more crucial and important. Training to get acquainted with BIM culture and characteristics, processes, roles, practices, and workflow is important. Providing the right training to the project managers along with the team is vital in this context.

This can help ensure that the BIM strategy is deployed successfully and meaningfully. Like with any transformative new solution, the initial challenges can seem formidable. But once overcome, the benefits are too many to ignore.