An Easy To Follow BIM Adoption Roadmap
Denmark, Finland, Dubai, Singapore, Russia, and Norway have made Building Information Modeling (BIM) mandatory for public construction projects. That has enabled them to ramp up their construction, use resources intelligently, and ensure safety and sustainability. The benefits of BIM adoption are well-known. Even across the USA, companies have made projects more cost-effective, timely, and sustainable by adopting BIM. Construction companies and contractors have found that using BIM has also helped them prepare better project bids that help them win more orders.
However, many companies are facing a tough time implementing BIM because they lack access to the people with the right knowledge of implementing BIM strategy. This is risky considering that BIM adoption can cost the construction company time and money.
So, what can companies do to make BIM adoption easy?
The first step would be to create a BIM adoption roadmap to guide companies in their implementation process.
How To Create A BIM Adoption Roadmap?
Understandthe value of BIM
Investing in BIM is expensive, considering that companies need to invest in software, technology infrastructure, and people with specialized skills. Hence, it is prudent to understand its significance first. One way to determine its value is to develop a pilot use case. For example, use it to optimize the design for a smaller, contained project and see how it delivers values. This will enable the companies to determine how they can optimize the usage of BIM on a wider scale.
Digitize processes
To ensure full value from the BIM adoption, companies must digitize a range of their processes. BIM can help drive agile decision-making. It can help teams collaborate better and communicate more meaningfully. It can promote transparency in reporting. All this needs a change of organizational processes to deliver maximum impact. Digitizing processes will help the construction company create the enabling infrastructure to make the most of BIM’s considerable power.
Establish data-sharing standards
BIM can be adopted only when data on design, costs, and schedules exists. However, inconsistent data sets can pose a challenge in generating insights and in the seamless adoption of BIM. Hence, companies must establish data-sharing standards and agree upon uniform conventions, especially if the construction is happening in different areas. This will reduce confusion and miscommunication between various stakeholders and improve efficiency.
Promote collaboration between different stakeholders
Construction activity is largely fragmented. Most teams are concerned with their scope of work, ignoring the larger impact that could have on other teams. To ensure the seamless implementation of BIM, all stakeholders must identify ways to collaborate continuously. BIM offers the opportunity to create a single-source-of-truth that can become the common ground to ensure that all the respective stakeholders are working in collaboration. Set a formal mechanism to improve collaboration. Take the UK Government’s Construction Industry Council (CIC) BIM Protocol, for example. It is a standardized supplementary legal agreement for common construction contracts. The protocol demands that all the stakeholder’s obligations and limitations are clearly mentioned and shows the point of contact for managing all the data that BIM incorporates at each stage of the project.
Keep the communication ongoing
Communication is crucial for successful BIM adoption. Reviveprocesses to drive ongoing communication between all the stakeholders. Leverage connected technologies to provide anytime, anywhere access to information for all the stakeholders, so they can communicate in real-time and accelerate the speed of BIM adoption.
Ensure every stakeholder understands BIM
Understanding the scope of BIM is vital for its successful adoption. Lack of BIM skills can slow down the process. Ensure that all stakeholders understand BIM and its implications well as it is the core of the digitized construction future. Upskilling the existing stakeholders through hands-on training is one way to make sure that everyone possesses the necessary skills. Of course, this is easier said than done. You could engage an experienced BIM consultant organization to make this process happen smoothly. Such a partner would drive the initial projects on the power of their own experience. As that happens, you get the opportunity to learn from them. If the partner has a local presence, they can help you refine your own processes and handhold you as you feel your way into the transformed BIM landscape. This could carry on for as long as is necessary for you to get your own BIM act in order.
Be prepared for change
BIM adoption goes beyond adopting the technology. It necessitates change management at an organizational level. The management will have to create a culture where employees understand the value of BIM and are willing to learn new skills to accelerate the process of implementation. Share information about how BIM will help them do their jobs better on an ongoing basis, so they are aware of its importance and more open to its adoption.
BIM holds a lot of promise. But the solution is investment-intensive needing time, money, and effort to get right. It’s not always possible for small and mid-sized American construction companies, especially those in the smaller centers, to hire technology resources to guide them. But BIM adoption requires guidance from real experts. Without that, a company risks running an expensive experiment. That’s where an experienced BIM consultant can help. A BIM consultant understands the needs of the construction company and advises on the ideal roadmap to follow. That could make a crucial difference to your BIM strategy.