BIM Road Map is the first step taken before embarking on to the implementation journey. It helps to understand and document the existing status of the organization and to define the appropriate goals, objectives and the way forward. A well thought out road map will help the team to monitor the implementation progress and also to accommodate changes in the strategy progressively.
4. PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Having an effective performance measurement system will help the organization to drive the implementation towards set-goals. KPI’s will help identify the issues in the BIM strategy being developed. KPI’s should be developed to help measure both organizational level and project specific achievements.
Identifying key performance indicators based on the BIM Goals set forth to achieve is the next important step.
Important features of any KPIs
- Performance measurement system be in-line with the organizational BIM goals and its vision.
- KPI’s should be quantifiable to help track the status of implementation.
- Define achievable target values for all performance indicators.
- Consider both financial and operational aspects implementation while defining the KPI’s.
- Performance should be measured frequently .
Performance indicators help to measure the success of the BIM strategy and potentially tweak the process as required.
Organizational-level KPIs
- Service / product quality improvement
- Internal team satisfaction
- External consultant satisfaction
- Environmental efficiency
- Business profitability and growth
- Team skills and experience
- Productivity gain and efficiency
- Clarity in communication
Project Level KPIs
- Man hours for scope of work
- Project Budget savings / over-runs
- Design conflicts
- Client Satisfaction
5. TECHNOLOGY UPGRADE PLAN
Upgrading the office infrastructure to BIM requires procurement of new hardware and software. A technology plan that complements the BIM Implementation strategy will make this process efficient and cost effective.
Building Information Modeling is a process which requires the use of software with specific set of tools that require high performance hardware to perform. BIM enabled tools are complex and requires considerable amount of investment. Hence, it is important to take a phased and scalable approach towards the upgrade.
A successful technology upgrade plan will help the team to stay organized and meet the software and hardware demands of the team as per the implementation strategy.
Developing a technology plan
The key steps involved in developing a technology upgrade plan are;
- Research on the available software for the set BIM Goals / Uses.
- Identify the best suitable software to help fulfill the scope of workÂ
- Document the existing status of infrastructure as part of the Assessment Report.
- Identify the hardware requirements and the upgrades needed in comparison to the existing.
- Develop a roll-out schedule based on the implementation strategy to support BIM system development and also pilot project activities.
- Discussion with available software & hardware resellers for quotations.
- Document the upgrade plan.
Deciding on committing to a certain BIM software / technology is an important decision and the standards, templates & manuals developed will be in-line with the BIM terminology used by the software. It is important to make the decision after proper market research.
Choosing the right technology
- Main aspects to consider while deciding on the right software technology are;
- Software & Hardware features to support the scope of work.
- Availability of suite of products covering project life-cycle & interoperability with third party tools.
- Level of complexity, learning curve & training requirements.
- Availability of support from the vendor and as well as other user group communities and forums.
- Flexibility in licensing packages, pay per use features and update roll-outs.
6. TRAINING PLAN
Implementation of new technology and process requires the project team to gain new set of skills. Having a training plan to ensure that the team skills meet the requirement is essential.
Implementing and using BIM Methodologies involves the team to go through a steep learning curve, mostly because of the complex nature of the software and more collaborative work-flows involved that are different from traditional practice.
Training the staff to carry out the newly designed work-flow is critical to succeed in any BIM project. Developing a comprehensive training program will help stay organized while meeting the BIM project resource requirement.
Developing a training agenda
Some of the key issues to note while developing a training agenda;
- Identify and document the existing skill set matrix based as part of the assessment report.
- Organize and document the training requirements, topics and duration covering the project life-cycle.
- Consider training at both management and functional group levels ( Refer to Section 5.5 – Training ).
- Develop the basic BIM standards and templates before initiating the training process.
- Develop the training manuals / handouts for each course.
- Research on introductory free training sessions offered by software resellers and vendors.
- Document the training logistics such as hardware, software, training room requirements etc.
- Prepare post training evaluation check-list and testing methodology.
- Encourage peer to peer as well as train the trainer concepts.
- Consider and work around the staff’s existing workload.
- When hiring an external training exercise, work closely with the trainer to ensure that the topics are in-line with the in-house BIM System and the strategy.
- Ensure that the trained staff is using the gained knowledge on the job with proper hand-holding to gain real time experience ( on-the job training is the best from of training ).
- Plan for biweekly or monthly knowledge sharing sessions discussing the updates and improvements on the software and the system.
- Document the training schedule based on the resource requirement.
7. IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE
Implementing BIM methodology requires careful planning as it involves developing and changing several aspects of the business that affects the day to day activities. It is important to schedule the BIM deployment in multiple phases meeting the BIM Goal requirements while avoiding disruption to any existing project deadlines.
Appropriately scheduling the implementation requires the team to consider several aspects. BIM Roll out has to consider several aspects of the business while preparing the agenda.
Identifying activities / work packages
Prepare a detail list of activities broken down in several work packages. Having a clear understanding of the skill set required for each activity will help identify the right resource for the same.
Sequencing
Developing the BIM System is an elaborate process and requires the team to follow a certain logical sequence of activities. Aim to complete a part of the BIM System develop early in the process to use the same during the training activities. Develop the BIM task force skill sets in the beginning as a priority. Identify critical milestones to help monitor the progress.
Estimating duration
Document the amount of time required for each work package in man-hour calculation. Allot considerable amount of time for reviewing, checking & updating the artifacts produced during the system set-up.
Scheduling & Monitoring
Based on the sequence of activities and the resource availability, develop the implementation schedule while considering the existing project workload. Document and present the schedule to the team and update as per the feedback.
Review the progress at frequent intervals based on the set-milestones and make adjustments as required.
Taking such organized approach to develop the implementation schedule will help to identify and mitigate any risks involved early in the process.
NOTE:
Kindly refer to the Part 1 of the article, for better understanding of the Importance of a BIM Road map.Â
Below are the other topics included in the series:
- A brief introduction to BIM
- How BIM can deliver optimum results
- In-House BIM developement V/S Hiring external consultants – Which is better?
- Top 5 areas where BIM can help realise a project’s full potential
- Understanding the “I” in BIM
To contact Voxel1 Solutions visit: www.voxel1.com