DaleSmith
2011-12-08, 10:17 AM
Hi everyone,
My company is a mulit-disciplinary one, who are attempting to switch to the BIM environment in as many disciplines as we can throughout the company. Currently we have implemented Revit for around 18months in the Architects and Structures divisions, and we have MEP coming on board soon apparently.
We've tried a few ways of linking models and coordinating them, with varying levels of success. Our main issue has been communcating all the changes between one verion of a particular linked model and the next. Our main method of communication has been drawing based, but these don't always pick up every change in the model, especially at Tender stage (where there may be no actual drawing at all produced until the final week or so). We've had numerous suggestions of how to track and communicate the changes:
1st, Simply communicating better- Either by phone or email or some other message. This is how we are attempting to work at the moment, but in a company of ~250 people, with many projects live at any given time, this is not easy. And a lot of things are starting to get missed.
2nd, Production of a change register, something database orientated, that can be kept track of.
3rd, Simply produce lots of drawings, even if they're not formal issues. This seems dangerous, as will be very hard to keep track of the latest issues of each drawing. Also wouldn't fit well with envirmental department, as we would probably get thrugh a small rainforest each week.
4th, A possible idea I came up with yesterday involved a family based object, such as the one shown in the attached image. This would link in with a project and act as a kind of 3D revision box, that could easiliy be filtered in each view, and could even be scheduled to help keep track of them (image attached too). The issue with this one may become more of an issue when we have to deal with external departments, rather than our own.
5th, Is there an automated program that can help track these changes and is it user firendly? Copy monitoring seems to cover some of this area, but not all that we might need. For example, I don't think it would tell us that a window moved, in a wall we did not need to monitor, and now clashes with some bracing possitions. The user firendly part is in terms of explanation of the changes. I've had pleanty of experience in how computers think. And we wouldn't want telling that 96 individual elements have been moved, when the same informtaion could be summed up as "Wall on gridline A has moved 100mm north."
We may be missing an obvious solution, it wouldn't be the first time, but any advice would be much appreciated. Is there an approach that is unanimously adopted?
Thanks
Ps, Sorry is this post is a little muddled or unclear in places, not feeling 100% by any means, and probably heading home ill some time soon.
My company is a mulit-disciplinary one, who are attempting to switch to the BIM environment in as many disciplines as we can throughout the company. Currently we have implemented Revit for around 18months in the Architects and Structures divisions, and we have MEP coming on board soon apparently.
We've tried a few ways of linking models and coordinating them, with varying levels of success. Our main issue has been communcating all the changes between one verion of a particular linked model and the next. Our main method of communication has been drawing based, but these don't always pick up every change in the model, especially at Tender stage (where there may be no actual drawing at all produced until the final week or so). We've had numerous suggestions of how to track and communicate the changes:
1st, Simply communicating better- Either by phone or email or some other message. This is how we are attempting to work at the moment, but in a company of ~250 people, with many projects live at any given time, this is not easy. And a lot of things are starting to get missed.
2nd, Production of a change register, something database orientated, that can be kept track of.
3rd, Simply produce lots of drawings, even if they're not formal issues. This seems dangerous, as will be very hard to keep track of the latest issues of each drawing. Also wouldn't fit well with envirmental department, as we would probably get thrugh a small rainforest each week.
4th, A possible idea I came up with yesterday involved a family based object, such as the one shown in the attached image. This would link in with a project and act as a kind of 3D revision box, that could easiliy be filtered in each view, and could even be scheduled to help keep track of them (image attached too). The issue with this one may become more of an issue when we have to deal with external departments, rather than our own.
5th, Is there an automated program that can help track these changes and is it user firendly? Copy monitoring seems to cover some of this area, but not all that we might need. For example, I don't think it would tell us that a window moved, in a wall we did not need to monitor, and now clashes with some bracing possitions. The user firendly part is in terms of explanation of the changes. I've had pleanty of experience in how computers think. And we wouldn't want telling that 96 individual elements have been moved, when the same informtaion could be summed up as "Wall on gridline A has moved 100mm north."
We may be missing an obvious solution, it wouldn't be the first time, but any advice would be much appreciated. Is there an approach that is unanimously adopted?
Thanks
Ps, Sorry is this post is a little muddled or unclear in places, not feeling 100% by any means, and probably heading home ill some time soon.