Here, Duncan Reed, Trimble's Digital Construction Process Manager, shows how off-site manufacturing and Building Information Modeling (BIM) are well suited to creating more collaborative and efficient partnerships, and producing a new generation of impressive, sustainable buildings.
Off-site manufacturing, as the name suggests, is a process that can, and does, benefit from the use of technology. Whether through virtual product development, BOMs or the logistics associated with transport and delivery, many parts of the day-to-day running of an off-site manufacturing business are now seen as integral elements of the BIM revolution: product development - 3D, BOMs - 5D and logistics - 4D.
So, in many ways, off-site manufacturing and BIM are like two long-lost brothers finally reunited. The technologies and processes that the offsite manufacturing industry has been using for years can now be leveraged in a more collaborative way across the project, across the team, to reduce risk and improve project outcomes. Indeed, BIM as a process can, and does, bring efficiencies to companies' existing methods and procedures, enabling projects to be delivered faster, more competently and with greater reliability for customers.
The Baku National Stadium in Azerbaijan has taken advantage of BIM (Building Information Modeling). The Tekla model was used to create a 3D graphic animation of the complex roof installation procedure.
Thinking of BIM as a process turns what some might consider constraints in the off-site manufacturing process into advantages. For the "last minute" construction industry, the need to make decisions early to enable offsite manufacturing to start is now aligned with the positive need for the right data to be created by the right people at the right time within the team, to enable seamless integration of the offsite process with the project.
