Extract of a white paper written by Author: Adam Modesitt, Assistant Professor of Architecture at Tulane University

Download the full white paper: Expanding Authorship: Optimize BIM for Integrated Engineering, Design, and Construction Managemen

Workflow should be a site of design, not drive design. Platforms should do more than document traditional building information. They should provide tools for managing, organizing, and understanding how information is generated, assembled, and authored. Web-based dashboards, for example, can provide information on how production occurs, making visible when project models are created, and by whom. Platform scheduling tools can trigger work hand-offs after milestone completions, seamlessly integrating scheduling with 3D modeling tasks. Platforms should allow workflow to be customized. Information levels of resolution should be tailored to individual collaborators, and provide only the information required for a given scope. Rather than adapting production to fit within prescribed workflows, platforms should allow workflow to adapt to production requirements.

3DEXPERIENCE® CASE STUDY A. ZAHNER COMPANY

As architectural projects increasingly evolve into intricate works of art, architectural engineering, manufacturing and construction firm, A. Zahner Company needed to design more complex geometries and to improve clarity and communication between project stakeholders. The Chrysalis is a very dynamic project, said ZAHNER’s Chief Operating Officer Tom Zahner, which requires a flexible platform to quickly and efficiently update all the stakeholders. “As the project matures we need to process information as it comes in and make sure that every stakeholder—the owner (Inner Arbor Trust), the general contractor, suppliers, partners, and design and construction teams—can access it in real time… We’ve used dashboards on this project to be our touch point for providing information to the customer,” Shannon Cole, senior project engineer at ZAHNER said. “As we’re doing design work and receiving drawings from our outside consultants, we post them as mini stories. The customer has access to that, so they are informed every step of the way.We’re giving visibility to what we’re thinking, what we’re designing and what it’s going to look like. It gives our customers a level of comfort and confidence that 2D drawings absolutely can’t do.”

SOURCE: Figure 1. Dassault Systemes customer stories, A. ZAHNER COMPANY.

Download the full white paper: Expanding Authorship: Optimize BIM for Integrated Engineering, Design, and Construction Management

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