BIM: Why Create Content?

Tuesday 15th May 2012

Dan Rau

Ruskin Company

Senior Engineering Manager

Objectives

Ruskin Company Overview Review Ruskin’s Experience with BIM Content Discuss Alternative Paths Cover Benefits of BIM content Cover Costs of BIM Content

I won’t eat my

BIM $$$$$

I love BIM

Content!

A Better Content Recipe

Ruskin Company

• Extensive Product Catalog

• Over 300 different Product Models

• Louvers, Dampers, Fire Dampers, Smoke

Dampers, Fire Smoke Dampers

Ruskin Company

• Sunshade, Energy Recovery Ventilators

• Sound Control Panels, Duct Silencers,

Economizers

• Engineering Staff of 60

• Approximately 28 draftspersons

• Remainder programmers, test techs and engineers

• AutoDesk Products – AutoCad, Inventor, Revit

• Primary Location – Kansas City, Missouri, USA

Ruskin Technical Profile

Ruskin Technical Profile

Engineering Deliverables:

Submittal Drawings – Architect, General Contractor

Fabrication Drawings – Manufacturing

Bills of Material – Manufacturing

Research and Development – New Products

Ruskin Technical Profile

Ruskin Company Customers

• Installing Subcontractors – HVAC, Windows,

Wall/Panel Systems

• Manufacturer’s Representatives

• Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM)

HOW MANY OF THESE PARTIES ARE

DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN BIM?

NONE OF THEM

Ruskin and BIM

• First Revit Exposure in 2007 – CAD Dealer

• 2008 ASHRAE Winter Conference – BIM and

Code Compliance

• First Inquiries for Revit Files - 2008

Self Education

• Revit Training – Local CAD dealer – Spring

2008

• BIM World – Spring of 2008

• McGraw Hill – Summer of 2008

What Did We Learn?

• Revit contained none of our products

• Content providers had none of our products

• Almost all of our products would be needed by

BIM modelers

• Quality and size of content was extremely

important

• We could not get training on creating good

content – Revit families

• We had no software and no fully trained staff

• BIM models would be of no internal use to engineering

• Our direct customers would not benefit from BIM

models

• Models would be a significant expense

• Our competitors could steal our content with impunity

What Did We Learn?

Deciding Factor For all major projects (prospectus-level) receiving

design funding in Fiscal Year 2007 and beyond, GSA requires spatial program BIMs be the minimum requirements for submission to OCA for Final Concept approvals by the PBS Commissioner and the Chief Architect. At the same time, all GSA projects are encouraged to deploy mature 3D, 4D, and BIM technologies—spatial program validation and beyond—at strategic project phases in support of specific project challenges.

GSA and OCA

GSA – General Services Administration – Federal Agency that controls all Federal Buildings and Building Leases

OCA – Office of the Chief Architect – Head Architect for the Federal Government

In 2010, the government's portfolio of building assets totaled approximately 3.35 billion square feet of space. In all, the government had a total of 889,000 building and structure assets with a total operating cost of $30.8 billion.

Source – www.gsa.gov

Outsource vs. Ruskin

• Estimated 2 internal headcount 6-12 months

• Risk of creating bad content internally

• Several content providers wanted our products

• Negotiated discounted rate for outsourced

models

Final Decision

• Launched P.O. to BIM World in October, 2009

• 254 different products to be modeled.

• Expense between $50k and $100K

• Dampers modeled for Revit MEP

• Louvers modeled in Revit Architecture with

select models in Revit MEP

The Surprise

• 1 January 2009 – AutoDesk acquires BIM

World

Ruskin BIM Content Today Over 300 Models

Available on www.ruskin.com

All content is hosted in AutoDesk Seek

New product = New Model = $700 to $1000

Ruskin BIM Content Today Other Platforms

Bentley – Several damper products

CAD Duct – Driven by Sales Rep in Chicago selling to

a large mechanical contractor. 2010.

Ruskin BIM Content Today

• All of our competitors have their products modeled and many hosted on Autodesk Seek

• Autodesk Seek provides monthly view and download data

• Annual Hosting Fee - Negotiable

Ruskin BIM Content Today

Ruskin Recap

• Revit training for two people

• Modeling Expense

• 12 months elapsed time w/ 3 month milestones

• Hosting Expense

• Create new content for all new products

• Now have products modeled in several software platforms

Why did the competition follow?

• Architects forced to use BIM by government agencies and owners on large projects

• General contractors and mechanical contractors are modeling with BIM if architects aren’t

• Architects control specifications

• General contractors have input on buying decisions

Lessons For Manufacturers to Learn

• Revit Models are a Marketing Expense

• Decision on how to create content affects expense

• Decision on how to market content affects expense

• Decision on which software platforms to support

• Content is of value to others particularly if your are first to market

Does Content Make You Money?

• Saying “YES” to customers always makes you money

• If you’re first to create content, you can gain market share

• Not having content will cost you money once the dam breaks

• You can use your content as part of your marketing portfolio – advertising, exposure, customer experience

• Bad Content = Bad Exposure

• Better to have no content than bad content

The Test Drive Effect

Make v. Buy

Make Your Content

• Can you hire someone with software experience?

• Have they created content before? Not the same as

modeling the building.

• How complicated is the product? Fixed BOM or

configured?

• Quality of the model tied to size, ease of use.

• Can you train one of your existing employees?

• What is in the local trade school’s BIM curriculum?

Marley’s Make Decision

• Smaller Catalog

• Fixed BOM – Standard

Sizes

• Options Affect Geometry

• NC8400 complete

• Internal Labor Cost only

• Other models unfinished

• Website Download Only

Make v. Buy

Buy Your Content

• Have they created content before?

• How good is your documentation?

• Quality of the model tied to size, ease of use.

• Ask for a sample

• Volume Discounts

• 80 / 20 Rule. Model the products that people

want.

Guidelines for Quality Content

• Research guidelines for the given software platform

• Autodesk publishes Revit Model Content Style Guide

• Naming Conventions, Parameter Usage, Connector Standards

How do you distribute content?

• Pay a hosting service – Seek, Sweets, SmartBIM

• Distribute via your website

• Direct distribution via CD or email

Questions

• Do your customers visit your website?

• Do you have a limited number of customers?

• Do you want to reach customers you may not have

today?

• Do you want to track who downloads?

Your content has value to hosting agencies

Hosting agencies without content don’t attract

customers

How do you distribute content?

Pick Your Software Platform(s)

• Know your consumer – what are they using?

• Know the difference between architectural and

mechanical platforms

• Understand what your customer wants out of

the software – how does your product

schedule?

• Know what metadata is required – what

performance affects code compliance?

Metadata

• Basic Manufacturer’s

Information

• Performance Data

• Optional Components

• Code Compliance

Information

Ruskin BIM Content The Future is Now

• The death of 2D submittals?

• Submitting using your BIM content

• Active project – Advocate Christ Medical

Center

Advocate Christ Med Center

Integrated Team Coordination Specification

• The primary goals for 3D Coordination on the project include:

• Reduce field rework and installation issues without impacting the project schedule

• Provide opportunities to utilize prefabrication techniques to improve safety and quality for the project overall

• Locate system components such that they can be properly accessed and maintained by facility personnel

• Provide a complete as-built model for each of the trades outlined in this document

• Provide a model-based deliverable with object components containing information as described in this document

Advocate Christ Med Center Each contractor participating in coordination

shall provide a 3D model, including all system

components applicable to their scope and as

outlined in this document. Each participating

contractor will also be required to develop

coordination drawings by creating a 3D model

of their respective scope of work, based on the

design documents.

Advocate Christ Medical Center

The files submitted to [General Contractor] need to be in a format that can be opened and displayed in Autodesk® Navisworks.

. . . archive the coordination progress by posting .nwd files to the Project Collaboration Site for the team to review. These files are viewable with Navisworks Freedom. This application is free to download from the Autodesk® website. http://usa.autodesk.com.

ACMC – Upload Requirements

How to accomplish • Model in Inventor

• ShrinkWrap Function

• Use ADSK Exchange File

• Simplifies the model, creates connectors, sets

orientation

• Exports a dumb, non-configurable file.

• Ideal for one time projects

Summary

Government policies, Architects and General Contractors increasingly demand content

Creating BIM Content is a significant expense for manufacturers

Make v. Buy, Hosting Method affect cost

Manufacturers need to look at BIM Content as a marketing tool

Content quality is of extreme importance.

Early Signs of a Switch to 3D submittals

Questions