Trimble Construction

PATH TO PREFAB: Strategies for Scaling and Optimizing Your Prefabrication Services Consolis: All-in-one BIM Consolis: Strategies Driving Success Forward Clark Pacific: from Project to Product Clark Pacific: Strategies Driving Success PT Blink: Making Time PT Blink: Strategies Driving Success Consolis: Strategies Driving Success 08 Consolis: All in on BIM Strategies Driving Success BIMify the Sales Process Consolis' first BIM use case revolved around producing Tekla 3D models at the tender stage. "Primarily the models we produce are at the sort of second stage of design, when we get a lot more detail. With this project, we wanted to introduce models earlier," explains Snook. "Producing a model at tender stage gives us much better client engagement, and makes sure we are meeting their digital needs." "We've even started using virtual reality or augmented reality to drive the sales side of it," continues Snook. "We did the research into what our clients are requesting and what the industry is demanding, and we realized we need to deliver this." Pay It Forward Including 3D models during bidding hasn't benefited just their sales teams and customers- Consolis quickly realized there were significant downsteam benefits. "If we produce a model at tender stage, we are able to generate an automatic bill of materials and much quicker, accurate takeoffs. And, we're able to pass that model on to the design stage, and all the way through the supply chain, so there's a much better link between our phase from sales to assembly." "What we get from the model is exactly what we've sold our client. So the designers know exactly what they need to design. There's no project where unexpected costs have occurred and nobody knows where that cost has come from," laughs Snook. "Even though producing tenders is something you want to do as quickly as possible, when a project meets our risk analysis threshold, we actually save time producing that model upfront." Understand What You Build Consolis uses Trimble Connect as the collaboration platform for their Consolis Mobile Tool that is used throughout their production facilities. "You can imagine, what we produce as a business, with all the rebar cage and inserts and stuff, we produce components that can be very complicated. So for the production people to spin a 3D model around on an iPad and see the layers and get a really good understanding of what they are building, it's invaluable," explains Snook. "You know, we build 3D items, so being able to see them in 3D rather than just 2D is a much better aide. It brings a lot of value to the people on the shop floor." ERP, Meet BIM Another way Consolis has been able to leverage technology has been to build nodes in Tekla, so they can have product data sitting alongside the model in the Trimble environment. "We can literally grab a detail and place it in the drawing, so the interaction of all that metadata is actually held in that item. It makes life so much easier," says Snook. "Then, all that data goes on to populate our ERP system." Once the model data enters Consolis' ERP, they can generate a bill of materials, do cost calculations, and figure out how to get the most efficient flow through the factories. Change the Culture Getting an established company to understand the value of BIM and get comfortable using 3D models is no easy feat, Snook acknowledges. "It's culture change, process change. We look at our Trimble products and see where they can assist us in training and getting the best use out of our data." "For a long time, we used Tekla mainly to create models and get data into our ERP and that was kind of where it ended. Bringing in Trimble Connect, the HoloLens, and other Trimble products and teams opened us up to viewing BIM with a wider perspective. BIM is like a relay race, where the 3D model is the baton, passing that information from stage to stage. And we're trying to sell our internal people on doing that. And having confidence at the later stages in a model produced at the earlier stages. We're still working on that," reports Snook. We should be using the best possible tools to drive quality. By doing that, we can show the customer that what they actually want is what BIM delivers. Viictor Snook, BIM Program Director, Consolis

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