Breaking down ISO 19650. A Document Controllers guide to Autodesk Docs.

Hi, everyone, and welcome to our Autodesk University class. Today, we're going to be covering Breaking Down ISO 19650, A Document Controllers Guide to Autodesk Docs. And my name is Jacob Westergaard.

Hi, everyone. My name's Caroline Shaw.

Hello, everyone. My name is Maria Sedo.

And as you can see, we're all customer success managers within the Autodesk Construction Solutions team.

Thank you very much, Jacob, for the introduction. So before we start, let's have a quick look to what you're going to learn today.

By the end of this class, you'll have a clear understanding of how a CDE is defined in ISO 19650, and also what are the benefits that we can obtain as a company or as a user when implementing a robust information management process. You will have a clear view of the key factors and previous considerations that we need to keep in mind when adopting a city to ensure a successful adoption. We will establish what a better collaboration looks like within a CDE. And also, you'll have a full understanding of the tools and workflows available in our data stacks when setting up a project CDE. Lastly, you'll have a clear view on what are the actions and responsibilities of our project stakeholders with the naming, validation, and review process. And with that, I'll pass it over to you Caroline.

Thanks, Maria. In today's class, we'll include a high level detail around the ISO 19650 relating to the CDE. Autodesk has produced a wealth of ISO 19650-related material and resources, which dive into the detail. You can find this under the handout section of this session. You can also refer to the UK BIM Framework website, where you can find lots of information and free guides on the ISO 19650.

OK, so let's start by looking at what the common data environment is defined as in the ISO 19650, part 1. An agreed source of information for any given project or asset, for collecting, managing, and disseminating each information container through a managed process. Let's break it down into manageable chunks and look at what that definition actually means.

Agreed source of information: Project stakeholders should agree on the use of the CDE. This is fundamental to ensure all stakeholders have bought into the CDE process and understand what their role and deliverables are. Source of information for project team members: All project team members should have controlled access to project information within the CDE, accessing the latest information and minimizing abortive works associated with individuals using out-of-date information. An existing asset or project can leverage a CDE: The provision of a common data environment is a fundamental principle to collaborative working on any project or any asset.

For collecting, managing, and disseminating. A common data environment stores data captured and leveraged on every project. Storing data captured through a project or asset's lifecycle for project members to consume the latest information. An information container could be a file or data set. Information containers can be files or subsets which can be structured or unstructured. Structured information containers consist of geometric models, schedules, and databases, and unstructured information containers could include documents, photos, videos, and many more.

Each information container can be uniquely identified, including associated metadata. Each information container should have a unique ID which follows the agreed project naming standard and associated attributes to detail a status code revision and classification. A CDE is an information repository with controlled access for project members. Assigning the relevant permissions to project members to control and make accessing information concise and to the task at hand and the latest version.

But the CDE is not necessarily a single technology solution. This can be several connected solutions capturing additional metadata for a single project to form a CDE. Facilitates the ability to manage share and collaborate, providing the right information, at the right time, for each project member.

Managed process. The common data environment workflow is a process. Breaking down that process into four key states-- WIP, shared, published, and archive-- and to move that information container from one state to another requires an approval review to facilitate that transition through each state. The process is managed by an appointed information manager by the client. The appointing party may choose to manage their own information or appoint a company to fulfill that role as information manager on their behalf.

The information manager is responsible for establishing the project's information requirements, the information standards, and the milestones for the information required by appointed parties. Containers can only transition to a new state-- such as WIP to Shared-- following reviews and approvals. We mentioned this in the previous point.

Overall, what we can take from this definition, is that the common data environment or the CDE, if considered or implemented from the outset of any project, can provide a better way of controlling and managing information and reducing the risk of working on out of date information or information with the wrong intent. So, now we understand the definition of a CDE, let's think about what we need to consider for the effective adoption of a CDE, or a common data environment.

People, process, and technology. Let's start with people. Project team members with the right skill set are to be identified or trained from the outset of any project. These individuals will be responsible for planning, implementing, and supporting the CDE process. Managing a CDE cannot be under-resourced or underestimated. It is easily perceived that as the tasks involved are easy and repetitive, are therefore given to an existing project member or as an additional responsibility to their role, or someone with a shortage of the relevant experience and skills. But having the right person or persons identified from the outset-- such as a document controller or document manager-- to configure and implement is key to achieving an effective CDE, and ultimately ensuring the successful adoption and collaboration of all project stakeholders. The document controller, or the elected person who is managing the CDE for the project, will also be responsible for training a wide range of users who need access or to approve information within the CDE, so their role is really fundamental.

The next success factor to consider is process. A critical component of the CDE is process or workflows, and the reason the common data environments are so imperative to any project or asset. Getting the process right, and the stakeholder agreement on a project, is essential to getting the CDE right. The key elements of the CDE process are as follows. We have assign metadata to each information container or the file facilitating the management of the process. The metadata defines where the container is situated within its state transition in the review and approval process.

The next factor to consider is technology. The technology is another fundamental part of the CDE. The technology needs to be simplistic, with intuitive user interface, for users to adopt, but also provide a powerful infrastructure to complete all the data heavy lifting behind the scenes. The goal is to make working with technology as easy as it can be to avoid reverting back to traditional methods such as using printouts or working from your local machine.

The technology should have the following attributes. Easy to use: user experience is an essential component of any common data environment. Accessible: cloud based means access is open, obviously with adequate controls, of course, to anyone who needs information, whether they be in the office or be on site. Integrated: a CDE must work with current systems and processes. The goal is to break down silos and increase collaboration overall. Standardized and scalable: a CDE should allow businesses to standardize workflows and processes. This works with large, small, and growing companies at any phase. Secure: in a well-functioning common data environment data is never compromised. A common data environment is secure for confidential business documents and information. And functional: ISO 19650 has some basic requirements for a CDE. Containers are uniquely identified and supported by metadata, with at least revision code and status code. So being able to check when uploading is helpful to ensure information conforms to the naming standard and associated metadata.

Thank you, Caroline. So, ISO 19650 has some specific requirements related to the common data environment. Let's have a look at them. The first one: a unique standard identification for every information container, which basically means every drawing or every model or any other type of file. This includes a naming convention standard and they're usually defined by each country in a national annex. You need the ability to classify the data and to assign specific suitability status to ensure that anyone accessing and using that data knows exactly what it's for.

A CDE ISO 19650 also needs to have revision control, which is not the same as version control. We need that only specific revisions are available for use by the project team, ensuring that everyone is working from the correct information. Overall, a control to the information flow and approval processes to ensure that the right information is getting to the right people at the right time. If we're in the job side, we need to be confident that we're working with only the latest set of approved documents.

And now, let's review what are the benefits of a common data environment. First, it improves efficiency by reducing the time spent looking for or sharing or coordinating information. So, it creates a single source of truth with access to the right information by the right people at the right time-- and that leads to better decision making and insights. Three, it also improves quality by reducing the need to manually recreate data. This leads to reduced errors and improved information access. Four, it improves collaboration, because it connects team to the updated and centralized project data and information. And five, and last, it lowers risk. A CDE lowers risk by providing better transparency and insight over the entire project. It enables continuous improvement and also predictability.

Now that you have a clear view of the requirements that ISO 19650 has related to the common data environment, and also the benefits of implementing a CDE, I will hand it over to you, Jacob.

Thank you. Maria. OK, so with all that in mind, let me start by showing you a simplified view of how team members typically exchange information on a project-- all these different avenues of how data is stored and exchanged, with no effective way of maintaining a proper standard. And I'm sure that many of you deal with this reality on a day-by-day basis.

Now, we look to tackle this head-on by bringing everything and everyone together within one common data environment. We will clearly now be able to see a difference to the previous illustration. And what we are looking at is just how Autodesk Construction Cloud fits into everything. Autodesk Docs is at the center, and at the core of all this convergence is data. Data is now everywhere, and the generation of data is exploding. It's in the rich 3D models we create, the sensors in buildings we operate, the images we capture, the specs in the products we source, the data we enter into quality and safety management tools, and on and on and on. And let me be even more specific about how all this data is coming together and made. useful. It's through BIM.

So, BIM is the foundation of digital transformation in our industry. It's not just a visual representation of an asset. With all this convergence of data, it's now even more important to make sure that all the necessary templates, standards, and processes are in place to support your projects. And this is where our workflows in support of ISO 19650 comes into play. And if we take a step further into exactly how all of these docs fits into the whole picture, you'll now see a more holistic portfolio view of Autodesk Construction Cloud, which focuses on four primary areas representing each phase of the project.

Capabilities and workflows represents the convergence of data that I spoke about just before. And if you take a closer look at the foundational layers, you'll now see that Autodesk Docs provides you with the much needed document control and standardization tools. Now, let's head into Autodesk Docs and take a look at how we support you in being ISO compliant.

We're going to move through three sections. For each of them, you'll be able to put yourself in the shoes of different personas and we'll show you just how this experience differs. And at the end of each section, we'll provide you with a small, brief summary of what we just went through. And afterwards, if you're in need of more in-depth resources, I will highly recommend you take a look at some of the different training videos and resources that we've provided in the class handouts.

Now, the first experience we're going to go through is from a document controller's perspective. And, typically, what they would be doing is they would be controlling the numbering, sorting, filing, storing, and retrieval of both electronic and hard copy documents produced by technical teams, projects, or departments. And, of course, this also includes making sure that such documents follow set standards. Now, let's head into Autodesk Docs and see what options a document controller is provided with to both establish and control a naming standard across your project.

Here we have all the folders set up to support the project and the very first thing we have to do is just enable and configure what name standard we want the project to follow. Within settings, we head into naming standard, and you'll immediately be met with our ISO 19650 default template. Now, let's take a look at what we're going to apply. The attributes we see on the naming convention are your required fields in accordance with ISO 19650. And the related attributes represent the metadata. In our handout material, you'll find a lot more details on this topic.

OK, let's confirm that once we apply we can continue to modify and configure our settings but we can't remove it. And now, it's actively enforcing and validating across the project. Now, let's take a closer look at the configuration options you have.

You'll recognize all the different required fields in the naming standard. And what we can do for each of them is adjust them to suit any adaptation of ISO 19650 that we might need to follow. We can change attribute name, add a description, change character type, and the required length of characters we want to have associated with our fields. And if we need to have additional attributes to our naming enforcement, we can either create new ones or select previously created attributes, which could come from a project template.

Now, remember when we looked at the preview of what we were going to apply, we had the naming standard attributes that we just went through, but we also had related attributes. Status, which tracks the suitability code for the documents, revision, for the sequential numbering and classification which helps describe the asset represented using the chosen reference dictionary, like for example, uniclass. Like with the required attributes under the naming convention section, you're also able to add additional related attributes on top of the default ones that we provide in the template. And that is all part of the customization piece of these workflows, in terms of making them suitable to your adaptation of ISO 19650.

Now, let's take a step back and out of the editing area. An important part of setting it up correctly is to make sure folders which needs to be enforced are selected properly, and, of course, also that we make sure folders that doesn't need to be enforced are similarly deselected. We can do that in one of two ways: directly from within Autodesk Docs settings area or from the folder section, which I'll show in just a moment.

Let's first take a look at how it's easily done through the settings area. Underneath the editing area of the naming convention and related attributes, we have our folder enforcement tool. It provides us with an easy, quick way of expanding our folder structure and controlling which folders we want to have enforced by the configuration that we just set up. And if we go out of the settings area and into the folder area, we additionally have the option to enforce or unenforce folders directly, by right clicking on them and selecting the option available.

So, to quickly recap what we've been through, I started out by taking you through the experience of applying a naming standard and how to modify it to your needs. Then, I showed you where to configure your related attributes, which Caroline will take even further when she talks about approval workflows. And lastly, you got to see how easily you can manage enforcement across folders. This is a very important piece, and Caroline will also take this further when she takes you back into the shoes of a document controller. But now it's time to experience our workflows from another perspective.

We will now change the experience from a document controller role to how all these new configurations and standards are going to be enforced throughout your project. And the best way to show that, is if we step into the shoes of a publisher. We're now back within Autodesk Docs. We have our for field folders and we have our project file folders.

What's different now, is that you have applied all of your naming standards and we now see enforcement icons embedded into individual folders. These represent the folders we previously chose to enforce. And that means that every document we place, or publish, into these destinations will be checked. And if this document doesn't conform, we will be required to either change the naming, send it to a document controller, or cancel the publishing.

Let's take a look at what happens if we upload a set of documents through the web interface of Autodesk Docs. To illustrate this, I have prepared four documents. Three are not following any naming standard and the fourth I have edited to match our current configuration. Once I upload, it will [INAUDIBLE] tell me that I have three files that isn't conforming with my current naming standard, and it tells me that I have one file that does. And we expected this.

What we want to make sure to do now, is to fill out the fields that we are capable of correcting. And we could do that in one of two ways. You can correct each individual field, one by one. Or we can select multiple documents, enabling us to save time, and then just go back to the ones that need individual correction afterwards. With all conforming, after I click upload to folder, they will become available for other team members inside the folder structure. But if there are specific documents you aren't sure how to properly rename-- or perhaps all of them-- you will also have the option to send the files further for a document controller to review. And Caroline will cover that later on when we switch back to the document controller experience.

Another way for a publisher to upload documents to Autodesk Docs is via the Desktop Connector drive. Autodesk has a great set of desktop solutions that all integrate in some way or another to Autodesk Construction Cloud. What Desktop Connector does, it provides you with a drive solution that directly connects with all of those docs and all that rich document data from your projects. What this also means, is that publishers will have the option to upload documents directly through Desktop Connector and have them accessible for the rest of the project teams. For these scenarios, we've made sure that the Desktop Connector also is able to enforce a set naming standard.

To show how this works, I've opened Desktop Connector drive and uploaded five documents. If you look closely, you'll see that each of the documents have an exclamation mark embedded into their icons. Much like how the enforcement icons work to tell me when folders are being enforced within Autodesk Docs, these icons tell me whether my uploaded documents conform to the naming standard or if I need to correct them.

To correct my documents, all I need to do is right click either on a single document or multiple, and choose to rename my selection. What now happens should be familiar. We're met with the same renaming function as within Autodesk Docs and can proceed with similar progression. Once all documents are renamed, we can validate that our documents conform. And at this point they will start uploading to Autodesk Docs and be available to the rest of the project team.

We're now looking at AutoCAD. Most of you should be familiar with what AutoCAD is-- perhaps you've heard about AutoCAD-- but chances are, at least, you're working with someone who is using AutoCAD. And the reason why I'm showing you this, is because we have this integration called AutoCAD Push to Docs. And what this allows you to do, it allows you to publish documents directly from AutoCAD up to Autodesk Docs. And it will also-- if you have naming standards in place-- it will be checking and validating if those documents are actually meeting and conforming with your set standards.

So, let's take a look at how it feels like within AutoCAD. Now, I've pushed a dwg file up to Autodesk Docs. And it tells me that I need to conform and make sure that the naming is set right. Once I correct them and say accept, I will have the option to go down and say, upload sheets. And what happens that at that time, it will publish all these up into the target folder within Autodesk Docs and have them available for the rest of my team.

And now, let's step back out of those publish issues and prepare ourselves for another experience. In our previous section, we went through how our naming standard is being received by a publisher. We saw what happens when you try to upload or publish documents into folders that are being enforced, and what options we have for renaming and correcting our documents. Then, we took a look at how it all integrates with our desktop solutions-- be it Desktop Connector or AutoCAD-- and how easily you can connect people who are not on a cloud with the rest of the project teams. Now, let's move on to the next section, where Caroline is going to take you further into other personas and workflows.

Thanks, Jacob. So now, I'm going to be acting as some of the key project members and walking through their parts within the naming validation exercise and the approval review workflow, which will include the document controller or the project admin, the review initiator, and the review approver.

So firstly, as a document controller or project admin, I am now navigating to the relevant discipline QA folders to check if any information has been uploaded today as part of my daily check. If any information is not conformed to the project naming standard, it will have landed in the holding area, if enabled.

I can see within the architect's check folder, I have a red indicator within the holding area, suggesting I have multiple upload groups of information to review. The red indicator details a number of upload groups within the holding area. I click on the holding area, where I may see various upload groups, or in this case, I have two groups with two different dates. I'm going to select the upload group dated the 4th of September. I can also see the folder detail of where the information was uploaded to and the publisher's details. Now, I click on the upload package and view the nonconforming content.

Once selected, I can see the number of nonconforming files. In this case, I have eight files that do not conform to the naming standard. Similar to how Jacob showed us how publishers can modify their documents, I can edit one-by-one, or I can select all by ticking this box, and then click on rename, where I can batch edit the entire contents. I can now add or amend the relevant attributes within the file name. I also have the option here to edit or add related attributes by clicking on this tab.

I can now see the files include the correct status, revision, and classification attributes. If there is no value detailed, I can select the dropdown value to assign the status or classification, and type the relevant revision value to assign to the selected files. Once I'm happy, all file name attributes assigned adhere to the agreed project naming standard and the related attributes are detailed correctly, I then select rename and validate.

You will now see on-screen, all of the eight files within this upload group have been corrected to meet the naming standard, with the associated attributes assigned. You can, at this point, change individual attributes, if needed. I'm going to change some classification codes using the dropdown and searching for the relevant code. Once I'm happy, I then click save to folder.

We will now navigate back to the folder by selecting the back arrow. And now all project members who have the relevant permissions within this folder can see the contents, all named correctly with the relevant associated attributes.

OK, so next up is the review initiator role. But before we get started, something to note. When a project admin configures an approval review template, and at the end of that review enables a copy approved files to a folder-- and if that copy destination folder has a naming standard applied-- the review initiator will have the opportunity to check the files included in the review adhere to the naming standard before submitting the review.

So with that said, let's take on the role of the review initiator. Firstly, I need to navigate to the folder which has the files residing in, which I would like to put through a review. It may be files I've just uploaded. Select the files individually, or the entire folder contents using the tick box. Then click on the three dots next to the publish button, and then submit for review. Select the relevant approval workflow.

You can see this approval workflow includes the copy to shared architect folder by default. But you can also see I have the option, as the review initiator, to change the copy destination folder. This will allow all approved information to be copied to a selective folder for consumption by other project members. This option is only available if the project admin has allowed the action when creating the approval review template.

I'm going to leave the default folder location-- so, in this example, the shared architect folder. I need to add a relevant review name. You can also see the related attributes, which can be updated by the review approver when they review the files within the review. We will cover the review approver's action shortly.

Here, we can see the option to batch rename. This is due to the copy folder for the approved information having no naming standard enforced. So, as the review initiator, I can check the information to ensure it conforms before submitting the review. If I select batch rename, I can check any red indicators-- similar to what we saw within the holding area example-- to ensure the selected files adhere to the naming standard.

In this case, all my file names are correct. But I could edit the file name attributes, if needed, here. But as all my files conform to the naming standard within the copy destination folder, I just click X to return to the review. Add any additional files, if required, by selecting add files, and then click submit.

We will now see a review ID generate in the top right hand corner of the screen, and the review now has an open status. The reviewer or the reviewers who have the next action within the review are detailed here, as defined in the approval review template. We can also notify other project members and add a message, which will be included in the email notification sent to the reviewer. Then we click send.

Now, the approval reviewer or reviewers will receive an email notification instructing them to go and review the files contained within the review. They will review each file and add markups and text comments, and then issue to the review approver to review their comments and assign a final status and update any associated attributes.

Now, let's take a look at the review approver role. I have received an email notification indicating the review is now ready for final review, and I am responsible for the next action within the review. I can follow the link within the email to review, or I can navigate to the reviews tab within Autodesk Docs. From here, I can identify which review or reviews require my action to perform the final review.

I select review three, which has an open status. I can see the files contained within the review. I click start review. Here I can see I have two markups on file 109 and a text comment. And then file 110 I have a text comment, also. I then open each file individually to review any markups and text comment added by the reviewer or reviewers.

Once I have consumed those comments, I assign applicable status to each file individually, or I can do this in bulk by selecting the dropdown at the top, or against each file if the status differs. Please note, if a file is assigned and approved, or approved with comments, a clean copy of the file will copy into a selected folder once the review is submitted. If the status assigned to a file is rejected, then the file will remain in its residing folder and a copy of that file will not be available in selected copy folder.

As the final approver, as well as assigning a status, I may want to update the associated attributes against the files, as well. By updating the attributes of any approved and approved with comments information, will mean that when the file is copied, the updated attributes assigned will be applied within the copied approved folder defined in the review. Select the approved or approved with comment files. Then click edit file.

Here we can see two files and the existing naming attributes and associated metadata attributes. For this example, I'm only going to update the status attribute from S0 to S1-- as this information is now suitable for coordination-- by selecting both files and then clicking rename. The flyout will appear on the right hand side. I then click on the related attributes, where I can change both related attributes at the same time to S1. I then click save. We return to the final review screen, where I can click submit review. Once submitted, no further comments can be added, so ensure you're happy with the status assignment. Add any relevant notes and then click submit.

Once submitted, I can now see the review is closed and all actions have been completed for this review. I can see the action on completion for the approved information was to copy to the following folder. I hover over and I can see the full folder path. If I click on the blue hyperlink detailing the folder location, I can navigate to the copy approve folder, which in this case is the 01 shared architect folder. As I have the relevant permissions to view information within this folder, I can see the files have been copied into the folder and the review status and status attribute has been appointed as assigned in the review.

So, we've looked at how information can be validated within the holding area to ensure information uploaded to the CDE adheres to the agreed project naming standard. So, a document controller or project admin can control the quality of information stored within the CDE. We then segued into the review initiator's role. In my example I was acting as the architect, issuing information from their WIP folder for approval to be shared for coordination. We identified we could ensure information produced adhered to the naming standard before we started the review. And finally we jumped into the review approver's role, where we reviewed information and comments captured within the review. We were then able to allocate status and change associated attributes to reflect on the approved information within the copy folder.

Let me now hand over to Maria who's going to take us through the business and user level outcomes we can benefit from by leveraging a CDE. Over to you, Maria.

Thank you, Caroline. So before we wrap up, let's have a look at the impact that a successful adoption of a CDE with ISO 19650 workflows can have in your company. What are some of the positive business outcomes? I think that we will all agree that the demands on construction are higher than ever before and there are some common challenges that businesses and users often face. Let's have a look.

An average commercial construction project takes around 20% longer to complete than planned. With CDE we will reduce this schedule overrun and we will avoid late fees. Ensuring that all stakeholders have the right information at the right time, reduces rework costs and it also improves the quality of our projects.

With CDE we will avoid having teams working on siloed disconnected or outdated information. All stakeholders will have a controlled access to a single source of truth. We also provide our teams with the right tools to improve collaboration. And as a company, we will be able to extract, to visualize, and to learn from the cross project data.

And what are the positive outcomes from a user perspective? A CDE will assure us that we are always consuming the right information. We won't need to spend useless time verifying if the sheet that we're using is the correct one. We often see things like lack of consistency and lack of standardization with the multiple lines of communication across the project team. With the CDE we will reach a standardized approach to all of our projects.

Human error and a large amount of time spent manually checking documentation can be very frustrating for the users. As we saw in the demos, we will gain an automated naming validation, and that will for sure reduce this human error and also this time spent in manual processes. Lastly, the ability to search and filter efficiently in this common data environment will improve significantly the time taken to find information.

And with those positive business and user outcomes, we're going to wrap up for today. Thank you very much for being with us. If you would like any further information, please refer to the handout attached to the class.

We hope you found it useful. Again, thank you very much for joining us.