Implementing Autodesk Construction Cloud Across a $2B+ Business: Part 2

IVANA TUDJA: Hi. My name is Ivana. And welcome to today's session called implementing Autodesk Construction Cloud across a $2 billion plus business part two. This is a part two of my last year's session that I'll be telling you more about later on.

To start the session [AUDIO OUT] about the learning objectives. So what will you learn today hopefully? After this session, you should be able to understand the benefits of switching to Autodesk Construction Cloud, or I'll refer to it as ACC. And also, you'll often hear a name called Unified Platform, which refers to the same version.

I'll take you through all the different versions and options to give you a better understanding of what's going on. You'll be able to set up your projects for success and understand how to use the platform in the office to enable coordination and collaboration and also on site, on a construction site.

You'll learn the benefits of effective reporting and know how to enable it. And lastly, but not least important is you'll be able to hopefully win people over and have insights into examples of successful implementation of this technology at Mace.

But before we switch onto learning itself, let me tell you a few things about myself. Let me introduce myself and tell you about a few things about myself. So my name is Ivana and I'm a BIM and digital engineering lead at Mace Group. I work for a business unit called PREACH, which stands for Public Sector Research Education Arts Culture and Healthcare.

In terms of my background, I'm a qualified architect, and I'm registered with Architects Registration Board here in the UK. And I have a master's degree in architecture and urban planning. I spent 17 years working in the AC industry. And I'm hoping to pass on some of my knowledge to you today.

I started my career by working as an Autodesk authorized instructor. So I'm experienced in teaching people how to use different technologies. Autodesk has recently released a Digital Builder Insider blog. And I'm one of the Insiders writing for it. I'll be talking about that initiative a bit more later on.

In 2020, Autodesk Construction Solutions listed me under their 40 under 40 Champions List. And I won an award as a top rated speaker at Autodesk University last year. So no pressure there when it comes to this session. Jokes aside, I hope you really enjoyed the session and you find it insightful.

A few more things about myself. I was born in Croatia where I started my career. And I worked across Europe before I moved to the UK over 10 years ago. And now I'm based in Mace's headquarters in London.

In my free time when I'm not geeking around discussing the latest digital trends you'll probably find me in the gym, chasing a new exciting fitness class, or enjoying a cup of coffee, also traveling around the world, and exploring all of its beauties is something I really enjoy doing.

And then, off to Mace. What do we do at Mace? I'll tell you a few words so you can understand our background. Mace is a British business. It's privately owned. And it has organically grown across the world. And we now operate from five global hubs which are in Europe, Middle East, and North Africa, Americas, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia, and Pacific.

The business is split into four different engines which includes develop, consult, construct, and operate. And this enables us to connect the expertise across the entire property and the infrastructure lifecycle. I'll be talking about some really exciting projects that we've delivered at Mace.

[AUDIO OUT] projects, I bet-- I'm sure you've heard of some of them. Mace has delivered a number of iconic projects from the Olympics parks and iconic skyscrapers to the state of the art data centers, schools, hospitals, and homes.

It's important to say that the business is purpose-driven. And our purpose is to redefine the boundaries of ambition and build things faster and better than ever before. A big focus is also on sustainability and pursuing a sustainable world.

I also wanted to just give you a bit of a background. I mentioned that this is part two of the session. So if you feel like there's still things missing that you would like to know, it might be that they were covered in the last year's session.

So please go to Autodesk University's previous content. And you can check the session out. So that was the part two. Probably thanks to many of you here, it won the Best of AU 2020 Award. So it was a top-rated construction session. So thank you for that. I've left the QR code so you can scan it.

That session in particular was a bit more focused on next generation, the [AUDIO OUT] next generation. Unlike this one, which will be focused on ACC. So it might be worth having a look.

So about Autodesk Construction Cloud or ACC. Let's move on to it. Again, there are many questions around why is there another platform? Why are we making a move again?

So I think it's extremely important to talk about the background, as that will really help you understand how the-- well, you'll understand the platform better. And you'll certainly understand why things work in a specific way.

So this slide explains a lot of it. So at the end of the 2018, there was an announcement from the Autodesk site where they shared that they finished the acquisition of PlanGrid, which costed an enormous amount of almost a billion dollars.

More importantly, what was announced after that acquisition is that Autodesk will do integration of workflows in between PlanGrid and both Revit and Autodesk BIM 360. So what you can see in today's ACC platform is basically a result of that promise. I'll take you through different bits so you can understand how it actually works.

I often get [LAUGHS] loads of question marks. And I often get people asking me about different platforms and trying to get understanding of what's going on. So I will try breaking it all down for you.

So there are currently three generations of cloud-based construction management platforms coming from Autodesk. The one that we are discussing today is the third generation. But let's start from the first one.

The first platform was called BIM 360 Classic. It was released a very long time ago. So that was a very early release of a construction management platform. And at that time, the workflows were a bit disconnected. And there was a very, very basic connectivity in between coordination and field modules.

In meantime, there was a second generation called-- what everyone recognizes as BIM 360 Next Generation. And this was a completely new approach. So as I said, my previous session was focused on BIM 360 Next Generation.

But what's important to understand that the platform was completely new. So we started from scratch. And there is-- it doesn't have much in common with BIM 360 Classic. So because of it, the transition, if you were going from one to another the transition would have been quite complicated, or you could find it quite challenging.

In terms of the third generation, that's Autodesk Construction Cloud, the platform that I'll be going through today. So it's the latest platform released. A release, as I said, it's often called Unified.

And the good news for everyone is that there are many similarities with the next generation. There is some sort of integration in between the two as well. But because it's based on the same logic, I do think that in terms of the mindset, the shift is much, much easier. I'll talk to you later also about what's the logical flow or move in between platforms as well.

At Mace in my business unit PREACH, we're currently going through the transition to Autodesk Construction Cloud. And I'm not going to lie. Any transition has its challenges. But we really believe that this is the move in the right direction.

You'll notice the little question mark [LAUGHS] at the end of my slide. I did leave it there on purpose. What's next? I'm being told that this is the last move that we are making. So let's hope that that's actually the case. And we don't need to deliver another platform-- well, implementing another platform in the next few years.

So why ACC? Why would you do the transition? You might be very happy with older platforms. So what's there? What's here for you? I'll take you through it.

So I think it's important that you understand the differences in between ACC and next generation, not just differences, also similarities as well. So in terms of similarities, basically if we look at Docs or we look at any coordination and collaboration modules, they're all based on the logic wedge which BIN 360 had. And so, all the [AUDIO OUT], you'll see the workforce are very similar. And you should be able to transition relatively easily.

Most of the differences are coming from the field side. And that's based on the integration with [AUDIO OUT]. So let's talk about the differences, because they're quite significant. Something that I've heard from a marketing specialist from Autodesk which I found it quite entertaining was that Build module is a spiritual successor of PlanGrid.

So Build was developed based-- a lot of it was developed based on the PlanGrid's functionality. And that's where you'll see bigger differences in terms of comparison to BIN 360 Next Generation.

What you'll also notice is that there is a wider capability in the Build module than what we had before. So there are new modules added which enable collaborative planning and-- sorry, collection of photos and so on. I'll go into in more detail. You'll notice that workflows are now much more advanced and much more robust, which I think everyone will like.

And it's important to say that there is a new app as well. So the app now is called-- we had BIM 360 app before. Please don't get confused or, yeah, about it. So the new app is called PlanGrid Build app. Again, because it was based on the PlanGrid, and then module viewing, and stuff around coordination have now been added.

The good news is, don't panic. You'll still be able to use your Autodesk account. I do personally hope that the naming changes with time and becomes something like Autodesk Construction Cloud, just because it would be much easier to train our teams if there was this naming consistency across the board.

There are more-- when we go into the app there, when we go to issues or checklists, there are more referencing options than what we have seen before. So if you have a checklist, you will be able to reference different issues to it. You'll be able to reference assets. There is all of this connectivity that's now available in the platform.

I should also mention that administration and settings work in slightly different ways. So this is where we see differences too. And then, it's really important to mention new features. So there is a bridge connectivity, which enables connection in between different projects.

And a great thing is that these different projects don't even need to be on the same hub. So what you could be doing is linking live information from someone else's hub and sending documents from there onto your own folders in an automatic way.

So you could have your designers, or your supply chain, or someone working in a completely different environment but automatically syncing the information across, which is a very useful functionality. And I really do hope that it gets extended to things like issues as well.

There is a new scheduling tool, which is looking great. What we are able to do now is give access to planners, load the program from the native software that they're using onto not just the browser, also the app, as I said, the app now has a wider functionality. So we are able to see the program there.

So long-gone the days of constantly searching for the program in the PDF format. It's now accessible from anywhere. And also, the module does really enable collaboration. Because you'll be able to comment on the program, make suggestions, filter through it, and so on. So something really, really useful, which I would recommend.

The new photos option is like a photo library. So wherever you save photos in the platform, you'll be able to open them inside of the library. This also includes an option of tagging photos. AI is being used for automatic recognition and filtering. So some really good stuff happening around there.

I should mention that photos can now also be attached to a floorplan, so linked to a certain location, together with videos and 360 photos as well.

There's a Take-Off module, which I'll go into more detail later. In talking, I know I mentioned referencing. I should probably say that in terms of forms, there's some really, really good things on forms as well. Like the ability of conditioning, what happens when you choose a certain answer.

So you can say, if someone is not compliant the issue needs to be raised. Or there needs to be in certain cases the question requires you to attach a photo to the form as well. Also, we won't be able to close forms without issues being closed, which is another great thing I've been waiting for.

And now, I've spoken a bit about differences in different modules. But how is the whole thing structured? So basically, there are three main bits of the platform. One is called Autodesk BIM Collaborate. Then we have Autodesk-- which is focused on coordination and collaboration, mostly in the office.

Then we have Autodesk Build, which is focused on all the activities in-- construction management activities in the field. And then, lastly, Autodesk Take-Off. So I'll go into more detail.

Sorry, BIM Collaborate includes design collaboration and more model coordination. As I said, with Build focuses on the project management, cost management, quality, safety, and project closeouts. And then, with the Take-Off, that's the quantification module. And the quantification can be in 2D or 3D.

Like before, the whole system is based on Autodesk Docs. So any information like models, drawings, your issues, specifications, RFIs, assets, and so on, even photos and videos, it all sits in Docs and gets shared across other modules. Obviously, you'll be able to activate only-- you can choose if you want to enable a Collaboration, Build, or Take-Off. And then Docs will be in the background to fit into it.

On top of it, like before, there are insights here, which include dashboards, reports, construction IQ, and the data connector. And then, admin module so you can control what's happening on the platform.

I think it's really important that to mention that there's so many updates which are coming-- which are being released every two months on the platform. I mean, really, when you look at the number of updates, it's the highest I've ever seen probably related to any of the products before. So they are all of these ongoing updates which are happening.

So I would really advise you to keep your eye on it. There's some really exciting things coming up. And hopefully you're going to be able to find out more about them during other sessions at Autodesk University.

I'm going to include some links in the head [AUDIO OUT] with where all these updates are getting published in case anyone would like to have a look later.

In terms of the transition, I need to say that, as I said before, BIM 360 Classic and Next Gen, there wasn't much connectivity. These platforms were completely different. Whereas with Next Gen and ACC they're much more similar. So the transition is smoother.

If you're only starting your journey towards the digital transformation and the use of construction management platforms now, and you are wondering which platform to use, I would personally say you should consider Next Generation or ACC. Look into it and see what works better for you.

It probably doesn't make sense at this point to go to 360 Classic. There is no rule. But what's important to mention is, you don't need to start from Classic and go through every one of the platforms. You could just say, well, ACC is the right step for you. So we're just going to go to the latest one.

BIM 360 Next Generation is still seeing updates. But I've noticed in recent months there are less of them. And the massive focus is on ACC.

So this is just in terms of the transition. So even if you are on Classic, yet maybe you make a first step to the Next Gen, and you leave ACC for later. But also, you could just say, right, we're on Classic. It just makes sense for us to go to ACC, and you take that route.

In terms of, as I mentioned, connectivity, everything was much more manual when you would go from Classic to the Next Gen. In between the last two platforms the transition is much more smoother. There's much more compatibility and connectivity in between the platforms.

Talking about what's new. In terms of the collaboration module, there's some new additions. Probably not that much different than what we've seen on-- sorry. It's not that much different than we had before.

One feature that I really love is the alignment in between the 2D drawings and 3D models. So that's something I would recommend you have a look into. It's a feature that we've been actually requesting for a really long time. So it's great to see it.

And then, you can now add watchers to issues, for example. Which again, is really useful. Because before we were only able to assign issues to one of the companies. Now we can make sure that there are other people included and keeping their eye on an issue.

And then, in terms of the viewer, it does have better performance now. It's actually easier to navigate, especially if you're using in both browser and the app and cut through the model and so on. But especially, there's some cool features on the app where you can move your screen around, and the view moves with you. So some really cool technology being implemented.

In terms of the build, there's so many new things. I've mentioned some of them. Scheduling, which is enabling collaboration in terms of planning. Photos modules so we can have a photo library-- bridge connectivity.

One thing that didn't mention before and it's really, really important are smart forms. So what we can do now is take PDF forms. And we can convert fields into smart fields so they can be filled out. So we don't necessarily need to use checklist templates that we had before. There is much more flexibility.

Something that everyone on site really enjoys are site diaries. So there's much more flexibility around site diaries as well now. That's because site diaries became forms. So they're not fixed in the platform as they used to be before. There was flexibility around setting them up.

Obviously, we can include weather conditions, information about material, equipment, labor, and so on. But there is freedom. You have freedom to add additional fields as well.

One thing we've been really missing from Classic and Next Gen are QR codes which are attached to locations. And that is now available. So a great feature. And again, everyone on site normally really likes this one because we can just put QR codes in rooms and zones and have easy access to information.

And actually, I've done a lot of testing with the app. It works really well. Because it shows you just anything that's attached to that location. So you can see all of your issues, assets, checklists, anything that has been attached to certain locations.

So as long as you split the project in a way that's logical and you make sure that everyone assigns things to the right location, you should see some great benefits. And then I mentioned the referencing capability, which is really important.

The new app, as I said, I really hope that this naming thing gets aligned, just because that would make the communication easier. However, the app is really good. It has loads of new features and functionalities.

So when I say [INAUDIBLE] the functionality, what I mean is that there are additional modules now available. So you'll be able to access your program. You'll be able to write [INAUDIBLE] minutes on the app. There is a dashboard that shows all the recent activities. So it allows shortcuts and quick access to information. So some really good stuff there as well.

Unlike BIM 360 app, this one is designed for offline working. And that's something I think many people will appreciate considering that obviously working on-site can often come with potential connectivity issues and so on. So you'll be able to download the information before going into the field and having it available on your iPad.

The model viewing experience is much better. As I said, you have quick access and the app is very user-friendly. So hope you enjoy it.

Let's talk about the transition process a bit. And I'll take you through a few items there. So when is the right time to do this transition? Well, I have to be honest and tell you that it's probably never the right time.

However, that really wouldn't be a good approach. Because it would leave you potentially in a place where you are eventually working on a very outdated technology. So what they'll try doing is summarizing things which you should take into account before making the transition itself.

I think first it's important to look at the technology itself. So what's the platform maturity like? If has the platform just been released, or is it the phase when it went through a lot of testing, and it's stable, and you can rely on it? So that's something to consider.

Also, what are the functionalities like? Does it have everything that you need, or is it missing a key feature? If there are things missing, I would recommend, if you can, try getting access to the short and long-term roadmap. That might be really helpful to define when is the good time for you to transition.

Project duration, if you're working on a very long project, you don't want that to get in the middle and then that project you start on a very, very old technology. So I think with long projects, sometimes you really need to plan things ahead.

Future impact are the features which are really going to make a big difference. So it's really-- really it's really worth investing into the new technology. And what's happening with your resource and people? Do you have enough resource to do this transition, to go through the trainings, preparation of templates, anything that needs to be implemented?

And do you have the right people in the office and in the field who are ready now to have enough time and they're on the right project where they can adopt new technology? So I think these are all the things that it would be good to take into account.

Also, it's important to talk about implementation mistakes. Because let's be realistic, they do happen. So I would really like you to be able to avoid them. So I'll take you through a few.

Lack of standardization. Please, please, please, don't go down the route where anyone can do whatever they want and every project looks different. I think it's really important to define templates.

I've been asked what would I define in a template. There are many things. Mainly, what are the rules, what are the permissions, what is your folder structure, do you have the consistent company naming, which will-- across different platforms that you're using, which will enable efficient reporting. These are all things that we need to consider.

This will, a, enable you to use the platform in the right way to get benefits out of it. Also with your users, it will enable them to go from one project to another without going through a big period of adjustments in terms of how are things looking like, and where are they, and so on.

Please don't treat every project the same. I think there should be 80-- I have this 80/20 rule. So 80% standardization, 20% of things are slightly different.

Over-focusing on process not people. Like projects, not all people-- as projects are not all the same, it's the same thing with people. You can have really different teams, people working in a different way and different type of projects. So put your focus on your users. Train them properly to ensure that they can help you with this digital transformation process.

And then, fear of change if things are not working. I know it's hard, but please, if something is not working, just fail quickly, admit it, get up, and move on. There's no point going on and on with something that is just not working.

So the next thing I would like to cover are people and data. Reporting is really important. Because one thing is to gather all of this data in one platform, which the implementation of these-- so the solution should enable you to do. But also, it's very critical that you can get that data down and into the reporting system.

ACC does have-- the same as BIM 360, they both do have incorporate-- sorry, the reporting system is part of the platform. But we do prefer, at Mace in my business, we do prefer having a more bespoke report, which will give us access to much more detail when it comes to the information that we would like to get.

So this report in particular is about checklists. However, when we start a project, we would automatically get reports which are linked to checklists, coordination issues, snags, preferred-- prefabrication process, and so on. So we did invest originally a lot of time in producing this. But now it's working really well and making a big difference.

One thing I really think is that access to the data will enable you to make the right decision in the right time. So it's one of the most critical things to do.

And then, winning people over. I really do think that people are your biggest strength when it comes to any type of transition or digital transformation. So although it's you're dealing with technology, I think that's the easy bit. Winning people over is the difficult one.

So one thing I always try to do is putting myself into other people's skin and thinking about why are we doing-- I know that they'll be wondering, why are we doing this and what's there for me?

So always try thinking, OK, what can I bring to them to make their life easier, to make their day to day life easier, and that should really help. Make things very simple. Don't over-complicate. Test everything before you roll it out.

Focus on the training. And make sure everyone asks you questions. And it's important that you do that continuously. You're available and you're promoting teamwork. Where especially on-site, I think it's really important to have a team together and enable them to-- encourage them to ask questions if they get stuck and help each other.

I should have said also in terms of making it simple, please try breaking everything down into step by step and focusing on what's part of the role. Let's do training for that role then.

And then, I really want to point out a few examples of our projects and in public sector and life sciences. So they use BIM ACC and BIM 360 at Mace. With a lot of our public work being highly confidential, I can't go into much detail in terms of sharing models and information as I would like to. But I can certainly talk about general uses and best practices.

So what our clients are asking us often to do, which was originally driven by BIM level two mandate in the UK, but now it really comes from private clients as well, is a standard. Most of our clients now want as built-- accurate as built models. They want to receive as data for the operational on stage.

Golden thread information is again [INAUDIBLE] really important, having digital records. And now our clients are coming to us asking for these records, even on the projects where the bill-- well, act itself won't be applicable. But they are understanding the importance of having it.

And also, we were seeing a big move towards digital trends and our clients going into that field as well, focusing on enabling them.

AstraZeneca, probably the name you've heard many times in the recent years. The project that I would like to talk about is Discovery Center in Cambridge, with our team in PREACH has [AUDIO OUT] for them.

And it's a project that we are really proud of. It's a state of the art research and design facility which is designed to foster collaboration across world-class science ecosystem.

And more importantly, this project will enable AstraZeneca to drive the next wave of scientific information. It's a one billion pound facility and includes the most advanced robotics, sorry, high specialized screening, and AI-driven technology.

AstraZeneca is really driven by their zero carbon future. So the building was designed and engineered with the sustainability in mind. The building can accommodate over 200-- sorry, over 2,200 research scientists.

And most importantly for this session, the whole design was done in 3D. And sorry, all the digital quality records, thousands and thousands of them were kept in and managed through BIM 360 Field. So a really, really impressive project.

[AUDIO OUT] too much detail because we'll run out of time. But I would really encourage you to check this fact sheet if you get the chance later on when my presentation is uploaded. I'll mention a few fun facts.

So the building itself has 90,000 square meters with 16 interconnected labs plus two dry lab spaces and three shared science support spaces with more than 80,000 pieces of scientific equipment. Also another fun fact is that in terms of the area of the roof, it's so big you could fit three Boeing 747 aircrafts onto it.

As you can imagine, the building with all of these labs, the coordination of the building, 3D coordination was very complex. And we really focused on in. So when it comes to labs, we really had to focus on the coordination. There was a large number of 3D models coming from our design teams and the supply chain.

Then moving on to the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus. Again, in the UK, we've delivered three projects there-- Rosalind Franklin Institute, National Satellite Training Facility, and Extreme Photonics Application Center.

Each project had a very unique digital strategy which was additionally expanding during the COVID-19 lockdowns. And my proudest moment probably was when the first one after implementing field technology ended up with zero defect handover.

This was the National Satellite Testing Facility project, with the largest vessel in the UK to test the spacecraft. It weighted 19 tons. It was 16 by eight meters.

And it was one of the biggest things that was transported on UK motorways. And the road almost wasn't-- it had to be closed down. And it almost wasn't wide enough to transport this. So again, we've worked on really technically challenging projects which require really high level of coordination.

BIM 360 enable us to increase the collaboration in both office and site and do the 3D oriented design workshops with all the QA/QC workflows again saved in the cloud.

In the middle of the lockdown, we wanted to enable remote access to sites. So we also used Holo Builder platform to enable record-keeping, reduced travel. And also, it's important to say there is a platform interconnectivity. So it works with BIM 360. And issues can be forwarded there and kept in one place.

Then a few-- at the end, just a few sentences about digital transformation in case you're feeling like you're not making much progress. I'm not sure if you watched it. If you haven't, I would really recommend it, Return To Space, which talks about SpaceX and Elon Musk.

And one thing that really stuck to my mind, first of all, it took them-- there was this concept about reusable rocket to reduce the price of the space shuttle. It took seven years for it to be developed. And the company almost ran out of money.

But what really made an impression on me is that they were-- they decided not to just do things on paper, but to test, test, and test in the live environment, and then redesign everything based on the results that were getting.

So that's something that I would really recommend that you do as well. Put your-- when you're implementing BIM 360 or ACC, put your concept on paper. Start working on it. But then, after that really start testing things in the real environment.

And if it feels like you're not making a progress, I promise, if you are consistent, over time you'll see progress. Sometimes it comes in really small steps. But I promise you'll get there.

If you would like to know more, I would recommend additional [AUDIO OUT] has just released Digital Builder Insider Blog, which I'm part of five other industry leaders. So you can-- we'll be sharing our thoughts on the Digital Builder website. So please refer to it.

And I also started Autodesk Construction Cloud user group on LinkedIn. If you have any questions, you can leave them there. It's a great place. It's going really slowly in small steps. But we have around 300 members at the moment. And there is some really interesting content being shared there.

I know you're not able to ask any-- unfortunately-- any questions here when we are online. However, if you do have them, please make sure to leave them in the comment box below, where I also left a QR code from my LinkedIn profile. And you can find me there if there is anything you would like to do discuss or ask.

I really hope you enjoyed the session. If you did, please, please, please press recommend, because that's something that really helps with delivering sessions again in the next year's University.

That's it from me. Hope you enjoyed the-- thank you so much for joining. I really hope you enjoyed the session. And hopefully see you at next year's Autodesk University.