Implementation of Autodesk Construction Cloud and ISO 19650

JOSHA VAN REIJ: Welcome to this session. And I know what you're thinking. You're going to watch another PowerPoint session. My lucky day. But fear not. We promise to make this presentation as enjoyable as a tax audit. So sit back, relax, and prepare to be dazzled by charts and graphs that even a magician would envy.

Now without joking, I hope you will enjoy the session, including a lot of valuable information about implementing ACC and ISO 19650 within your organization. First, to introduce ourselves. So I'm Josha van Reij, Product Owner at Arcadis.

LEE BARNETT: I'm Lee Barnett, a Senior Business Consultant at Autodesk.

MARCEL LANJOUW: And I'm Marcel Lanjouw, Senior Implementation Consultant at Autodesk Consulting.

JOSHA VAN REIJ: So to first give an overview of the agenda for today and the learning outcomes. So we hope you will get to learn in this session how the partnership between Arcadis and Autodesk works, but also how you could leverage that yourself in collaborating with others. How to configure your workflows within ACC to align to the ISO 19650. And how you could globally scale a product and adoption of it within a large organization.

And at the end of the session, we're going to show you some innovation and some solutions that we have leveraged and created to support this implementation.

But starting with an introduction about Arcadis. So of course, I'm not going to go through all these details, but Arcadis is a large organization. You might have heard about it before. And to share maybe some fun facts, for example, Arcadis comes from "arcadia," which comes, again, from the Greek methodology. And it stands for "wellness and well-being." And in my opinion, that's also the reason why we have grown so fast.

And maybe the other fun fact, if you look at the logo from Arcadis, the little orange animal at the bottom, that's actually a dinosaur. And if, for some reason, you would like to watch back the logos of Arcadis, you'll see in all the logos, that is really a dinosaur.

So that was an introduction. And that introduction was purely to focus on this one, because as a large organization, we have some challenges. So for example, we noticed we use a lot of different platforms. And in many cases, we purely use it as a file storage to just store the files, but not leverage all the additional functionalities that we have within the system.

And in those different platforms and applications, we use scattered ways of working. So inconsistent, different for each country, each region. We do have, really, a lot of technical people within Arcadis, but that results in many different small automations, solutions, and tools.

So within this presentation, we have the goal-- and as Arcadis, we had the goal with this implementation. To implement a business-driven, standardized, and unified platform for any Arcadis-- Arcadian to work seamlessly with our clients on design and engineering projects.

LEE BARNETT: Marcel and I represent the Autodesk Consulting organization. After working on many transformational initiatives, we've become trusted advisors to market leading companies, including Arcadis. We're helping organizations break the boundaries between the design and make process across converging industries, and within their own organizations, deliver real meaningful change.

In summary, the Autodesk Consulting organization consists of 500-plus global consultants, industry expertise, greater access to our product teams, developing innovative solutions, and a proven track record of business transformation.

As part of the current enterprise business agreement with Arcadis, Autodesk Consulting are working on four strategic initiatives. These include Autodesk Construction Cloud global rollout, which forms the basis of this presentation; developing an innovative solution to produce, check, and review project asset information using Consultant's Model Development Suite linked to a data backbone; supporting to automate and grow cost management using digital tools; finally, developing a global approach for their program management teams. All these initiatives are linked and underpinned through the Autodesk Construction Cloud.

MARCEL LANJOUW: We want to talk about the outcomes of the initiative with Arcadis for the global rollout of ACC. Arcadis and Autodesk started a journey for rolling out of the Autodesk Cloud solutions already in 2014. We went through the rollout of BIM 360 team, BIM 360 Docs, BIM 360 Design, and now we are rolling out ACC at a global scale. Over all these years, we did this with a good team of stakeholders and a solid governance plan for both Arcadis and Autodesk.

In this initiative, the key results after six months are that we trained over 1,000 Arcadians, both online and on. The result of this is that we now have over 6,000 active users on ACC projects. And the amount of projects is already over 500. And these 500 projects are managed from approximately 150 Arcadis offices.

This is a statement from Francois Appere, our key sponsor from Arcadis. He's happy with this ACC rollout and the ISO 19650 implementation because it helps Arcadis to standardize, collaborate, and work efficient, and leads to greater outcomes for their clients.

Especially to make the online training sessions more interactive and to trigger the participants of the attendees, we gamified the sessions with questions, actions to take, and feedback requests. We gave them the ability to win a prize, an Autodesk swag or even a Arcadis-provided AU Pass. It was a big success and helped keeping the people involved, and we also had a lot of fun. Even in the live AU presentation in Las Vegas, we will gamify the session.

LEE BARNETT: This following section will provide you a high-level overview of the ISO 19650 framework. As many of you know, ISO 19650 is a series of international standards that provides the guidance for management of information for the entire lifecycle of a construction project.

In summary, the ISO 19650 framework provides a standardized approach to the information management which can help organizations reduce errors and increase collaboration between project teams. This month, ISO 19650 is now five years old. We are seeing development of regional annexes, which is inspiring to see.

If you or your organization at the start of your digital journey or looking to expand it, I recommend you start implementing and aligning with the design guidelines in your organization from which structured data can be built upon.

ISO 19650 should be treated as part of the quality management standards. As with ISO 9001, it focuses on the importance of quality management specifically regarding the organization's ability to meet customer requirements and enhance customer satisfaction through effective processes and continuous improvement.

By integrating the principles of ISO 19650, organizations can optimize their quality of their processes, reduce risks, and improve collaboration, resulting in an effective project delivery and better outcomes. The framework is specifically a breakdown stage maturity into key areas such as the business layer, the information layer, the technology layer, and finally, the standards layer. We'll be covering some key aspects of these layers throughout the duration of the presentation.

To deliver information management in accordance with ISO 19650 framework, the following steps need to be undertaken. Information management should be applied to the whole project lifecycle. Exchange information requirements prepared, expectations, and structure of the project information. Capabilities and capacity of the supply chain should be evaluated to meet the information requirements and need. A BIM execution plan should be prepared and how the EIR will be met.

Project information should be exchanged and stored using a Common Data Environment, or CDE. Models and associated data are federated into a Project Information Model, also known as a PIM. ISO 19650 has defined clauses. These can be defined as the business process or where technology configuration is required.

We started breaking down the industry standard and aligning the ISO 19650 processes into these two groups with Arcadis. Generally speaking, your business processes, your organization should and will have defined processes that meet the need. They may require a minor tweak or update to meet the requirement of the current standard. Clauses under the technology, we'll be covering some of these along with the interesting technology developments along the way.

In the following section, we will focus on the core information management workflows aligned with the UK Annex published in 2021. One of the key roles of Autodesk in ISO 19650 is that of the Common Data Environment, or CDE, along with key authoring software and other supporting solutions.

The benefits of a CDE include improved collaboration, enhanced efficiency, greater transparency, improved data security. The Autodesk Construction Cloud portfolio is made up of a combination of different services supporting the lifecycle of a project. The services are grouped into different pillars with overlapping docs and insight. These are configurable to suit an array of organizations and business use cases.

ISO 19650 defines seven requirements of a CDE. It requires unique naming, a status, revision, classification, information states, recording of transactions, and controlled access. The Autodesk Construction Cloud answers these need through configurable naming attributes, status attributes, classification systems aligned to uniclass, information states, recording of a file transaction, and controlled access.

ISO 19650 defines a simple workflow known as information states. An information state can be defined as a specific point in time during a project where information can be relied upon for a specific purpose, such as procurement or construction. They are four information states-- work-in-progress, shared, published, and archive.

The ISO 19650 requirement is not explicitly stating how this is to be delivered. Folders, metadata, and status codes are all valid. The Autodesk Construction Cloud currently uses a folder-based system to manage this process. Information has always existed in different states. This workflow can and has been operated in a paper-based system in the past. We'll explore this workflow in more detail in the coming slides.

MARCEL LANJOUW: ISO 9650 has defined functions which include asset information management, project information management, and task information management. The functions defined in the ISO 19650 provide a comprehensive framework for managing information throughout the entire life cycle of a built asset.

These functions should be considered when developing out preferred role assignments in an ACC. It is important to remember roles are not job titles, but, in fact, key business functions that need to occur to deliver a successful project. Roles are key to managing.

By following these functions, organizations can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their information management processes leading to better outcomes for their projects and assets. Within Arcadis, we have standardized these roles on an organizational level.

This is an example of a folder structure which complies with ISO 19650. There are different ways to structure the information. The key thing in the setup is the primary level and the secondary level. These two levels support the WIP, shared, publish, and task team requirement. The third level is to support the Autodesk Construction Cloud workflows and to separate the design data from the review data. There is no archive folder. We will come back to how that works in ACC.

The information in ACC will flow through the WIP, shared, and publish state with the help of the Review Workflow Service. The information will be stated during these reviews. The archive state is managed through these review flow, so archived versions are automatically set by the versioning system and the review workflows. These transactional information can be found in the project journal and review information, which can be visualized in dashboards.

This is an example of a review workflow for a disciplined review. In this case, an initiator is selecting the information that needs to be reviewed and based on the setup, it will be assigned to a reviewer or multiple reviewers.

The reviewer can see the assigned workflow to them, or him. In this case, he will open or she will open and will start the final review and is going to review the information. The reviewer can use the issue and markup functionalities to make comments on the information that needs to be reviewed. And after the review is done, it can be stated by approved or rejected state.

After the review is submitted, the system will automatically state the information and will copy it to the next stage when it's applicable for that. Based on the review state, the information either will be-- as archive in the folder where it's coming from, and it will be copied to the next stage where the information should be available. Of course, rejected information will not be published to the next state.

LEE BARNETT: Now we move to the work of the implementation process, how we plan the global rollout alongside Arcadis. When you deploy new technology and to ensure impactful change, the following key steps should be applied to ensure a successful rollout.

You need to develop a detailed communication plan of how the change will be implemented. Utilize your internal marketing teams to ensure the messaging is concise and on professional-looking templates. Develop a comprehensive training plan that is easy to follow and outlines the benefits to your end users. As previously discussed, gamified sessions to increase the attendance when it's an online environment.

Build out your internal support network and develop support mechanisms which you constantly evaluate your implementation plan, and make changes along the way in an agile way where possible. All this should be underpinned by a change management.

Change management is critical to ensuring that all stakeholders are aligned, engaged, and empowered to use the new system effectively. It involves not only the technical aspects of the rollout, but also cultural, social, and organizational aspects of change. There are a number of methodologies. The one Autodesk uses is the Prosci ADKAR.

Without change management, the transition state will be rocky and likely to be take an increased amount of time. The future state will be incomplete and full of potential holes. Finally, the final iteration will receive reduced success.

We encourage you to approach change management as an integral part of any rollout. Engage with your teams, listen to their feedback, address their concerns, and celebrate their success with them. By doing so, you'll not only ensure a successful rollout, but you'll also foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

JOSHA VAN REIJ: Yeah, thankfully Lee. Yeah, fully agree. We think change management is really important. And so when we were implementing it, we also took two approaches. So one of them you see in the video on the right side. So that's the leadership sponsorship.

So we had several from the leadership, but especially Matthé van Baalen from Arcadis, the Global Lead, Design and. Engineering, that, yeah, promoted during the rollout from a management perspective, the importance of ACC rollout and the standardization that we are about to use.

But also from a business perspective, we, at the start two years ago, we collected-- or we assigned a group of Arcadians all around the world that are the lead in the countries to help with the standardization, but also during the implementation, be the first point of contact together with the key users they assigned themselves in the different countries. And that was really important from a change management perspective to have in place.

But besides the people aspect, the people management, it's also important to have automations. So in the video on the right side, you can see one of the automations we have created, which is in Project Creation Tool. With this tool, any Arcadian can request a project for ACC according to the global standard as shown by Lee and Marcel in the presentation.

The request is then placed, and one of the approvers in the different countries can then approve the project. When approving it, it sets automations in place. For example, it will create project, it will add the users, create the folders, assign the permissions, create the review workflows, and many more automations that saves hours for each project every time a project is created.

But also, the standardization and the automations to document it, that people have something to go back to. So standards and documentation itself to have that written down to fall back on. Training materials. [INAUDIBLE] train is given life, but also the recordings and making the small pieces that it's easier to digest. And tips and tricks and frequent asked questions altogether, in our case, in an SharePoint home page where any question about ACC within the organization is answered.

MARCEL LANJOUW: Another task in this engagement is to help Arcadis develop innovative solutions so that she can be a frontrunner in optimizing the ISO 19650 workflows. Arcadis asked Autodesk to help to find a workflow how they can track the progress of an MIDP in ACC.

In the first phase, we developed a proof of concept based on the out-of-the-box capabilities of ACC. With the global ISO 19650 standardization in mind, it was possible to develop a proof of concept. We developed a Power BI dashboard which combines the data from the Arcadis MIDP document and the file data from ACC with the support of the Autodesk Data Connector and some manual steps.

This dashboard combines the data from with MIDP the file state information in ACC, and it shows the progress of the MIDP. The scalability challenge we have with this proof of concept is the manual download of the file log, which is not included in the data-- in the Data Connector. This means that each information manager needs to manually download the file log on a regular basis.

In the second phase, we investigated which automations were possible with the help of the available APIs in ACC to solve the scalability blocker out of phase I. Based on that, we developed a web-based extractor of the file information. The extractor will create a list of all the files in the project with all the metadata. This extraction will be connected to the dashboard.

The extractor can be scheduled and the list of files will be stored in Azure. Power BI can connect to this data, so the extraction of the file information is automated in this way. With this automation, we solved the largest scalability blocker. This is a video of how the solution is working.

This is the Excel document which Arcadis is using on their projects. In this document, all the documents are listed that are required on this project. This is the developed document connector which is reading from a selected project or multiple projects based on a schedule which can be set, and it will automatically extract all the file information in that particular project and will store it in Azure.

This is the Power BI dashboard which is a list of all the files that is in the different statuses available in the ACC project. On the dashboard is, on the left-hand side is which documents. The documents that are in MIDP on the right-hand side, the MIDP documents in ACC with, in the middle, a progress tracker on the different documents.

JOSHA VAN REIJ: Thank you, Marcel. And I think we're now coming close to the ending of this session. But we first would love to give you some key takeaways. So after the presentation, we hope you now have insights in the partnership that Arcadis and Autodesk have and how you could create a similar partnership yourself with Autodesk.

But also the different ways how we implemented the ISO 19650 within ACC and how you could do similar things yourself. Or the different ways how to implement a system. And of course, if there are any solutions or automations you have seen that are interesting, always feel free to reach out and we can see what we can share together.

MARCEL LANJOUW: Like mentioned before, we've onboarded a large group of project teams. These numbers were possible with the work we have done in the past year, and the ISO 19650 standardization help to see this fast growth.

LEE BARNETT: We now reached the end of this presentation. We hope together with ISO 19650 and the Autodesk Construction Cloud, we're not just setting the standard for ourselves, but for the entire industry. Let's continue to be leaders in quality management and BIM processes to drive innovation and success for years to come.

When implementing new technology and processes, ensure to build and work with trusted partners such as Autodesk, align your systems with industry standards, use leadership to support your rollout, constantly evaluate your systems and processes, make change where applicable in an agile manner Thanks for watching.