Becoming a Construction Manager Superstar: Unleash the Power of Autodesk Platform Services on 4D/5D

JUAN HURTADO: Well, hello, everyone. Welcome to our class, Becoming a Construction Manager Superstar and How to Unleash the Power of APS on 4D and 5D. But more than that, it's about how to unleash the power of cloud computing for a BIM lifecycle management.

DANIEL MOLANO: Great, Juan. So we have here our learning goals for this class. So today, we will learn about integrating easily construction personnel with Intelligent models. We will also learn how to implement new tools into our BIM processes throughout the construction stage.

JUAN HURTADO: Also we will learn about communicating better with the stakeholders through dashboards. And we'll learn about applying easier 4D and 5D use through Data Management. At the end of the presentation, we will list each solution that we create to solve these objects.

DANIEL MOLANO: Perfect. So we want to start this class with a couple of questions to get to know our audience. But as we are recording, we're going to move forward this slide for now.

JUAN HURTADO: OK. So I want to introduce myself. My name is Juan Hurtado. I'm a Colombian mechanical engineer with more than 10 years of experience working with BIM methodology. Nowadays, I'm working as business unit director at ENG, leading one of the business units that provides BIM coordination and prefabrication services and projects across the US. Before that, I had the opportunity to lead two of the most important implementation in construction companies in Colombia.

I'm also very passionate about music, cycling, running, and video games. And besides that, I'm also a Colombian coffee producer. In fact, I have been working on a project about the use of digital twins in the agricultural sector using Autodesk technology. So if you want to learn about this, you can directly type on Google Blue Bird Coffee Autodesk Redshift, and you will find a very interesting article. Well, here is my colleague and friend, Dani. Dani, please.

DANIEL MOLANO: Thank you, Juan. And hi, everyone. My name is Daniel Molano, and I'm a Colombian civil engineer. I've been working with BIM processes and automation for eight years now, and six of them working inside of one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Colombia and Latin America. Currently, I work as a BIM coordinator senior at ENG, helping to create and apply custom tools for our clients to automate their processes. I'm also a lecturer from one of the top three universities in Colombia in related BIM topics.

And let me speak for both of us, Juan, that we're very happy to be here today at Autodesk University. And after all this introduction, I would like to add one last question to our incredible audience. So who's ready to become a construction manager superstar with us?

JUAN HURTADO: Well, I want to be a superstar like you.

OK, but before we start, come with us to hear a very sad story about Dani and Juan, just another couple of BIM nerdy guys assigned to a very important, large warehouse project.

DANIEL MOLANO: And Juan, let me tell you a little bit about this project. So this project had an area of about 1.5 million square foot, 10 authoring design models, and more than 1 million model elements inside these different models. And our client required 3D-coordinated project, a 4D construction simulation, and on-site works control for both 4D and 5D.

So let me stop right here. When we talk about 4D and 5D, we want to relate 4D to times and schedules and 5D to quantities and costs. OK? Perfect. Let's continue with our sad story.

JUAN HURTADO: OK. Well, every time that we start a new project, we say, new project, new me. But making an integration on a large-scale project makes everyday work a great challenge. Several stakeholders, new deliverables, and tons of information from several sources.

DANIEL MOLANO: Well, that sounds like a great challenge, right? But as the project moved forward, we start facing bigger and bigger issues.

JUAN HURTADO: And of course, the first one, huge amounts of data to be analyzed, 3D models and drawings, construction schedule, construction zone plants, bill of quantities. On field progress reports, we performed quantities and progress from each activity.

DANIEL MOLANO: So let me tell you, Juan, the real problem was that after receiving those documents from our different subcontractors, we needed to receive and review that information, right? Get relevant data through our own interpretation of that document, and clean and structure relevant data into our BIM required information. And throughout this process, we found tons and tons of discrepancies in these documents.

JUAN HURTADO: And once you clean up all the data that you need and then assign that data to construction 3D model elements as parameters, we have to say, Houston, we have a problem. We have more than 1 million elements waiting for information and just a couple of hands to do it.

DANIEL MOLANO: So at the end of the day, Juan, what we can say is we had too much to deliver and not enough time. And also we had weekly deliverables for three federated model updates, 3D coordination reports, 4D plant construction simulation, and 4D and 5D works control reports.

JUAN HURTADO: So on easier terms, here's the mess-- tons of data that need to be checked, tons of data that need to be cleaned, tons of data that need to be assigned to BIM elements, and finally, tons of information that need to be transformed in useful deliverables.

DANIEL MOLANO: So Juan, to give a little numerical sense to the issue, so let's focus on just one trade, the structural trade. So let's imagine for this structural trade, we receive data from three activities. Each one of those activities has three subcontractors assigned, and each subcontractor shares with us three documents.

So in these documents, we have to look one by one for minimum six values. For example, the activity start date, the progress of the activity, or the activity end date information. And if we put this into terms of the model, if we have 10 different types of elements, like the structural foundation, the walls, the structural framing, the columns, among different types of elements, each element will need this information in 12 properties or parameters.

And for 10,000 elements in these BIM models, we will have a grand total of 194 million variables to consider in just one trade. Right? So all of this information to consider before even starting the creation of our final deliverables. So this starts being more of a huge data analysis issue than in traditional BIM-related problems. And we were involved from head to toes in these issues.

JUAN HURTADO: Well, it escalated to the point where these tasks almost consumed 100% of our working hours.

And also our free time.

We were not able to work on other important tasks, like project management, project technical analysis, or attend the stakeholder requirements.

This was unsustainable, even, Dani, for my teddy bear.

DANIEL MOLANO: Well, Juan, all of this changed until one night. While working to meet a weekly update, we decided to use the ultimate secret for the most successful leaders in the world.

And I know you've used this one. And I know we've all been there. But little we know, looking for this nonsense information, we found the solution to all of our problems. And then, ACC and APS appeared in our lives.

JUAN HURTADO: OK, and what is APS? APS is Autodesk Platform Services, formerly Autodesk Forge. We define APS as a cloud-based platform that empowers professionals with cloud computing to bring their creative ideas to life. It's designed to help with collaboration, innovation, and makes it easy to iterate and automate. It also enables users to streamline their project workflows, managing projects' data in real time directly from digital twins and their information repository.

I will-- we have a second important term. That is SVF, which means Simple Vector Format. It's a simple and lightweight 3D format used on the ACC viewer. With fast loading render capabilities, the SVF files are typically generated for more complex 3D formats like the AutoCAD or Revit files. And the SVF files are generated using the Model Derivative module from APS. And it translates 2D and 3D from over 45 formats.

DANIEL MOLANO: But with all this information, Juan, what was the game-changer for us? Well basically, through learning about ACC and APS, we were able to stop serving as a point of contact for all subcontractors and their shared data related to the BIM production, right? We outsourced most of the data-oriented processes through custom web-based tools supported by APS, and we integrated the initial project requirements and deliverables with the data extracted directly from these new tools.

And at this moment, I think we're all kind of wondering, why not using other tools, right? We have a bunch, thousands of different tools that we can use. Well, we considered hundreds of different possibilities, but the main reasons we decided to go with ACC and APS, it's because, well, they're easy to learn, and also free. They have tons of tutorials and forums all over the internet. They are also flexible, and you can customize the tool as per client or project requirements. And we can supply unlimited users for our on-site subcontractors.

JUAN HURTADO: Well, also we have to say that is the best choice to connect with ACC, taking into account that ACC is made for lifecycle project. And also, majority of models are already included with ACC licensing. And another important thing to say is that it's a practical solution to use on site.

But how can we start this change? So how can we put those hands on change? Well, we can summarize it in following these simple steps. So build a multidisciplinary team, assemble our tools based on our necessities, and launch it in pilot projects. Pretty simple? Even though each one of these steps have huge amount of work, sometimes seeing the bigger picture can help us looking for the starting point. And after completing these steps, we are set-- safe to say that we are off to integrate and shine.

And here is the main deliverable and the first step to start with the workflow that we developed. And it's basically, create a 3D federated model within Revit as a central file. Then just publishing this file, you will be able to create a federated model as you require using the cloud computing power of ACC. And here, a short demo showing the process. We record a voiceover because we don't want that you miss any of the important steps.

[AUDIO PLAYBACK]

- Create a Revit federated model as a central model using Autodesk Collaborate Pro. Link the design authoring models using the external resource model of the Autodesk docs. The models cannot be linked using the Desktop Connector Model. The information needs to be taken directly from the cloud to ensure that the cloud federated is built using the SVF files from the design authoring central models.

Once you have your federated model built, it is necessary to create scope boxes by areas following the areas defined on the project schedule for a properly project management and sign off. Once you have your areas defined, you need to create 3D views by area and trade or subtrade, according to your coordination strategy. In this case, for this large warehouse project, we had to create more than 140 views.

Using DiRoots is a great choice. You can create the views using batch actions for naming and template add scope boxes apply. For this project, it just took 20 minutes. And it's a task that you just need to perform one time at the very beginning of the project. Then you can check that the create views are correct. After this, you should create a publisher, including the create 3D views, and publish your model to the cloud. Once the model is published, you will see that the 3D views, including the federated model can be seen on the ACC Viewer.

Then we can create a new federated model as needed using the model coordination model. In this case, we will create a federate model for area D. You must filter all the views from area D, select them, and open in Viewer. It is very important to have good naming conventions for a good quality identification of the views. Once the model is open, you can save it as a model. And it can be shared with project stakeholders. Every time that you have updates over the design authoring models, these models created in ACC will be automatically updated.

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JUAN HURTADO: And once you have a cloud federated model published, it can be used to track the coordination process using the coordination model of ACC. Every time that you publish your federated model, you will have an update coordination report. And here, we have showed them.

[VIDEO PLAYBACK]

- To check the status of the clashes by zone, you must go to the Model Coordination Model. Once you are there, click over the Clashes button. Then select the federated model from the zone of the project that you want to check. You will see that ACC will choose just the views from the selected area to build a coordination matrix. Once you have your coordination matrix, you can see the different clashes between traits. At this point, we will analyze clashes between lighting fixtures and ceilings, classifying these clashes as valid penetrations.

When examining the matrix again, you will find that for this category, classes range from 154 to 118. Then we will check clashes between lighting fixtures and HVAC. To those clashes that need to be solved, we create an issue. And we assign this to the one in charge to adjust the model. Then using the Issues add-in for Revit, those clashes can be recognized over the design authoring model for a quick modification. Finally, synchronize the adjusted model and publish a new version on ACC to update the coordination matrix.

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JUAN HURTADO: And within ACC, you can manage the whole life cycle of your coordination issues. After issues are created and certain issues cannot be solved, those could be evolved into an error file, and even into a potential change order. All of these into the same platform. If you want to learn more about this, visit the ACC Learning Center. You will find amazing information regarding this. And with that first process show, we want to show what we call an unfair advantage at ENG. What we define at ENG as a competitive advantage that we create that make it every-- that make it very hard and even unfair for other BIM companies to try to compete with us.

DANIEL MOLANO: Well, Juan, that sounds a little bit rough, isn't it?

JUAN HURTADO: Yes, it could be. But we give this tool for free. Well, just for our clients.

DANIEL MOLANO: Perfect. Then before we go to see how Field Report are unfair advantage work, do you remember our initial issues? Well, we had huge amounts of data everywhere, long hours of cleaning and structuring data, tons of elements to assign that data, and too much to deliver, but not enough time.

So with our Field Report tool, we add value by solving some of these issues that we have in these first three components of our workflow. So for the shared data, we gave our subcontractors the possibility to use an easy to learn tool for them to be included inside of the BIM process with real-time access to the model information so they can report their progress without the need of any intermediaries.

JUAN HURTADO: And in the past, we had huge amounts of data everywhere. With Field Report, we have it centralized.

DANIEL MOLANO: That's correct, Juan. And for data cleanup, we require data as a static predefined input that leaves no space for interpretation. We need it, you type it.

JUAN HURTADO: And in the past, we spent long hours cleaning and structuring data. With Field Report, we have our data already clean and organized.

DANIEL MOLANO: That's right. And finally, we have a real-time integration tool for all subcontractors on-site to the model elements.

JUAN HURTADO: And of course, in the past, we had tons of elements to assign data. With Field Report, we still have tons of elements, but on-site subcontractors will do that, doing their reports. And here, meet Field Report on how you can integrate construction, personnel, and data. Here, I show them.

[VIDEO PLAYBACK]

- Field Report is a web-based platform developed by ENG. It is designed for direct access from the field, accessible via both PCs and mobile devices. Once you log in, you will inherit the same permission level as your ACC account. Next, open the project and select the design authoring model in which you want to report progress. In this example, we will choose the structural model.

Within the Viewer, you will find two types of filters. Model View, this filter displays elements that have already been constructed in a default color, being 100% progress, and in green, for elements with progress between 1% and 99%. Elements with not progress will not be visible. Field View, this filter is used for field reporting. Elements that have not yet been built are displayed in a default color, while those with progress between 1% and 99% appear in green.

You won't see elements with 100% progress in this view. To report progress on an element, simply click on it. Then open the table and assign a start date, a progress percentage, and an end date if the element is already built. As you input progress data, you will notice that the filtered update view's in real-time. This data is finally stored in the model as a parameter.

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JUAN HURTADO: So now we can say that with Field Report, we achieve 99% more transparency in report work. 99% less effort is spent in integration and cleaning relevant data. And 90% less time is spent in integrating data into 3D models.

DANIEL MOLANO: So in addition to Field Report, we've created what we call the Construction Manager Superstar Viewer, where we can analyze, review, and export our construction data. So real quick, let's bring back our initial issues, just as a refresher. We have the same issues that we've seen before. But now, how we could solve these different issues with our Construction Manager Super Server Viewer?

So with this tool, we add value by solving some of the issues that we had in the last three components of our workflow. So in the data cleanup scope, we used to spend long hours cleaning and structuring our data manually with spreadsheets. With this Construction Manager Superstar Viewer, we can read, structure, and organize the model information, and download it to use as our project requirements.

JUAN HURTADO: Also in the past, we spent a lot of our time assigning data to tons of model elements. With our viewers, we can focus on integrating other external data to our workflows to optimize data management and create additional tools. Finally, in the past, we used to have too much to deliver and not enough time. With our Viewer, we are able to export our structured data to integrate it to our final deliverables in the fastest possible way.

DANIEL MOLANO: Juan, I have to tell you, this tool helps so much that we were able to integrate a new process into our workflow. And that process was the data analysis process. This process actually allows us to visualize information fast before getting into our deliverables, be aware of the data-driven errors, and act fast, and integrate different tools to power up our data analysis, all of this with the help of ACC and APS.

So let's jump real quick to see how we use it in our projects. But before we start, we wanted to keep in mind that this was based on our client requirements. We want to invite you all to think in all the possibilities that you have inside of your own BIM processes. So with that said, here is a demo of the Construction Manager Superstar Viewer.

[VIDEO PLAYBACK]

- Meet the Construction Manager Superstar Viewer. This viewer, powered by APS, help us centralizing different helpful tools for automating our processes. Tools such as Base Planning tool, Bill of Quantity Summary, data grid tools, and expert data tools helps us reviewing and analyzing our Autodesk Construction Cloud models in a different way based on initial defined parameters and custom project information.

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DANIEL MOLANO: Now we will present a little bit more in depth the tools that are inside of our Viewer. So the first tool that we will see is the 4D Analysis Tool. With this tool, we can preview our 4D simulations directly from our viewer environment. With the integration of external information, in this case, the project scale, we are able to go through different dates in our timeline and start reviewing the status of the element in each specific moment in time.

So as right now, we're seeing, we can get all the structure constructed in just one second. Pretty cool. We can also make a group selection of the model elements that are related to each activity of the project schedule so we can have a quick insight of the quality of the information inside of our model and also our schedule.

The second tool that we will see is the Quantity Stake of Tracking tool. With this tool, we can preview the planned quantities and the actual progress of all of our model elements that are linked to a certain code from the bill of quantities. This is really, really helpful when integrating with the 4D tool that we just saw, as we are able to filter by an activity in our schedule to review the number of model elements in each activity, the overall progress of the activity, and the theorical executed quantities.

But we are not over yet. We are still missing two other features, like the Data Grid tool. With this Data Grid tool, we can organize our data by the information we want to review. So as simple as it might look, we can also filter our model information in order to export and deliver to any of our stakeholders. So let's say we want to see all of the elements that are planned to be constructed in April. We can simply apply the filter and start seeing the different elements that will be constructed.

So we can go a little bit deeper. What about all the elements that are going to be constructed by the 25 of April? We can select and isolate those model elements and even integrate the Quantity Stake of Tracker tool to power up our data review. And after having that information filtered, then we can export that information in Excel. This would be the common format for any of our stakeholders to review or an internal process.

And finally, our Data Export tool are our main help for structuring data for preparing our deliverables. With this tool, we can export different types of data in different types of time. So as an example, let's say we need to make a real QA/QC from our model. We click on the QA/QC Export. And we get fast structured data that we are able to integrate with other tools such as Power BI. This dashboard helps us review the model health status and the data reported on field report by the sysops.

JUAN HURTADO: OK, Dani. So in a nutshell, we can say that with the Construction Manager Superstar Viewer, we were able to achieve 90% less time organizing and structuring data, 60% less effort spent in external data integration, 100% possibility to analyze your model's data, and finally, 90% less time preparing your data for deliverables each week.

DANIEL MOLANO: That's correct, Juan. And as we mentioned, we are able to track the data from our models and integrate it into our deliverables. But you might wonder, what are those deliverables that we had each week? So the first deliverable we had was for the construction simulation. For this deliverable, we integrated the download information from our viewer directly into a 4D simulation tool. In this project, we use Navisworks to add animations to communicate better the construction process, as we are seeing just now.

For the second deliverable, a Works Control dashboard that helps communicating the status of the project schedule-wise. For this deliverable, we integrated the same for the information we download from our viewer to show the difference between our actual progress and the initial plans. All these dashboards are great and an interactive way to integrate all of the stakeholders around your project data without the need of having any experience in any of the BIM tools.

And our last deliverable, we had a works control dashboard that helps communicating the status of the project cost-wise. So we integrated the quantity take of information we download from our viewer to report the quantities and cost deviations of the project. In this dashboard, Juan, we always try to keep it simple and comply with our main objective, communicating the construction project based on our 3D model's information, which in this case would be the quantities and the costs.

JUAN HURTADO: OK, Dani. Very interesting. But, well, before we finish, we want to share with you what we consider the main stage essentials to be as superstars. And those are things that are not rocket science.

DANIEL MOLANO: So for starters, we require a good naming convention for your files, also a good folder structure according to your project strategy. We recommend using the ISO. We also use the Cloud Parameters instead of shared parameters. This tool was recently launched by Autodesk in the last version of Revit. And we also create a Revit federated central model for SVF files creation.

JUAN HURTADO: Also, a standardized collection data procedures. And it's basically avoid freedom. And as we mentioned before, build multi-disciplinary teams with construction professionals and developers for great ideas. Well, I was missing something. Ask for help. There are consultants-- there are consultancy companies in the market that can understand your needs and transform your ideas. In fact, we're a great choice.

So it's safe to say that with this class, we achieve our four learning goals. With the use of ACC, Field Report, our Construction Manager Superstar Viewer, and Power BI, we are able to integrate personnel with models and data and implement new tools into the BIM process through the construction stage.

DANIEL MOLANO: That's correct, Juan. We are also able to have better communication with stakeholders through different dashboards that we just saw. And we make it easier to integrate 4D and 5D integration through data management processes.

JUAN HURTADO: And well, are you wondering what happened to Dani and Juan? Well, we cannot say that we feel like superstars. But we can say that we feel much better with more time and much more confident about the quality of our work.

DANIEL MOLANO: That's correct, Juan. And how can you start being your way into being a superstar? Well, the first thing you could do is go to the Autodesk Platform Services website, go to the Tutorials, create your first app, and skyrocket your way into being a superstar.

JUAN HURTADO: Thank you very much for your time. Bye.

DANIEL MOLANO: Thank you.