We all know the growing importance of data and information in the construction industry. Still, nearly 95% of construction and engineering data goes unused, according to FMI. At Autodesk, we believe the quality of data matters in construction. As a result, we continuously strive to improve how data is collected, shared, and generated.
This month, we released 16 product updates across Autodesk Construction Cloud™ across PlanGrid, BIM 360, and Building Connected. From new integrations and editing features to enhancements in reporting and customization, all our updates help you maximize your construction data and improve project performance. Scroll down and use the navigation below to learn more about the 16 product updates across Autodesk Construction Cloud.
Sequential Editing in Field Reports
The new sequential editing feature for Field Reports is another method for teams to assign several contributors and reviewers to the same field report. When admins create a new template for a field report where they want several colleagues to contribute to it, but only one at a time, the new “Multiple contributors in sequence” option enables exactly that.
This new feature follows the introduction of the co-editing functionality for native field reports in May and now allows PlanGrid users to choose from three different ways to collaborate on field reports. Now all teams have the power to choose the workflow that best fits their needs.
Autodesk Construction Cloud Connect continues to supercharge collaboration by expanding on the library of 200+ possible integrations. Through a partnership between Autodesk and Aurigo, teams can now automatically move critical project data between PlanGrid and Aurigo Masterworks. Contractors and public agencies can directly share RFIs, Issues, drawings, cut sheets, specifications, legal documents, and other resources. By connecting Aurigo Masterworks and PlanGrid using ACC Connect, teams eliminate duplicate or manual data entry and seamlessly pass between the office and the field, reducing errors and saving time.
In the next few weeks, we are releasing several new improvements for checklists that will save time, enable better information sharing, and reduce duplication of effort. Key highlights include much faster mobile syncing of active checklists thanks to the new archiving checklist capability, and the ability to import checklist templates along with their issue auto-creation settings.
BIM 360 Cost Management now includes a robust set of functionalities that enables teams to streamline the management of expenses. Not only does it streamline invoice reviews and approvals, but teams can utilize up to date actual cost data for more accurate forecasting and add expense data to Budget Payment Applications.
Cost Management Supplier and Owner Access
To help streamline workflows and enhance collaboration with Owners and Suppliers, a new 'Collaborate' permission level is available for specific tabs within the Cost Management module. For example, providing a Supplier with collaborate access will allow them to review their initial contracts, create their own schedule of values, respond to requests for quotations, review their payment applications, and view their change orders.
Updated Issue Form and Screenshot
BIM 360 Model Coordination is helping users automate the coordination process even further with two new feature updates. We've updated to the full BIM 360 issue form and now support automatic screenshots of clash issues.
With the full BIM 360 issue form, BIM/VDC managers can ensure they assign issues to the right person by specifying user, role, or company. The form adds greater flexibility with custom attributes: users can now assign fields like priority to customize the coordination workflow. Choosing BIM location data within the create issue workflow is easier, as users can now filter to focus on the project locations they're interested in working on. Finally, assigning an owner to close out issues and assign a root cause allows BIM/VDC managers to take preventative action, reducing overall coordination issues.
Along with the changes we've made to the issue form, Model Coordination now automatically takes screenshots of issues. This makes viewing issues outside of the model viewer much easier for the issue in question. It also provides for greater reporting capabilities by allowing users to create clash reports that include screenshots for full context.
Insights and Reporting Enhancements
Within the BIM 360 Insight module, teams can now access the Checklist Detail Report. Prior to this, release teams could access a Checklist Detail Report via direct download from within Field Management, however, now that this report is hosted within Insight, teams can schedule, track, and easily share this report with other team members.
Additionally, the Project Level Document Log is a new report that can be generated through the Document Management module that gives users a quick download of document level info like file names, latest versions, and a list of custom attributes associated with the latest versions. This has been a highly anticipated report as it will help with ISO 19650 compliance and provides a single list of all documents and the current version as well as metadata. Additionally, it provides a way to easily report if the file names are unique throughout the project and is a required form to be Common Data Environment (CDE) compliant.
Another enhancement to the reporting functionality is an improved look and feel as well as performance enhancements to all BIM 360 reports. These updates will help improve not only the user interface of the reports but will also improve the speed and performance at which these reports are generated, saving teams time to access the information they need. As a part of the overall reporting performance enhancements, teams will also now receive improved email notifications once their report is ready.
Lastly, available through the Insight module is the addition of even more new partner cards including Esri, Raken, and Intelliwave Technologies. Each of these new cards will allow more holistic visibility into the entire project. The new Esri card specifically allows users to see details around ArcGIS, mapping, and Site Scan footage.
Data Connector Added Capabilities
Released earlier this year, the Data Connector allows teams to quickly extract project data from BIM 360 for customized use in other robust business intelligence tools. With this release, the download of data will include both custom attributes for issues as well as linking checklists to issues, allowing teams to dive deeper into root causes specific to their projects. Additionally, rather than wasting time waiting or checking back to see when your download is ready from within the browser, teams will now get an email notification once their export is complete and can go directly to view their download.
In addition to the previously released Power BI templates for admin and field management, with this release we are also adding a third template around project controls allowing users to improve visibility into RFI and Submittal workflows.
As a follow up to the release of the new Assets module in BIM 360, we have released a few more enhancements to help improve the overall asset and equipment tracking workflow as well as integration into other field management workflows. With this release, users can now view any existing asset information from within the Issues or Checklist workspaces within Field Management. Prior to this release, users could make this connection via the Assets module, but they could not view it from within the Field Management module. This connection is viewable from both the iOS app as well as a web browser.
This release also brings the ability to create a new asset from a mobile device. This functionality allows teams in the field to quickly create a new asset and add in any associated information directly from the jobsite ensuring everything is as up to date as possible.
Field users and admins both benefit from the two new enhancements we released related to Issues. Admins are now able to export the whole issue log in xlsx format, making it easier to work with the data directly or use it as an import file for data analytics tools. Meanwhile, team members working in the field can instantly find the Issues they are responsible for by tapping on the “Assigned to me” quick filter within the mobile app.
BIM 360 Plan – Linked Activities
Weekly work plans should be reliable, collaborative, and predictable. BIM 360 Plan takes a mobile-first approach to support Lean Construction principles, help build more reliable work plans, and help reduce waste associated with overproduction, excess inventory, and task rework.
Work plans are living documents constantly being updated. However, when updating the work plans, it can be an administrative burden to move every single task, especially if tasks are part of a chain. With this release, which will be available by the end of next week, we have added a “Linked Activities Actions” button, so users can quickly visualize and move all activities in the chain, easily keeping schedules up-to-date.
Customization options make this a powerful tool for quickly updating the work plans. Selections include ‘Move Successors’ (move selected activity and all activities after it), ‘Move All Linked Activities’ (move all activities in the chain), and the ability to select specific activities within a chain to move.
Estimators can now add indirect costs along with their bid packages costs in order to capture a more accurate total cost of a project. Include General Conditions, Insurance, Contingency, Fees, and Taxes to see the cost of the project update in real-time.
Connect Bid Board Pro and BuildingConnected Pro
The new one-way integration between Bid Board Pro and BuildingConnected Pro allows estimators and bid managers to focus on winning more work without risking data loss, time, or team collaboration.
The integration unifies the bidding process by pushing project information and bidding information directly from Bid Board Pro to BuildingConnected Pro. Users can easily switch from bidding on work to soliciting bids for the same project so they can get the bids out the door faster.
In Bid Board Pro, users can customize the columns displayed in the opportunity pipeline at any stage. Click and drag to rearrange the order of the columns to maximize efficiency.
Change Opportunity Request Type
In Bid Board Pro, subcontractors can easily change the opportunity type from either a Proposal or Budget when a GC incorrectly labels the invite.
TradeTapp / BC Pro Vendor Unification
Over the next several weeks, the TradeTapp subcontractor experience will be moving to BuildingConnected. Once migrated, subcontractors will use TradeTapp inside of the BuildingConnected app—providing them a one stop shop to bid on projects with BidBoard and conduct their prequalification with TradeTapp. The migration process is fast and all account data is transferred over to BuildingConnected so subcontractors can pick back up right where they left off before the migration.
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