Successful project outcomes stem from good decision making, and nothing affects the decisions you make on a construction job like the quality of your data. How you collect and input data can have an impact on everything from timelines to budgets and even site safety.
Construction businesses need processes that are repeatable, replicable, and easily configurable to be successful. By implementing processes that can easily be repeated and standardized, teams can save time and drive better decision making and analysis downstream.
Today we are excited to announce the new Library feature built into the Account Admin tool of the Autodesk Construction Cloud unified platform product. The account level library – available for Autodesk Build – serves as a centralized library of objects or "components.” From the library, users can configure a component, and simultaneously add them to multiple existing projects.
With this release, users will be able to create new form templates using a form builder feature, similar to what is currently available within the Forms tool, or by importing an existing PDF form. Once a template is created, admins can add the form template to any existing projects making new form templates instantly available to any project with a click of a button. These form templates can then be edited or updated and automatically saved to all projects they are associated with.
The library serves as a single source of truth and helps teams standardize to improve project data and enhance quality across all projects. Additionally, it allows teams to make updates to components in real time ensuring that existing projects always have access to the right tools.
We asked Josha Van Reij, BIM Manager at Arcadis and Øivind Pettersen, Business Developer at Skanska Norway how this new library will help teams standardize data entry to improve quality across projects. Their responses ranged from streamlining the creation of project documentation to minimizing the risk of cost overruns through better document control. However, there was one common thread: shared data on a unified platform drives better decision-making on project planning and execution, positively impacting project schedule, budget, and safety.
Standardized reporting is the backbone to ensure project teams are getting value from data to drive better decision-making. Within the Library, teams have access to a repository of standard templates to use across the organization to capture project information consistently. In addition, with historical data stored in a centralized location, teams can analyze that data to make more informed decisions that impact project outcomes.
“Having universal processes and procedures in place to standardize reporting is essential for getting project-specific insights that can positively impact project schedule, budget, and safety,” says Van Reij. “With organization-wide templates, we can consistently capture data that enables our project managers to make more informed decisions using historical project data.”
With standard forms and templates in the Library, teams can quickly configure how they want to document project data. This process saves teams time and allows them to consistently create, store, and distribute information. In addition, when you have an established system for reporting, it creates consistency in data capture to drive better control over your project.
“Standardizing forms and checklists will allow our teams to organize the most relevant information in the best possible format, saving time,” says Pettersen. “Skanska aims to improve the connection of our data across projects, and by implementing a good structure with standardized templates, we can achieve that and capture quality data.”
A streamlined and standardized workflow is critical to construction document control. With centralized templates and forms in the Library, teams will have more control over data management and business processes, minimizing the risk of cost overruns. In addition, with teams working off standardized templates, there are fewer errors and less rework.
“Every project contains objects that, in 90% of all cases, have already been created for a previous project,” says Van Reij. “Without standardization, we would have to rebuild each component for every project. With the account level library, our engineers can automatically use a template or form without manually searching historical project data to find information. With projects becoming more complex, having repeatable processes and templates will drive accuracy across data and reduce risk across our teams.”
This month, we announced over 30 new product updates across Autodesk Construction Cloud. Learn more about all of our product releases in our blog.
