Eight Steps to BIM for Manufacturers Part 4/4
Are you determined to open up new sales channels? Increase the likelihood of using your products on site? Get up-to-date information about your products to specifiers and on site faster? Benefit from advanced analysis of the use of digital models of your products in projects? That means you want to prepare, improve or expand the database of files you share in Building Information Modeling technology (BIM objects / BIM components / BIM libraries / BIM families). Learn the 8 essential BIM implementation steps for manufacturers to boost sales and improve project integration.
This post is part of a series. Other parts of the article series can be found here:
- Why BIM is a Necessity for Manufacturers Part 1/4
- What is BIM from a Manufacturer’s Perspective? Part 2/4
- Benefits of BIM for Manufacturers Part 3/4
- Eight Steps to BIM for Manufacturers Part 4/4
Below you will find 8 steps you can take to develop in BIM and meet the expectations of your clients.
1. Define BIM Goals – BIM Implementation Steps for Manufacturers
Talk to your key clients responsible for preparing the technical project specification to find out how they use BIM in their day-to-day work. Find out what challenges they face, what goals they need to achieve and what data they need to use. This will give you an idea of what BIM content you should provide to best support them.
2. Check what the competition has to offer
Many manufacturers have already entered this sphere of new technologies and offer high quality BIM Families. Who is your direct competition on domestic and foreign markets? If you do not have the appropriate knowledge to determine the differences and determine the advantage that your competition has over you, contact us! We will prepare a free comparison of the state of advancement of BIM objects for you.
3. Prepare a place to share content – BIM Implementation Steps for Manufacturers
Consider where you will host your BIM content. You have two options, either make the files available for download only, directly from your own site, or use one of the BIM object platforms. If sharing internally, you can ask your IT person to set up a contact information box before users download the files. This is a cost-free solution that gives you access to information about Who, What and When downloaded the files.
Online BIM platforms increase the visibility of your products to potential customers. Platforms for sharing BIM components provide advanced capabilities for analyzing data from users of these files. One of the most interesting innovations is the analysis of product usage in user projects, i.e. information on how many instances of a product were used for the needs of a given project. However, it must be taken into account that such solutions cost several thousand per year.
4. Stand out with quality
Creating BIM objects is not easy, what is more, it is quite easy to “spoil” the object being prepared (make the parametric constraints “fall apart”, or prepare files that are too large, which will slow down the work of the users’ computer), so it is important to compete not only in quantity, but also in quality of execution. BIM content should be compliant with European standards, using a standard structure and classification. If you do not want to hire additional people to act as BIM modelers, contact us to find out how we can help you.
5. Invest in knowledge – BIM Implementation Steps for Manufacturers
Prepare your internal teams so that employees understand the importance of BIM for your products and how your BIM content can benefit your business and customers. Consult our specialists. We can organize a free lecture for your specifiers. If you decide that you want to become independent in producing BIM libraries, you can take advantage of our certified courses.
6. Fill with content
Decide what metadata your models will contain. In BIM, the information that the model carries is more important than the graphical representation. Non-geometric information such as: parameters, material finish, description, link to the manufacturer’s website, classification code, etc. allows you to search, compare and sort data. By creating “digital twins” of their products, the manufacturer makes it easier for people responsible for preparing technical specifications to search for this information and then manage it in the design process. What’s more, the information saved in the BIM object can be treated as an advertisement for the object. By opening its properties, the user will receive information about the price, model and even a link to the product page.
7. Automate – BIM Implementation Steps for Manufacturers
You want to additionally engage your clients working in BIM. Once you understand what your clients expect, emphasize your greatest advantages to stand out from the competition. A great example of automation can be the DigiPara® Elevatorarchitect plugin. Previously, the user had to enter a three-dimensional elevator component on each level of the model to see its view in the plan. Thanks to the Revit plugin, the user can very quickly not only add an elevator component that will be visible in selected model plans, but also use the form to adjust its parameters, dimensions, select the elevator model and solution from the manufacturer who delivers the product to the selected place in the world. In addition, the process of “updating” the elevator during the transition from conceptual to construction or implementation design has been automated, thanks to which the appropriate amount of detail is added to the model. Digital technologies provide virtually unlimited possibilities for automating design processes. All you need is the right idea, we have the right resources, skills and we can help you implement it.
8. Show off
Tell the world that you also support new technologies for construction. Having BIM libraries will be a testament to innovation, meeting the needs of designers. Promote and share your content, participate in events, networking, lectures on BIM, and offer support using your files. One of such places can be our series of networking meetings promoting the BIM methodology, held every few months in different cities in Poland – BIM Galaktyka.
We offer a service of creating parametric BIM, MFG and OBJ libraries. Families of components represent construction products used in the investment process by designers from the construction and mechanical industries. By using our services, you can be sure that your product models will be developed in accordance with the best patterns and current trends in the industry.
If you want us to estimate the cost of BIM modeling of your products, contact us!
