SUCCESS STORY
VDC Specialists Provides Client Cost and Time Savings Through Leverage of Collaborative Model Sharing Workflow
Customer Challenge
Located in Lawrence, KS, VDC Specialists provides virtual construction and BIM services to a large variety of projects across the nation such as airports, commercial buildings, industrial factories and more. The VDC Specialists’ team was recently tasked with providing constructable Revit models for prefabrication of a series of datacenters, each one million square feet in size – a challenging project of working ‘hand in hand’ with those in the field across large distances and time zones.
Project Goals
VDC Specialists had two key goals in mind:
1. Source a real-time model sharing and collaboration tool to share models with field teams and project managers across great distances
2. Leverage their workflow to help identify cost savings for the client and increase efficiency between design in the office and work in the field
Solution
VDC Specialists pursued Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro for its model sharing needs related to the series of datacenters. The Topcon Solutions team provided the setup and support for the VDC Specialists team, which enabled them to continue building highly constructible Revit models to share in real-time with field team electricians for the datacenter. For example, the inclusion of Autodesk Dynamo evolved the overall workflow to allow for every single conduit within the model to have a unique identifier, bringing in all other relevant information for field teams to realize exactly what each conduit is doing and making them able to identify exact room names and areas for the project at hand.
Business Outcome
VDC Specialists notes the incorporation of Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro and other Autodesk products into its overall workflow has allowed for the datacenter project client to reduce its need for field team electricians for on-site and underground work to approximately 50%, with approximately a 20% savings for the wall and overhead work. This can be considered a ‘big victory’ in efficiency increase and a reduction in exposure to any potential site injuries with electricians, saving their client time and money. What’s more is that leveraging Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro provided VDC Specialists with a method to work together with foremen and field teams easier, enabling everyone to quickly identify any pain points, thus proactively planning for anticipated challenges.
Conclusion
One of VDC Specialists key goals in mind for this project was to leverage Autodesk technology in a manner that lets field teams feel as if they’re ‘standing right next to them’ working and collaborating in real-time. The incorporation of Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro as a workflow solution addressed VDC Specialists needs to collaborate with numerous field teams across a great distance and provided a leap forward in model sharing and project transparency.
Project Summary
Delivery Date
2021-07-07
Project Duration
1278 days
Autodesk Solutions
- Revit
- Dynamo Studio
Services Provided
Customer Industry
- MEP Engineering