We are updating our ArchiCAD Standards Guide these days and what is different this year is the small videos we are adding to the guide.
Recently new team members attended to our BIM Modeling Services Team and unfortunately we could not take them through the orientation period as we had many new and urgent projects.
So we ended up a team with different ArchiCAD knowledge level.
Of course we are doing some on the fly trainings but I am not sure if it is increasing or decreasing productivity:)) Our experienced guys are getting distracted constantly.
So as a solution we decided to add some short videos explaining how to follow our company standards as some of them requires advanced knowledge of ArchiCAD.
One of them is "Creating & Publishing Layout in Sequence". Actually this is the one we had the major problems.
As some of you already know we are organizing a BIM Conference in cooperation with Projacs in Cairo on the 5th of June, Tuesday.
I think this is one of the best conference we have ever organized. We have amazing speakers this year.
Jothi and I arrived at Cairo in advance to finalize the conference arrangements.
We arrived on the same day of Husnu Mubarak's final court and we were expecting to see some action at least at the Tahrir Square. Our speakers were also contacting me and asking if I am still alive or not:)))
Currently I am writing this post from BIMES Cairo office which is 3
minutes walking distance to the Tahrir Square. It's all peaceful and relaxing.
On the contrary to what media shows, I have not seen any protests or demonstrations. The only danger I saw here is the "Egyptian Drivers" and that's all:)))
I am hoping to survive without getting hit by one of them and host a great conference!
I am sorry for the last week. I was extremely busy and did not have much chance to write to the blog.
Thanks to being so busy last week, I have a lot to tell you:))
I had a strange meeting last week! I call it strange because it was the first meeting I had without a "Top Manager".
We only had the "Junior - Young Engineers" and "Senior Engineers".
They were all very nice and kind. this was the common thing amongst them. But after the first 30 minutes of the meeting they were divided into 2 poles like North and South.
Young ones were extremely impressed with BIM and willing to learn more.
But the senior ones were totally against it.
Yes, this is not something new for me but since during all my recent meetings the Top Managers were also available, I have not seen the segmentation of opinions in relation with ages so obviously for a long time. (I hope I won't be like that in the future:))
Normally Top Managers are interested in a new technology because it develops their business and the headache of the implementation doe not affect them directly.
Well, this meeting reminded me the famous Technology Adoption Process graph in Geoffrey Moore's book Crossing the Chasm.
You will see this graph in all internal presentations of technology companies.
But I feel like it needs a new make up so I added some more information on it depending on my experiences:))
For instance, the graph says "Innovators"! Who are the innovators in the construction business. These are the "Rock Star" architects and engineers who are always ahead of everyone whatever the cost is. When I was still a student, all the "wow" architectural offices were ArchiCAD users in Ankara and I also did my summer practice at one those offices. Believe me the chief architect in the office was a real rock star. He was even designing his own clothes, playing drums at the age of 60 etc.
What about "Early Adopters"? These are the employees of the companies which has forward looking Business Development Managers or CEOs. They always research how can they keep their company as a market leader or how can they be the market leader and when they find the tool, they implement it with 100% commitment. AIDEA, from Philippines is an great example for this. They implemented ArchiCAD BIM 7 years ago and they grew from a 20 men company to TOP 86 in the world. Here comes an interview with Aidea's CEO, Abelardo Tolentino.
Another example is Adnan Saffarini Consultancy! They were the market
leader in the UAE and wanted to keep it. Hassan Saffarini, Operations
Director, saw the 2009 recession as an opportunity to develop their
company and start implementing ArchiCAD BIM. Hassan Saffarini's interview"
Early Majority! From here onwards it's not only companies who adopts but also the individuals who starts getting involved. Early majority is the "Hardworking Young Professionals" who are very competitive and wants to be the best in their profession. They want to learn anything which helps them to achieve their aim. We usually try to select the BIM Teams in the large companies from these people.
Late Majority! Off! These are the lazy ones which is almost impossible for me to understand. Unfortunately they do not notice how big is the opportunity they are missing! They are usually content the way they are and do not change unless they are forced to.
Laggards! These are the Senior Professionals! We can call them "Rebels" as well:)) They usually feel threaten with the new technology because they think their skills will be no longer valuable and the young ones will perform better than them. So they start sabotaging the meetings or implementations:)) Yes, but there is no reason for them to feel threaten. First of all, it's their experience what makes them so valuable not their skills with the tools they use. Secondly, if they want they perform as good as the young ones.
In one of our recent implementations, we assigned the most senior engineer as the BIM Manager since he ended up learning the process much better than the rest of the team. Although he was at least 15 years older then them.
Ohh!!! It became such a long post! Time to stop and say see you tomorrow:))
Architects no longer have excuse to design non-sustainable buildings!!!
EcoDesigner comes out of the box with ArchiCAD 16.
Yes, performing energy evaluation of your design is no more a luxury. Even a junior architect can understand how EcoDesigner works and perform Energy Evaluations.
If you are still not very confident about using EcoDesigner, Graphisoft created an excellent Playlist where every and each function of EcoDesigner is explained in detail. Here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA200C89E9E1D1280&feature=plcp
I think integrated Building Energy Information Modeling is the most important benefit that ArchiCAD 16 brings to us and deserves 5 BIG Stars:))
When I first started working as an ArchiCAD trainer, I decided to download GDL objects from internet and make a library DVD for our clients. It was my mission for 2 weeks in the office. Whenever I was free I was working on my little project.
What was the result?
Well, I downloaded 3-4 thousand objects and made a DVD that we were giving the the clients with the purchase of ArchiCAD. (It costed me red eyes during these two weeks though)
A year after we started delivering this DVD, I went to the software "bazaar" where they sell pirated copies to check how is the demand for ArchiCAD etc:))))
I asked the price of ArchiCAD. It was 20 Lira.
Then I asked the price of AutoCAD. It was 10 Lira.
I asked why this ArchiCAD is so expensive and the reply was hilarious. They said because it comes with an extensive extra library.
Yes, you are right!
They were even pirating my library to add value to their business:)))
That was the day I understood how important content is!
Now, Graphisoft released BIMcomponents.com and you no longer need a poor little new graduate to stay in front of the computer and download objects, categorize them etc.
Just go to your Object Settings, search for what you want and you can directly download it into your project. I believe the amount of content will be a lot more than before since it is so easy to upload objects now. It is directly from ArchiCAD. I think it is very cool.
The objects will be free. This is another great advantage.
Though I would like to have paid objects in the long run. It can be like iTunes inside ArchiCAD. You make your search and you can filter as per the pricing.
Am I crazy? Why do I want paid objects?
I see a business opportunity here:)))
Airport and hospital projects! They require quite complex equipment to be modeled and the users are ready to pay but they can not find any proper content. So here I see a big opportunity for ArchiCAD experts. They can work with manufacturers, model their content and sell through BIMcomponents.com. Graphisoft can get their share on them as Apple does. Here Graphisoft's role is important. They have to make sure that the paid objects are "quality" objects.
We went through a lot of headache with hospital equipment in Najaf Hospital Implementation. Curious ones can read it from here.
It has been sooo long that I could not write on this blog. I am really very sorry about it.
As you know I was travelling and the last few days were Graphisoft's International Partner Conference in Spain.
We had the opportunity to see ArchiCAD 16 on action. It was very impressive but I am not going to say anything further since the announcement days is very very close.
I also had the opprotunity to see the latest developments on Artlantis. They clearly mentioned me not to write anything on my blog about it:))) so I can not tell you what are the new features.
But I think there is one think they would not be angry at me if I confess here:))
Well, whenever I spoke to Abvent Team (Artlantis' developer) they always mention how "sexy" is their product.
I never truly understood what they were trying to imply! I was relating it to them being "French" :)) and did not pay much attention.
However I noticed how a "software" can be "sexy" when I saw the new version that they are working on.
Wow!
That's was the best software interface design I have ever seen!
I am sure If Victoria's Secret or Armani was to design a software interface, they would not do any better:)))
I was planning to write more about contractual aspect of BIM in the projects but Jothi came up with a new video so I did not want to deprive you from his popular technical tips and tricks.
His latest video is also about quantities and schedules. He explains how to add concrete grades to the columns, beams and slabs.
I know many people uses Layers and IDs for this purpose but Jothi has a different approach. I am not sure which one is handier though. Please share your comments with us...
I have recently met with an Owner about BIM Implementation in his projects. The Project Management Company he is working with was trying to convince him about mandating BIM.
So far that approach is right!
Both the Owner and the Project Manager understand that BIM will bring transparency to the project and a significant amount of savings will be received.
What is holding the Owner from mandating BIM in his projects?
Legal Aspect!
And he is right! He is concerned about the issue below:
Designer reliance on information provided by others
How to use the model as a contractual document?
Whom the model belongs to?
How to handover the model to the other parties?
Who is liable with the information in the model?
These issues are not solved in the Middle East yet!
I am sure you are wondering so how the hell these projects are being done with BIM currently.
Well, they are not being done in the proper way. I am not even sure if they are saving anything on certain projects.
BIM requires a brand new process in the projects but people does not like change. So what they do is they put some "make up" on the contract and make it look like BIM.
What should be done?
I honestly believe IPD is the right solution for it but anyone with a few years experience in the Middle East laughs when they understand what IPD is:))
Let share you the description that people find so funny:
"Integrated project delivery (IPD), is a collaborative
alliance of people, systems, business structures and practices into a
process that harnesses the talents and insights of all participants to
optimize project results, increase value to the owner, reduce waste, and
maximize efficiency through all phases of design, fabrication, and
construction."
Basic Principles
Compensation based on overall profit and reaching established goals the project
Collaborative focus on decision making, design, construction and completion processes
Early involvement from all project participants
Waiver of at least some claims
Utilization of collaborative technologies
I still think it is applicable for the Middle East and it will be applied because there is no other way to do it properly.
Yes, I agree, it requires a new "mindset" and it will take time but sooner or later it will!
Let's talk about Defining the Scope of BIM in Contractual Documents tomorrow! It is my latest interest:))
Which BIM Software is the Most Popular in the Middle East?
This is the "most popular" question I receive after explaining BIM is not a software itself:))
Isn't it a bit strange? Popularity is a strange criteria when you are trying to select a system for your business that will increase your competitiveness.
I want to be better than others but I want to do exactly the same what others do!
Strange way of thinking:))
I understand it is very time consuming to investigate all the technical details of the available software in the market and humans have tendency to laziness, but isn't this an important decision?
If I were you, I would first make a web search eliminate the candidates to 2-3 and then get full training on them. Then you will be able to make a healthy decision.
Unlike Europe we do not have much of a public transportation in the Middle East. Dubai is the first and only city in the Middle East who has Metro.
I know it sounds strange but it is true.
The first Metro of the Middle East was launched on the 9 September 2009 with beautiful metro stations. Atkins is the designer and they definitely did an impressive job.
I am not able to use it daily since the metro stations are quite far from my house however if I have guests metro is our first option. The metro line is above the ground and it is not very fast so I use it as a sight seeing trip and works very well:))
Not only my guests but also His Highness Sheikh Mohammed takes the metro from time to time. My colleagues came across with him a couple of times. I think it's pretty cool!
His Higness Sheikh Mohammed in Metro
All my guests loved the interior design of the stations as well. They are as beautiful as the ones on Moscow but with a contemporary touch.
Burjuman Station
Etisalat Station
MOE Station
Why am I talking about the Dubai metro?
Well, our office has the Dubai Metro station view and Jothi found his inspiration on the station for this week's technical video.
He used ArchiCAD's Curtain Wall Tool to re-model the top shell and then further developed the design with different custom panel options:))
The video would be a great tutorial for Custom Curtain Wall Panels!
When I looked at the tender documents, I recognized the project. It was a project that a contractor was educating the project owner on the benefits of BIM. I also helped them with some presentations on Open BIM.
The contractor suceeded!
BIM is mandated in the project and that specific contractor will set themselves apart from the competition. The contractor have established their BIM Unit last year and already have quite a mature team since they brought in some really good, internationally known BIM managers and experts.
Finally a contractor in the Middle East noticed that BIM can be used as a differentiator to win more business. (It used to be designers before.)
IT team! They are "the team" I always respect a lot and try to have good relations with since they know everything that I do not:))
However the client visit I had yesterday was exactly the opposite case.
Let me tell you the story in more detail.
Our client is a very strong BIM Server user! They deal with large projects and large teams so BIM Server is the technology they can not live without. Since it is so vital for them every architect and engineer in the BIM team knows BIM Server inside out.
Don't tell me "Ohh it's so simple! What can they know more than "Send&Receive? "
Well, restoring the BIM Server with all users, rolling back the projects, migrating the server to a different computer are not complicated commands for them.
But these are the architects and engineers not the IT guys.
To be honest, we made a mistake with them during the BIM Implementation. We did not manadate the IT team to attend the trainings, especially the BIM Server training.
So now, the BIM guys do not want anyone from IT to enter their room even. They even told me the two computers that they never let IT to touch are working perfectly. The rest? No comment:))
Actually the problem is IT has no idea about the consequences of their modifications on BIM Server. They claim what they did was a tiny little innocent change.
What is the lesson learnt from yesterday's visit?
BIM Server Training for IT!
We will start working on a 1-Day course tailored for IT. The course will cover license sharing, basic trouble shooting and BIM Server.
I am writing this post with an extreme headache and pain on my eyes.
I noticed that the symptoms of not having eyeglasses and not using BIM is quite similiar:))
Here comes the symptoms:
A constant headache
Inefficiency
Not willing to look at computer screen (in my case the brightness is just hurting my eyes but in "not using BIM case" you would be sick of drafting and not wiling to look at that screen 24/7)
Dying to get some technological gadget (such as ArchiCAD & Vico or new glasses:)) to overcome all your troubles
I did take an action, ordered my new glasses. Hopefully I will get them tomorrow.
Dear Non-BIMrs,
For your own sake please take an action! Life is too short to live with all those troubles of the traditional CAD:)
As you know I have been meeting with designers, contractors, project managers and owners regarding to BIM Implementation.
In majority of these meetings, the top management knows the term BIM.
But still there is a common perception of BIM as a "Luxury" item and they need to get BIM only if they have surplus in their budget.
This is quite strange to me.
What we discuss in the meetings is simple! In all the large projects BIM is mandated currently and this is getting more and more common everyday.
Everyone agrees because most of them has also seen the tender documents where BIM is mandated.
Now what do you expect to happen?
If it was me, I would take BIM as a MUST TO HAVE technology to keep my business in the game!
But what happens in real life is usually the opposite. Especially the contractors still continue questioning the technology. Is it really more productive? How much would it save in a project? Why do we need to change?
Come on! We are no longer in early 2000s! I shouldn't be hearing these questions in 2012. Especially after you guys seeing all these tenders!
Sometimes I feel like the older generation construction professionals avoid "change" as much as possible.
It kind of reminds me this image I saw on Facebook today:)
We will see the days people are no longer questioning BIM insallah:))
If you look at the usage of Modules in the projects that I was somehow involved, you will see Hotlinked Modules are everywhere! But I do not remember using Modules to manage repetitive structures at all.
Don't get me wrong! I absolutely beleive in using Modules to manage repetitive units such as hotel rooms! But I have no idea why I never use them that way...
Hotlinked Modules are in the same category with BIM Server for me.
It saves my life when it comes to handling large files.
I definitely love linking this file to that one, that file to another one...
It allows the team deal with smaller files and you can still see the complete project in a different file if needed.
Site plan
Architecture + Structure
MEP
Furniture
Medical Equipment (if available)
These are my most common Hotlinks in a project:)) Depending on the size of the project, we might divide the Furniture files into smaller Modules as well, sometimes floor by floor sometimes department by department.
You might be wondering why I started to talk about Modules out of blue!
Well, we were working on some marketing materials on ArchiCAD. It's kind of a brief intro to ArchiCAD for the people with very limited time. Yes, mostly managers with low concentration periods:))
I did not want to add Modules since it's a very technical feature which would take time to explain and still would not mean anything for a manager who does not go through the nightmares of daily modeling/drafting work.
Of course, when I was saying these, I was thinking of Modules as a feature to manage large and complex projects only since it's my core usage:))
My colleagues kindly reminded me that Modules are also very useful for managing repetitive units such as hotel rooms:)))
Oupps, you are right! :)) I almost forgot about it:))
So, what do you think! Please tell how how do you use Modules mostly in your daily work? Is it really a "killer" tool for you? Should we include it in our marketing materials?
I look forward to hearing from you...
Thanks in Advance,
The popular argument of this month! Is BIM beneficial only on big projects?
I am not sure why but there is a common misconception that BIM is worthwhile to implement only on big projects.
BIM brings benefits to any size of project, that's for sure.
So why it is believed that BIM is not really profitable on small projects.
Now let's do some maths...
Assume that BIM saves 3% of the project cost...
In a 1 000 000 000 $ project the BIM savings will be 30 000 000 $! Sounds good, right? :))
In a 2 000 000 $ project the BIM savings will be 60 000 $! Does not sound that attractive, right? :((
BIM does it's job in any size of project, but the savings amount basically depends on the size of project. Of course you can not save 30 Million $ in a 2 Million $ villa project.
Yet you will not be spending the same implementation cost on a small project.
What about the pilot project?
The pilot project should not be small since you will be investing in training. For instance BIMES charges for the trainer not the number of trainees. This means you will be paying the same amount to train 10 engineers or 2 engineers.
Our recommendation is to establish a BIM unit of 10 engineers for the pilot project. Get these 10 trained properly by the professionals. Once they are experienced enough they can start training the rest of the staff.
As per our experience this system has been the most successful and cost efficient BIM Implementation.
