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Over 350,000 Projects Turn to Autodesk Construction Cloud for Preconstruction Workflows

Autodesk releases new product enhancements for quantity takeoff and design review workflows to increase collaboration and mitigate risk during preconstruction

San Francisco, Calif. — September 23, 2021Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) today announced that more than 350,000 projects across the globe are using Autodesk Construction Cloud to power more effective preconstruction workflows, including document management, bid management, quantification, model coordination and design collaboration. The company also announced a series of product updates, doubling down on its commitment to unify the construction process and empower teams to build better.

Owners, general contractors and specialty contractors alike, across all industry segments around the world, turn to Autodesk Construction Cloud for their preconstruction workflows. DeAngelis Diamond, Windover Construction, Inc. and Granger Construction are three such companies using Autodesk Construction Cloud to supercharge workflows for bid leveling and risk mitigation, model conditioning, quantification, design collaboration, model coordination and more:

DeAngelis Diamond – a national construction management firm specializing in commercial, multi-family and healthcare construction with offices across Florida, Tennessee, Alabama and Michigan.Granger Construction – a Michigan-based construction management firm specializing in education, commercial, industrial, healthcare and the public sector.Windover Construction, Inc – a full service, employee-owned firm that provides comprehensive preconstruction planning, estimating, design-build, virtual design and construction management service in the education, healthcare, commercial, senior living and hospitality spaces.

“Mistakes made in preconstruction become exponentially more expensive when they are discovered in the field,” said Zac Hays, head of preconstruction product at Autodesk Construction Solutions. “Autodesk Construction Cloud arms preconstruction teams with best-in-class solutions to help mitigate risk and reduce rework, whether it’s reducing the total number of RFIs, increasing collaboration between the design and planning phases or using machine learning and predictive insights during the bidding process within BuildingConnected.”

“Any contractor knows that risk mitigation during the preconstruction phase is one of the most critical factors to success, and a big part of that is bid leveling,” said Brett Diamond, CIO and principal at DeAngelis Diamond. “BuildingConnected not only gives us access to a robust network of specialty contractors, but also makes collaboration with our estimating team seamless and provides valuable insight into our historical bidding data. Combined withTradeTapp’s machine learning and AI technology to evaluate and mitigate risk, BuildingConnected allows us to reduce our rework, stay on time, on budget and be more nimble and efficient as an organization.”

Autodesk Construction Cloud is a cloud-based construction management solution that offers an end-to-end platform to manage every phase of the building lifecycle, from design and plan, to build and operate. For the design and plan phases of construction projects, Autodesk Construction Cloud supports:

Bid management and qualification – bidding teams can access the largest real-time construction network with an easy-to-use platform that streamlines the bid and risk management process, while utilizing machine learning to help identify, quantify and provide risk mitigation insights.Design Collaboration — multi-disciplinary teams can update designs in the same place, at the same time. With controlled package sharing, team WIPs, issue identification and design change notifications, teams will always be up to date with the latest design content.Model coordination – designers, engineers, BIM experts and trades can easily contribute to model coordination using automatic clash detection, clash grouping and tolerances, an issues solution that connects tools like Navisworks andRevit to the cloud and an aggregated model that can be reviewed by discipline, relevant sections or a first-person walk through.Model conditioning – teams can easily add custom data to a given model and classify and organize project data, turning a design into a construction-ready model that can be easily broken down into relevant scopes for downstream activities.Quantity takeoff – estimating teams can perform 2D and 3D quantification workflows from a common data environment to increase collaboration, speed and accuracy during the estimation process.Document management – Autodesk Construction Cloud provides a common data environment that helps teams organize, distribute, and share files on a single, connected document management platform, ensuring all team members have access to the information they need.

New Takeoff API allows users to leverage quantities from Autodesk Takeoff externally

Autodesk Takeoff has released a beta API that allows estimating teams to leverage quantity takeoff data and project information directly from Autodesk Takeoff and integrate it into existing solutions. With this new API, teams can now extend the life of takeoff data to inform project decisions and power downstream workflows while breaking down barriers and providing added flexibility.

“Along with being able to visualize our takeoffs in both 2D and 3D, Autodesk Construction Cloud’s common data environment gives our team a big advantage when it comes to quantification,” said Amr Raafat, vice president of VDC and technology at Windover Construction. “Knowing that our team is working from the most up to date information, from a single source of truth, allows us to enhance our collaboration and deliver more accurate and complete quantity takeoffs.”

utodesk BIM Collaborate adds functionality to better identify design and constructability issues

Autodesk BIM Collaborate, a solution that enables project teams to easily manage coordination and design review workflows from the cloud, has also announced new updates that will help teams be able to quickly identify and resolve design and constructability issues throughout the building lifecycle. These updates include:

A new clash tolerance filter, which allows individuals on the project team to check their work using dynamic clash tolerance filters—making it easier to focus on larger clashes at first, while getting more detailed as you go.Issues in Design Collaboration for architects, engineers and BIM experts to identify 3D issues in the design phase—adding relevant issue details, assignments, comments and due dates to be resolved in Revit or passed on to the coordination phase. 2D issues are also available for digital markup of 2D sheets with shapes, text, measurements, photo references and issue pins during design review.

“Information siloes between general contractors and trades have historically been a massive challenge for those of us working in preconstruction,” said Darrah Leach, VDC Manager at Granger Construction. “Building a bridge between the two with collaborative features allows us to work not only cross functionally, but with partners outside of our own organization. This helps connect us in ways that simply were not possible before and, at the end of the day, helps us speed up our delivery time. Autodesk BIM Collaborate acts as that bridge between project partners and allows us to work in lockstep as broader team.”

ssemble now supports publishing directly from Autodesk Docs

In line with offering a model conditioning solution that allows BIM and VDC Managers to organize, customize and share model data with key stakeholders for downstream workflows,Assemble users can now publish Revit models directly from Autodesk Docs and BIM 360 Docs to Assemble without using Revit or any publisher add-ins. This greatly reduces duplication of efforts by leveraging the common data environment and helps ensure everyone is working from the latest project documents.

“As technology pushes the envelope of what’s possible in construction, preconstruction has truly become a secret weapon that allows teams to improve their margins, speed up delivery times, reduce risk and deliver projects with more precision,” said Jim Lynch, senior vice president and general manager, Autodesk Construction Solutions. “Autodesk Construction Cloud delivers a suite of preconstruction products that are bound together by a common data environment – making collaboration seamless and breaking down siloes that lead to costly mistakes and rework. We’re excited to be powering the future of preconstruction and look forward to continue delivering on our promise of building better, together.”
About Autodesk

Autodesk is changing how the world is designed and made. Our technology spans architecture, engineering, construction, product design, manufacturing, media and entertainment, empowering innovators everywhere to solve challenges big and small. From greener buildings to smarter products to more mesmerizing blockbusters, Autodesk software helps our customers to design and make a better world for all. For more information visit autodesk.com or follow @autodesk.

Media Contact

Paul Chalker
Autodesk
[email protected]

Autodesk, the Autodesk logo, Assemble, Autodesk Construction Cloud, BIM 360, BuildingConnected, Navisworks, Revit, TradeTapp are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.

© 2021 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

The post Over 350,000 Projects Turn to Autodesk Construction Cloud for Preconstruction Workflows appeared first on Digital Builder.

Construction Services

McKinstry Paves the Way for Smoother Tech Adoption in Construction

Join McKinstry live on October 7, 2021 at 2:00 PM PT for the much-anticipated Autodesk University session, Successful Digital Transformation Through a Product Management Organization. The industry talk will be led by Dace Campbell, Director of Product Management for McKinstry and full of actionable insights.

Firms are adopting new technology at a rapid rate today — but they aren’t necessarily implementing solutions to their full potential. There are plenty of reasons behind this, though the most common ones are largely related to budget and staff. 

In a 2020 study by JBKnowledge, respondents were asked what they considered is the top limiting factor in trying and/or adopting new technology at their firms. Nineteen percent of respondents cited budgetary reasons and another 19% pointed to the lack of staff to support new tech. Meanwhile, 17% cited employee hesitance as their top limiting factor in technology adoption. 

The construction industry clearly has challenges when it comes to tech adoption and implementation, and this was even more apparent during the pandemic, when companies struggled to stay connected. If there’s one thing that the year 2020 taught us, it’s the importance of being technologically fluent at every step of the construction process. 

Fortunately, there are companies such as McKinstry, which are setting the bar high when it comes to establishing processes and strategies for better technology adoption. 

As a large specialty contractor, McKinstry has a unique perspective on construction teams and technology. 

The company understands that the structure of many AEC firms aren’t conducive to technology adoption. IT departments are often disconnected from high-level business objectives, which makes execution difficult. What’s more, calculating the ROI of technology — plus measuring the opportunity costs of not adopting tech — isn’t a clear-cut task.

McKinstry has a way to address this with their Product Management Organization (PdMO). We’ll get into the details below, but this organization of strategic thinkers guides implementation of critical, ROI-boosting technology for their clients at every step of the construction process. 

Simply put, McKinstry’s PdMO is able to efficiently connect the threads of common need across all lines of a business.

Let’s take a closer look at the issues that many builders face and how McKinstry is helping. 

What stops builders from making informed business decisions?

Industry-wide pain points — which often come in the form of inefficiencies, confusion, and mistakes — lead to a whole lot of wasted time and money on projects. As Brian Antonsen, VP of Mechanical Construction at McKinstry put it, “At McKinstry, we believe that half the energy in buildings is wasted, and half of construction costs are waste.”

While pain points may vary from one builder to the next, they often share the following themes.

Disconnected stakeholders

Project teams are composed of several people in a variety of roles. Difficulties arise when these stakeholders struggle to articulate needs or plans, especially when it comes to important details such as dates and scopes. Problems can also come up when extended stakeholders can’t access the info they need because of multiple points of data entry. These issues can leave people in the dark and wreak havoc on a project’s timeline. 

Inability to forecast effectively

Not having access to reliable data is a major pain point for builders because it prevents them from planning effectively. Without accurate forecasting, teams can easily mismanage their time and budget.

Manual and cumbersome processes

The lack of automation in projects means teams have to manually carry out tasks like entering and reviewing data. On top of that, manual processes are often fraught with human error and duplication of tasks, which of course is time and labor-intensive.

Poor coordination across different locations

Construction work doesn’t just happen on the jobsite. With people working remotely as well as being in the office, teams are often scattered across different locations. When builders don’t have tight systems that connect various team members, projects suffer.

Inefficient task and progress management

Tracking progress is critical in any project. Unfortunately, many builders have difficulties doing so because of uncoordinated task management. What’s more, many teams rely on guesswork based on outdated data. 

Uncertain estimates

The lack of data and inefficient procedures also lead to inaccurate and uncertain estimates, which means builders can’t get a solid handle on the scope and cost of the project. This results in a poor bidding process and overall experience.

“At McKinstry, we believe that half the energy in buildings is wasted, and half of construction costs are waste.”

The above-mentioned pain points greatly hinder builders from making informed decisions. 

Fortunately, the folks at McKinstry have come up with a way to attach real dollar figures and other metrics to just about every pain point a builder could face. This is extremely valuable, because it enables their team to quantify not just their ROI, but the opportunity cost of not using technology to address their pains. 

How a PdMO can help firms pivot to digital workflows

How exactly does McKinstry’s PdMO help transform their digital workflows? Let’s explore how a PdMO can truly be revolutionary for firms struggling with technology adoption and decision-making.

What is PdMO? 

Before we go any further though, it’s worth defining what “product” means in the context of PdMO. The “product” is essentially a technology solution being developed and deployed. That could be in the form of software, a website, an app, etc.


Example of Augmented Reality (AR), a technology product, in use on a real job site. Image courtesy of McKinstry

Product Management Organization (PdMO) then refers to the team responsible for implementation of those technology solutions, or “products”. Essentially, it acts as a strategic organization chartered with implementing, managing, and measuring the impact of technology to ensure alignment between the organization’s technical roadmap and business needs

Some specific responsibilities of a PdMO are to identify market opportunities and commercial viability for new products, guide development, launch and management of technology — all the way to the eventual retirement of that technology. More often than not, the technology the PdMO helps implement is an internal enterprise system, set of tools, or solution that addresses a firm’s specific business need.

The Product Management Organization streamlines a firm’s digital transformation processes, ensuring that the technology being adopted truly addresses the business’ needs. They develop success metrics that align with a desired outcome. Then measure business improvement or progress towards that outcome. 

How McKinstry’s PdMO works

McKinstry’s PdMo gives them a framework for innovation with enough structure and predefined processes to be effective in executing projects. They’re able to develop products, or technology solutions, on the fly with minimal business disruption. This allows them to implement the right technology at the most optimal time for the firms they’re supporting. This is typically done on a five-year Construction Technology (ConTech) Roadmap.

By fully digitizing all lines of business and projects, they’re able to serve as designers, contractors, and manufacturers – operating in and across multiple industries in the same enterprise. Ultimately, McKinstry’s PdMO enables them to iron out a firm’s technological needs, so they can reap the benefits and see an ROI much faster. 

As one example, according to Dace Campbell, Director of Product Management in Construction at McKinstry, their PdMO is an essential resource to the success of the company’s data standardization efforts

McKinstry Paves the Way for Smoother Tech Adoption in Construction
A construction field crew pilots new technology to validate uses cases & identify business value — in support of diagnosing before they prescribe a solution. Image courtesy of McKinstry

“Best practices championed by our PdMO include a ‘“diagnose before you prescribe’” approach, with a thorough discovery process to identify pain points, root causes, and impacts of not having data standards,” he says. 

“By qualifying and quantifying this pain in terms of business value, we can articulate and prioritize the need to standardize our data among other important process and technology improvements across our enterprise.” 

McKinstry’s PdMO also allows their teams to be more agile and adapt to the changes to their market, so they can stay competitive. 

Why is measuring implementation of technology important?

The common line, “you can’t improve what you don’t measure,” rings very true in construction technology. 

Successful digital transformation isn’t just about adopting the newest tools. You also need a way to track and measure the performance of your initiatives. Metrics such as your ROI, profit, productivity, and opportunity costs should be quantifiable and accessible — meaning team members shouldn’t have difficulty finding, sharing, or applying data to make better business decisions

Since McKinstry is able to prescribe real dollar values to its technology solutions through its PdMO, business leaders have a clear understanding of what they’re getting out of technology and what they could be missing out on. 

Ultimately, this helps McKinstry’s clients make informed decisions around technology and beyond. 

Other notable innovation initiatives at McKinstry

Aside from their Product Management Organization, McKinstry is also leading a number of projects that empower their teams to innovate and accelerate digital construction workflows faster.

Such projects include McKinstry’s 2020 Construction Hackathon, a two-day event involving 50 employees across multiple backgrounds and departments. The Hackaton encouraged participants to come up with innovative solutions to minimize waste in design and construction.

McKinstry 2020 Construction Hackathon
The McKinstry team makes progress on new technology as part of their 2020 Construction Hackathon. Image courtesy of McKinstry

There’s also MSUITE, a cloud-based shop management platform designed to connect BIM, Fab, and field construction teams. MSUITE has a Shop Manager capability that enables you to improve production efficiency in manufacturing as well as gain visibility into shop performance data. And thanks to the PdMO, McKinstry is well along its way to implementing MSUITE across their network of shops, with just a few more trades to go in a few more locations. 

Bringing it all together

As the construction industry continues to advance, the need to efficiently implement technology grows. A Product Management Organization is one strategy that builders can emulate to do just that. A “PdMO-like” approach enables firms to assess their needs and ensure that they always have an effective technology roadmap.

Thanks to McKinstry’s ability to attach quantifiable and qualifiable business value to technology, the firm is setting an example in how to properly measure implementation of new technology. And they’re able to make smarter, more informed business decisions because of it.

To close on some learned wisdom, when implementing any construction technology solution — whether operating with a formal Product Management Organization or not — McKinstry recommends you “define a clear change management process, identify the business problem, quantify business value, and align outcomes and success metrics to ensure you meet the needs of your business.”

Sage advice.

Learn more about McKinstry by checking out their website

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