I need to inspire you, yes all of you! It is almost 2017 and our construction projects are still running a great deal of their processes on 2D drawings. We have self driving cars, video drones, robotic bricklayers, handheld scanners, and yet we are still using 2D drawings to count, quantify, group, and plan most of our projects. Why does changing this require inspiration? Today’s low productivity in the built world is caused by many factors. There are the contract documents that refer to the 100% construction documents (by the way, how do we get those percentages?). We also have resistance to change, mistrust between parties, a limiting legal structure and a lack of vision.
I’d like to paint you a picture where all teams on a project agree to build models as close to construction ready as possible and make those models available to everyone else. A future of transparency, where we can easily use powerful 3D images of our projects to assist us in delivering great work. A time when a carpenter building formwork can pull up special views of rebar penetrations on his phone to make sure he is working in the proper location and orientation. A time when the superintendent can meet with the concrete sub and show him visually the work packages that he needs completed each day and then easily tie that to work completed and payment. A time when a project engineer can pull up a 3D model and transfer the points from the structure to their robotic total station to help perfectly position the steel being erected.
All of these things are possible today. They are just not used frequently enough on the thousands of projects that are being worked on every day. The reasons have been listed but, how do we change the future? Easy, take the workflow examples in the previous paragraph and add others that are important to you, your team, your company, and your customer. Then put together a group of forward thinking individuals who are passionate about great performance and willing to work with others slightly less passionate about change. Use this group to outline a 3D Vision for your company and don’t be afraid to change old workflows if it means more efficiency or accuracy for the teams. Put together a plan, set goals, get the support of your management team and then measure your progress against those goals. One day you will wake up and find you have created the future!
Don Henrich is an accomplished technology veteran in both the MCAD and the AEC industries. As Chief Operating Officer of Assemble he is responsible for strategic vision, sales, marketing, customer support, partners, and field operations. Don and his wife Noel have three children, reside in Marblehead, MA and spend as much time as possible sailing on Massachusetts Bay.
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