Thursday, December 3, 2009

AU 2009 Day 3

One thing I didn’t expect (I probably should have) is that having all of this dialog with other users and managers involved in the BIM/VDC/IPD process has given me NUMEROUS ideas for future blog posts.  I HAVE been taking notes and hopefully I will be able to get these ideas out here for everyone to share in the upcoming weeks.

One of the stand out sessions (for me anyway) from yesterday was put on by Joshua Kanner from Vela Systems, INC I posted about VELA a few months ago, and I was very excited to see the product a little closer and be able to have a conversation with Joshua in the exhibit hall after hours.

What a neat tool.  It allows your field personnel to interact with the BIM using a very friendly interface (one that is probably not far removed from what they use now, even if they are using hard-copy forms) that is task/process based. An example would be the staff commissioning the facility can use a barcode (or even RFID) scanner to track equipment (Received, damaged, ready to install, installed, prepped for functional test, etc) using a simple procedure that is familiar to them.  The barcode/RFID tag can add data directly from the Vela database when scanned.  That data (manufacturer, model, whatever the supplier decides to add) can then be automatically added back into the NavisWorks model the GC is working in.  Read that again… Automatic bi-directional information transfer.  WE ARE THERE!!!!   This IS BIM!!!!!  The sky is the limit.  Color code views to show equipment status (delivered, damaged, etc)  Pan back and see your major pinch points visually. 

Can you tell I’m excited?  Geesh….

Thought  provoking idea of the day:

How can I use the model to not only maintain my building, but control it as well?  With automatic control and sensing systems out there, are we really that far away from this?

No comments: