The BIM Journey

At our recent BCFA Open exhibition visitors were able to attend Paul Quinn’s CPD ‘BIM, Simplified with NBS’ which introduced BIM, the tools that designers are using on BIM projects, and advised furniture manufacturers on their BIM journey.  We seized this opportunity to ask Paul and our members more about their experience and opinions of BIM.

The Gov.uk publication ‘Industrial strategy: government and industry in partnership’ defines Building Information Modelling (BIM) as ‘a collaborative way of working, underpinned by the digital technologies which unlock more efficient methods of designing, creating and maintaining our assets. BIM embeds key product and asset data and a 3 dimensional computer model that can be used for effective management of information throughout a project lifecycle – from earliest concept through to operation.’

For Gov.uk Patrick MacLeamy – Chief Executive Officer of HOK, explained that ‘BIM is the first truly global digital construction technology and will soon be deployed in every country in the world. It is a ‘game changer’ and we need to recognise that it is here to stay – but in common with all innovation this presents both risk and opportunity. The UK programme based on the BIS BIM Strategy is currently the most ambitious and advanced centrally driven programme in the world. The UK has a window of opportunity to capitalise on the success of its domestic programme and to take on a global leadership role in BIM exploitation, BIM service provision and BIM standards development.’ 

Within the film below you will hear how our members quickly grasped the opportunities available to them from the early adoption of BIM and the different approaches they took to integrate BIM into their business:

Are you thinking of introducing BIM into your business? Here are Paul Quinn’s top tips:

1. Identify your most specified products and prioritise modelling this selection.
2. Gather thorough data sheets for each selected product.
3. If you have invested in in-house software licenses and expertise create your models and host these on 3rd party websites.
4. If you haven’t invested in-house seek out an organisation which is able to assist in generating your models.
5. Visit The NBS website, their Object Standards provide an instruction manual enabling you to meet government standards.

We would love to hear your experiences, questions and feedback on using BIM, please comment below or join our conversation on Twitter here.