Autodesk this month announced Autodesk BIM 360 Docs, a comprehensive, cloud-based service for the construction industry.
The new service provides a virtual workspace for those in the industry to create, access, maintain, markup and share 2D and 3D project documents, plans and models.
Formerly known as Project Alexander, Autodesk BIM 360 Docs addresses some key challenges in the construction industry s identified by Autodesk.
According to a 2013 industry report by Autodesk, Making the Grade, up to 25 per cent of construction is rework, and approximately 10 per cent of materials are wasted.
The report finds that much of this waste can be attributed to the sometimes error-prone process of managing hundreds to thousands of project documents.
Autodesk BIM 360 Docs aims to help save time and reduce risk and errors in construction projects. The service is design to ensure that the entire project team is building from the correct version of documents and plans.
“Autodesk is delivering a new world order for construction management,” said Amar Hanspal, senior vice president, Products at Autodesk in a statement.
“A comprehensive solution is long overdue, and the delay has cost the construction trades too much money and too much time. Autodesk saw the challenge, owns the expertise, and is delivering a powerful step forward for the industry.”
Autodesk BIM 360 Docs connects construction project team members through collaborative, real-time access to construction documents throughout the project lifecycle. Planned capabilities include:
- Linked 3D and 2D experience, allowing users to interact with models in 2D views and visualize them in 3D on the same page, and vice-versa.
- Permission-based access control and approval processes to manage the updating and release of documents, preventing project teams from working from out-of-date information.
- Blazing-fast viewing experience for large-format PDF design documents, optimized for Apple iOS devices.
- Automated organization of original and updated construction docs into sets, including highly accurate and customized optical character recognition (OCR) of title blocks.
Industry leaders, from designers to general contractors and from engineers to owners/operators, tested and provided feedback to the Autodesk BIM 360 team throughout the product’s development.
“Document management has historically posed a significant challenge for much of the construction industry, yet many still rely on a cobbled-together web of one-off solutions, which isn’t really a solution at all,” said Jason Reece, technology and innovation improvement lead at Balfour Beatty Construction in the statement.
“We’ve collaborated with Autodesk throughout the development process and based on what we’ve seen so far, BIM 360 Docs is on the right track to offering the industry an integrated technology solution for this generations-old problem.”