As a product manufacturer you’ve probably heard of BIM, and you might well have conversations
within your business as to how you’re going to address it.
This video will look at what BIM is, the benefits of BIM and how you and your organisation can
get involved with it, and get the benefits from it.
Building information modelling (BIM) is about sharing information collaboratively across
the supply chain with the use of information models that have 3D representation and data
attributed to it. This helps designers design more effectively, contractors build better
collaboratively with their supply chains and facilities managers and asset managers manage
their buildings or infrastructure more effectively.
Ultimately BIM helps designing, constructing and managing assets in an improved way providing
real-time savings and cost benefits.
Buildings and infrastructure are made of construction products and the supply chains require accurate
data about these products that are then put into the information models so that this data
can be utilised in the way the buildings or infrastructure are designed, constructed and
most importantly managed.
You need to provide the data, about your products to
the whole supply chain so that the designers and the contractors can select the properties
about your products. By doing so, you have a far higher chance of actually being procured.
The information you provide will depend on the product you manufacture. This data and
information needs to be collected right through from the design and construction phase.
All the data and information that people require, you already have. It’s just that
they’re within PDFs. So you need to set this data free and make it interoperable so
that people can use it in different languages and different data formats. Once you’ve
done this, the designers will pick your products and importantly the data they need as will
the contractors.
Now as well as making data available, you might want to think about 3D representations
of your products; what’s often known as a “BIM object”. Not all products require
3D objects, such as paint or boarding materials or insulation. However, sometimes you might
want to produce your own 3D product as a marketing tool and to be able to give to designers.
The most important thing as I’ve mentioned before is the data and making your data available.
You may have heard of a Product Data Template (PDT). This is basically a list of all the
products properties and their values that you wish to make available and share. Once
you’ve got actual values about your product within it, that’s what is known as a Product
Data Sheet (PDS).
This needs to be made available in many different formats and languages in an interoperable
manner. So that your clients (such as a contractor) when specifying your product, can select what
properties they want that are important to them – such as a U-value or a fire rating
or compressive strength – and what format they want it in.
Now you understand your clients’ requirements, it’s time to make your data available. You
can do this in platforms such as the goBIM tool from CoBuilder. We’ll help you create
the Product Data Templates (PDTs), populate them to create Product Data Sheets (PDSs)
and make them readily available to all your clients so that they can come and select the
properties and data they need.
Now you can understand who is using your data, what data they require and you’re making
your products highly attractive to people who want to specify them.
So don’t be scared of BIM. What you need to do is just make your data available. You
already have all of this information!