Hi guys! If you're working in the construction industry and thinking about
collaborating digitally or starting to get into digital collaboration then this
video is going to really help you we have got the top 5 tips to help you succeed.
FM: So today we are joined by Don Jacob who is Chief Technology Officer of a company
called Bluebeam - thank you so much for being with us today Don, we really appreciate it. DJ: Thank you.
FM: Just to give you a bit of context Bluebeam's software is currently used by a 1.1 million
people worldwide and in a 130 different countries and get this,
94% of the top US contractors are using Bluebeam.
So Don certainly comes with quite a high pedigree and probably knows a lot more about this subject area
than I do, but we'll see that come out as we as we go through the video.
So before we get into any more detail Don, what is- what do we mean by digital collaboration?
DJ: So digital collaboration is being able to, get access to that
information; everybody on the project team being able to get access to that information,
so that the job can get done, can move faster,
decisions can be made. It's really about getting that information no matter
where you are, whether you're around the world or just down the street from each other.
but being able to see that same information and being able to empower
everybody on the project team to know that they have that information that
they can use to make the decisions to get the project- to keep on moving
FM: Absolutely and I guess digital collaboration is really coming to the
fore now with new technologies, you know, the days of us all being in the same
room for are design team meeting a kind of over and people can collaborate
virtually from London to New York to Sydney.
So it's really becoming more more widespread in the industry.
DJ: Yeah you're lucky if you're in the same room anymore it really is truly an international endeavor
to complete these these projects.
FM: So that's a bit about what digital collaboration actually means,
but without further ado let's let's dive into the tips.
FM: So our first tip is to make sure that you work in a common data environment (CDE)
but let's hold it right there. What do we mean by "common data environment"?
DJ: So a common data environment is that centralised, singular source of truth for
the project. You know often times if you you know take something, you know
historically, we've been taking paper and bringing it out into the field and the
problem with that is my version may be separate from your version and
you know what we're building to it is different and really when you centralise
that information in an electronic form, where you have everybody on the project
you know, contributing to that and you're controlling the versioning so that you
know that everybody's looking at the same set of information-
that's really, I think the power of that in the common data environment.
FM: So really when we say commentator environment, I mean it's quite a techie term that we sort of pass
around in the industry, but really it's it's nothing complicated it's an
environment that holds data that's common to everyone so the right people
in the project team can access the information at the right time,
and the other point I think as well as that common data environments don't have to
cost you a lot of money, I think people think they can spend you know, tens of
thousands of pounds and these sorts of things, but actually we're talking about
something that could be as simple as a server as Google Drive as Dropbox or
something like that. Particularly for smaller projects.
DJ: It's really about the type of information and what is the, you know,
the best system that can contain that information.
FM: Tip two is all about being able to access your information. Now it may sound
obvious but you need to choose a platform or an application where you can
actually get access to your documents either in the office, either out on the
field out on sites or when you're traveling and when your project teams
are based around the world.
DJ: The time factor is crucial so you don't have time
to go back to the- even the job site trailer or you know heaven forbid back
into the office. So that getting access to everyone, being- no matter who
you are on that project is crucial.
FM: Yeah I was just about to say, I think for me it's
about inclusivity, it's about not the really expensive high-end licenses that
only the very sort of high echelons of the project team can access this is about
you know bring it right down into the field, into the supply chain and even to
the client side as well so that people that, you know, wouldn't necessarily have
the full-blown project licenses or access to the you know all the stuff
that goes with a common data environment, can still get in and see the information
that they need at the right time.
DJ: Right, and understand how the project is going.
FM: So our third tip is to establish protocols and perhaps more importantly to actually
stick to them. So it's really important to lay some ground rules when you get
your CDE set up especially when you've got lots of other people collaborating
around the world all uploading information you to make sure you've got
your file naming conventions right, you've got upload locations properly
agreed, it's determined who has access to what and when and what level of
permissions what sort of stuff. This may sound incredibly dull, and to be
honest it is a bit dull, going through and enforcing this kind of stuff but it
really does lay a good bedrock for your project doesn't it.
DJ: You know from an accountability standpoint being able to standardise on the documents and
the processes for reviewing and commenting on the documents so as the
projects start to adopt the techniques and approaches for standardising on the
process, you can really start to benefit from that and the tools really
enable that so applications like Bluebeam Revu, from a mark-up standpoint,
really help projects standardise on the methodology for being able to markup documents.
You can have one trade to use a standard set of colouring for
being able to add the comments, while you may have the designer or architect using
another set of colours for being able to add their comments and by being able
to set up these standards and practices for collaborating it just helps the
process go that much quicker.
FM: Tip four is about working with a universal file format and this is really
important when you've got lots and lots of people collaborating in a digital
space, and particularly where everyone might have the same extent of setup.
This really for me leads onto the idea of "interoperability" and there's the subject of interoperability.
I know it's a very techie word. What that basically means is the ability for systems to communicate.
So if an architect has developed something in a very high-end authoring tool, like ArchiCAD or Revit,
and they send it to another member of the design team or someone in the supply
chain, does that person have a capability to open up file and see it from their end?
DJ: Now I think that's where you know PDF, the portable document format,
really comes into play is that, you have that familiarity of the paper,
the drawing which really kind of powers a project, but in an electronic form.
So that you can you know publish out of these varying high-end authoring tools
but distribute to the entire project team, that information set that maybe
that's interrelated, that's referenced in such a way that the information in it
can be delivered in that familiar format. It's kind of the best of both worlds.
FM: I think with the rise of building information modelling (BIM) I think this is
becoming more and more prevalent. I think some people think that they have
to have their own licenses for these very high-end authoring tools to be able
to see the model, to see the graphical representation of the model when
actually there are free viewers available for those platforms
and there's also systems like Bluebeam but also the 3D PDF feature as well.
DJ: PDF is a great container format for being able to capture that drawing design
information, as well as the 3D model information, as well as that
downstream information that often needs to make it back into the project information.
FM: Definitely, I think that's the real big takeaway from
this, you know, it's one thing to be able to access and collaborate digitally but
really you need to think about everybody that's involved and how they're going to
be actually able to see and open these files-
again, it sounds really simple, it sounds like a straightforward thing
but it's pretty fundamental to getting stuff done and to collaborating digitally.
FM: So our final tip, and probably the most important one for me, is to communicate.
This is even more important in a digital environment than in a more
traditional setting, particularly as you can have teams working remotely and
working in different parts of the world potentially, it's really important that
you communicate, share information and just talk to each other. The big thing to
remember here is that, you know, we're talking about digital collaboration but
really this comes back down to people. We've got people working on a project
team, working together, they're the ones that are going to drive this forward so
don't think of these digital tools as replacing people, as somehow making it
this sort of virtual world where people don't exist where there isn't much
interaction happening, it's all driven by people and you need to communicate.
DJ: Yeah those are great points one of the key aspects that I think the technology
is providing today, is that democratisation of everyone's voice on
the project. So whether you're in the field, you're in the back in the design
firm the the applications capture that information and track who said what and
when and it's that ability to be able to capture, organise and record all
that information today, tomorrow and in the future that really helps increase
the fidelity of the project.
Well I think one thing we should underline, is something we go back to that we mentioned earlier
on one of the earlier tips, is the thing about protocols so when you have got these common areas for
communication and you've got lots of people involved, who were able to
communicate at the same time it's about setting the protocols for what was spoken
about in which feed, in which channel, in which sort of stream and what is okay to
exchange and what's not to exchange, because obviously if you've got 20, 30 people on a
communication tool and two people start talking about their weekend or what
they're doing that evening, it can be, it can drive us mad can't it? So the big
take-away from that guys is to communicate, it's even more important in
a digital environment than it was in a more traditional setting and don't forget
that's all about people, people driving this forward, this is just a different
way of talking to people and make sure you get some protocols in place
otherwise it will drive you mad.
DJ: Yeah so those are some great points and really
what the common data environment enables
is collaboration, it's really ultimately about being able to collaborate on the
project, it's an enabler for getting that information in a unified way to everyone
on the project so that those decisions can be made that accelerate the project
get it completed on time and on budget.
FM: Definitely. I think the points it makes they are really going to set people up-
to the people the beginning of the process, maybe they haven't done this before,
set them up in the right way to successfully
collaborate in a digital environment with their project teams.
So thanks. Thank you so much for being with us today Dom, we've really appreciated it
I think your input has been absolutely priceless. Don't forget, if you've got any
questions you want to ask Don or I just put them in the comments below and we
will get back to you, and if you enjoyed this video and would like to get more
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