FAQ: How Sophisticated Technology Can Help Those in the AEC Industry
AEC firms benefit by using sophisticated technology in many ways, including the bottom line.
Many in the construction industry continue to use rudimentary technology, such as 2D CAD. While this software can help those in the AEC industry, continued use of it can leave companies behind. After all, versions of 3D CAD arrived on the scene in the mid to late 1990s, signaling a modernization of software that continues to this day.
Sophisticated technologies such as Revit, BIMpro, FABpro, and HoloLive offer AEC firms a host of high-level services. Learning how to use these technologies is made easier with readily available support. When AEC professionals gain these technological skills, they recognize the positive impact the technology has on the construction process. With the added capabilities the technology provides, AEC firms can take on larger more complex projects. Since work can also be done quicker and more efficiently, the investment in the technology will easily pay for itself and more.
Most importantly, these sophisticated technologies can help the construction process.
How does rudimentary technology limit an AEC firm?
CAD traces its roots back to the late 1950s, whereas BIM’s beginnings go back to the early 1960s although the term itself was first coined in 1992. The technology and its offshoots, such as Revit (created in 2000), have become standard in the AEC industry. Rapid technological advances are affecting the AEC industry just as every workplace is feeling the effects of the digital revolution.
AEC firms that continue to utilize rudimentary technology are left behind as they ignore the dramatic changes and upgrades that new technology and advanced tools offer.
New sophisticated technology geared toward the construction industry empowers AEC firms, helping them improve their service, speed, accuracy, and ultimately their bottom line.
How can sophisticated technology help your AEC firm compete for more lucrative projects?
Before investing in new equipment, every business needs to consider its bottom line. When an AEC firm upgrades to more sophisticated technology, it can bid on more advanced, hence lucrative, projects.
To compete and win bids on advanced buildings that have complex mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems (hospitals, residential high rises, university buildings, etc.), AEC firms need access to sophisticated technology such as Revit.
Revit’s powerful tools enable AEC firms to design MEP building systems with greater accuracy and in better coordination with architectural and structural components. One can design, model, and document building systems in the context of a full building information model, including architectural and structural components. Revit enables better workflow between design and detailing with tools that let AEC firms model to a higher level of detail, creating better-coordinated and more accurate steel and concrete models.
With the increased capabilities that sophisticated technology enables, AEC firms can bid and win highly sought-after projects and grow their bottom line.
At which stage of the construction process does up-to-date technology provide benefits?
From conception to design and through post-construction, a myriad tasks are necessary to complete a construction project. The pressure to ensure things progress at a rate that will keep clients happy is felt by everyone in the AEC industry.
Sophisticated technology, such as BIMPro can help your AEC firm complete its tasks in the construction process quicker, without sacrificing accuracy. A cloud-based plug-in that automates the spooling process, making it up to 90 times faster than manual methods, BIMPro also helps track productivity, progress, and resources, and enables more effective and efficient collaboration.