"BIM'ing is collaboration and for that you need expert partners."
Automation, robotisation and thus digital design are absolute necessities in the construction industry. This is the firm belief of Hilti, global supplier of tools, products, software and other services to construction companies and installers. Together with Cadac as its partner, the company has been making strides with Building Information Modelling for five years. A pilot with Autodesk BIM 360 is now running at its Dutch headquarters in Berkel en Rodenrijs, which, if successful, will be rolled out across Europe. "BIM'ing is working together and for that you need expert partners."
Family-owned Hilti, headquartered in Liechtenstein, is a major player in the construction industry with over 30,000 employees and annual sales (2018) of €5.6 billion in 128 countries. Growth figures have been in double digits for years and are expected to remain so.
Submission
"You don't have to be a maths prodigy for that," says Hayo Meijs, responsible at Hilti Netherlands for the Building Information Modelling process and everything that comes with it. "The world population is growing to ten billion people. They all want to live and move around. That means a huge task with new buildings and infrastructure. Houses, hospitals, office buildings, roads, rail, bridges, sewers, water pipes and so on. Hilti provides tools, services and certain essential products for these sectors. Logically, the focus is on growth. But I say right away that construction has to digitise like lightning. Labour productivity has to go up. Working harder is not a solution, that's old school. And more construction workers are simply not there."
The only solution is to drastically scale up labour productivity. As in the manufacturing industry, Jeroen Janssen, the permanent contact for Hilti on behalf of Cadac, also knows. "In construction, labour productivity has increased by maybe two or three per cent in the last ten years. Contrast that with the manufacturing industry, which has become more than 25 per cent more productive. Which does much more with fewer people. Thanks to digitisation, automation and robotisation. We will take that step in the construction industry too.
The realisation that digitisation is inevitable is there by now. Not only because of the pressure of the construction task, but also to bring down failure costs.
Hayo Meijs
Programma-manager BIM - HILTI
Billions
Definitely, adds Hayo Meijs. "Every self-respecting company in the construction industry is working on it. Hilti supplies thousands of contractors and other suppliers in the construction industry and it's always about BIMs. The realisation that digitisation is inevitable is there by now. Not only because of the pressure of the construction task, but also to bring down failure costs.
Billions of euros are lost due to poor planning and coordination. There is still the idea that any bottlenecks will 'be solved on site'. This creates delays with repair work that drive up costs. Both through extra materials and extra manpower. I am convinced that we are on the eve of a tipping point, of a digital revolution in the construction sector. We have to."
Legolisation
The key is digital design. In that context, Hayo Meijs points to China, where a skyscraper is taken out of the ground within a month and a half. "Matter of stacking blocks," he says. "We call that the Legolisation of Construction, a term introduced by Delft professor De Ridder.
Of course, in China, all these buildings look alike. Is that what we want? Maybe not, but modular construction is the basis. The design is worked out to the smallest detail. Elements are prefabricated. The holes, slots, anchors and recesses for doors and windows are immediately in the right place. The logistics around the supply of materials, tools and manpower are perfectly organised. That will be the new building."
Cadac Modules
Yet this need not lead to uniformity, Jeroen Janssen believes. "Just like with Lego bricks, you can vary endlessly. Give ten children a box of bricks and the assignment to build a house and you get ten different houses. Perhaps you can be more creative with digital design than with the current way of working.
Recently, our Cadac Modules Configure solution is available that allows Hilti sales people to configure a bracket assembly very easily and quickly. For supporting pipes in a building, for example. With a few clicks, the precast drawings are ready for the partner who prefabricates the brackets so that they can be assembled directly on the building site. Very efficient."
Cadac has made the move from software supplier to digital enabler.
The basis for Building Information Modelling is organising and sharing data. "We started doing this about five years ago with Cadac as a partner," Hayo Meijs continues. "Obviously as a supplier of the Autodesk software, but mainly because Cadac provides knowledge and training, thinks along with us and advises. BIM'ing is a process in which you need partners. Specialists who also subscribe to the need for change and dare to invest in digitalisation. Cadac has made the move from software supplier to digital enabler.
Process
We are already using them and can convince more and more parties to get in. Clients, engineering firms, architects and contractors. Within our own company, this has made us a forerunner. We are now setting up a BIM Competence Centre in Berkel en Rodenrijs in which we will take the next step. With Autodesk's BIM 360 solution, our sales people and modellers are now making the real step towards digital design and construction.
Does it happen automatically then? No, in fact you set up a new primary process. This also requires flexibility from our own ICT people. They also have to switch over, think in reverse. Then a good partner is essential. Cadac provides good training, supports, motivates and is always available if something goes wrong."
Anchors
Hayo Meijs has plenty of examples. "For example, we supply the anchors and bracket systems used to secure pipes, cables and tubes. That sounds simple, but it is essential to determine the exact location and specifications in the digital design.
We then supply the right materials with the necessary tools. At the right time. Another party can pre-drill the holes to save time on the building site. This allows you to work out every part of a building in detail digitally.
Order in chaos
Certainly, not every party is ready yet. But things are moving fast. We have had good experiences with the new building for a data centre in Eemshaven and the headquarters of the European Patent Office in Rijswijk. Now we are working in Germany on a building for BASF in which dozens of partners are connecting.
All share their data in Autodesk's BIM 360. Everyone thus works with the most up-to-date data in the cloud, no more different versions circulating. Sending heavy files via WeTransfer is a thing of the past, so is storing documents piecemeal. The system can handle all types of documents. Order is created out of chaos. The error rate goes down, construction speed goes up. The beginning is there."
BIM-center
The BIM Competence Centre will serve as a knowledge centre for the entire Hilti Group. "First of all for Europe and perhaps worldwide," Hayo Meijs hopes. "We also want to grow further in Asia and Eastern Europe. There, developments are going fast, but we definitely have expertise where there is a need."
Jeroen Janssen can only support Hayo Meijs' enthusiastic plea. "For us, Hilti is obviously a valuable relationship and now a figurehead of our campaign to roll out BIM'men further. Like in the manufacturing industry, Cadac wants to play the role of digital enabler in construction too."