Basic tips to use Styles in SketchUp
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Learning Microsoft Project
You can utilize a number of reliable resources to learn how to use Microsoft Project efficiently. Here are several possibilities:
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AutoCAD: Layout Preview Thumbnails
Preview all the layouts in AutoCAD for easier use.Català - Castellano - Deutsch
. In AutoCAD files with many Layout Tabs it can become quite tedious to navigate through them if one does not have a very clear coding of the layout tab names. To solve this, AutoCAD, since v.2009 has a command called QVLAYOUT that allows you to preview all the layouts with a line of thumbnails at the bottom of the screen so you can visually select to which one you want to jump to. You can even change the size of the thumbnails with the usual CTRL+Mousewheel. See below.
You can also quick access this fucntion with the QVL shortcut.
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How to extract the IFC Files contained on a Tekla TBP Package
Tekla TBP Package extracting is easy using this workflowCatalà - Castellano - Deutsch
I recently received a BIM model for review (It was mainly intended for the Structural consultant to validate what the Metal Structure subcontractor was going to fabricate) and wanted to access the individual IFC files. My idea, because we were having some discussions about the total cost and extra KG of steel that a project change meant, was to import the IFC files into Revit and be able to create a schedule to obtain the total weight of the metal structure. The problem was I could not open the TBP file in revit. Of course someone had figured it out first so I followed these steps and it worked perfectly.
So the trick is to install a program that can open the TBP file and extract its contents. IN this case, using 7-zip, works perfectly. You install the program, then open the TBP file. Inside the 7-zip interface you can browse the folder structure until you find the IFC files and extract them. Worked perfect!.
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MT - Using BIM as a PM Tool: 4.3. – Secondary Data Summary
An exhaustive research was done to find the 35 case studies that served us as a basis to analyze the influence of BIM in real life construction projects.
The sample of projects was not homogeneous, with half of the case studies being projects build in United States (Table 4.4). This is probably due to the higher penetration rates of BIM in USA compared to Europe (Figure 1.2) and a higher number of scholars and professional bodies publishing articles about the subject on the west side of the Atlantic ocean. Regardless of this, 35 case studies are an important sample, and the results and finding obtained are relevant to analyze the role of BIM as a PM Tool.
Table 4.4 Case Study Count per Country
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||
Country
|
Number of Case Study Projects
|
Percentage
|
USA
|
18
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51,43%
|
UK
|
8
|
22,86%
|
France
|
2
|
5,71%
|
Canada
|
2
|
5,71%
|
Israel
|
2
|
5,71%
|
Germany
|
1
|
2,86%
|
China
|
1
|
2,86%
|
Middle East
|
1
|
2,86%
|
Total
|
35
|
100%
|
As it has been mentioned before, this part of the research was aimed to find in which ways BIM can help delivering construction projects based on the KPIs defined on table 3.1. The results show that Cost, Time, Communication, Coordination and Quality are the KPIs more positively affected by the implementation of BIM.
The same results show that the challenges and negative effects of BIM implementation are relatively few, and most of them are focused on software or hardware issues. We suggest that these problems and challenges could be solved with a wider implementation of BIM in all firms involved in the project, with better training for all employees involved and with stakeholders getting used to working in a new way. Further studies might be needed once BIM has more penetration in the industry to analyze if these challenges are actually easy to overcome.
Lastly, the a priori list of 10 reasons for PM to be BIM proficient (Allison, 2010) are here briefly compared with the results and findings of the case study research (Table 4.5) to analyze if what BIM lobbyist are saying about the potentials of BIM is actually being found in real life projects.
Table 4.5 Benefits of BIM for PM in the case studies
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A priori benefit (after Allison, 2010)
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Benefits in case study literature?
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Example
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Organize the project schedule
and budget
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Yes
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project management
team used 4D models to discover several conflicts in the schedule which were
not discovered in the CPM-based Gantt chart (Haymaker and Fischer, 2001)
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Work well with the Design Team
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Yes
|
The design team was
also able to share some information to help facilitate coordination. (
McGraw-Hill, 2010a)
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Hiring and controlling the
Subcontractors
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Yes
|
Subcontractors were
more knowledgeable about the project as they have been involved sooner and
are resolving issues in the design and detailing stage that would typically
come up in the field. (Khanzode et al. , 2008)
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RFIs and Change Orders
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Yes
|
37% reduction in
coordination RFIs and a 32% reduction in coordination change orders
(McGraw-Hill, 2009)
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Optimize the Owner’s
experience and satisfaction
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Yes
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savings of $9M and 6
months to the owner due to the use of the BIM / VDC tools and a collaborative
project delivery approach (Khanzode et al., 2008)
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Project closeout
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No
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The later phases of a
project, such as closeout or operations and maintenance, are not seen as
valuable opportunities for BIM by any users, including owners. (McGraw-Hill,
2009)
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Profit margin
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Yes
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Engineers see BIM
saving time and money. For them the analysis is simple: less problems equals
more profit (…) profitability increased as a result of using BIM.
(McGraw-Hill, 2009)
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Progressive Owners are
mandating BIM on their projects:
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Yes
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Half of owners (48%)
say that BIM’s impact on the overall project outcome is a high benefit (...)
increasingly, contractors are mandating BIM from key trades and owners are
demanding it from entire teams. (McGraw-Hill, 2009)
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PM Firm Growth
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Yes
|
Leveraging BIM
capability to win new business was reported as the top internal business
benefit (McGraw-Hill, 2009)
|
The comparison shows that the a priori benefits of using BIM for Project Managers are actually being found in real life case studies. Only the benefits related to project closeout are not being yet perceived by users or owners. BIM benefits are thus not just theoretical and moreover, they are perceived by many stakeholders. Project Managers who are not pushing for BIM use in their projects should be aware of these benefits having real positive effects, and consider in which projects they could consider the potential implementation of BIM.
All the insights that we obtained from this secondary data gathering and analysis will be compared on chapter 6 with the information collected from primary sources. The results from these primary sources will be described and analyzed in the following chapter.
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MT - Using BIM as a PM Tool: 4.2.9 – Software Issues
As mentioned previously, the Procurement KPI on table 3.1 was replaced by the Software Issues KPIon Table 4.1 and Table 4.2. This doesn’t mean that BIM cannot help on procurement or present certain challenges related to this KPI, but since the projects showed no reference to it and many to software issues, this replacement was thought to show more valuable information.
Table 4.3 Software Issues due to BIM implementation (see
Annex IV)
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Project
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Software Issue
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Source
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Walt Disney Concert Hall
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Inconsistencies and lack of data on
the 3D model
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Haymaker and Fischer, 2001
|
Eagle Ridge
|
Technical difficulties
were encountered that made it necessary to make ‘manual’ adjustments to the
drawings produced automatically
|
Kaner et al., 2008
|
Expeditionary Hospital
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Information Transfer Bottlenecks
|
Manning and Messner, 2008
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Lack of Parametric Content
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||
Unfamiliarity of BIM’s breadth of ability and
associated experience of application in programming
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||
Precast Shelter
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modelling issues that
arose from ignorance of the right modelling practices
|
Kaner et al., 2008
|
Cascadia Center
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not all the data could be
interchanged
|
McGraw-Hill, 2010b
|
US Food
and Drug Administration Headquarters
|
large projects pushed the limit of the software
|
McGraw-Hill, 2010b
|
20% of the projects presented software issues. This is a relatively high number, although analyzing the type of software issues (Table 4.3) one can see that these issues could be easily solved with more training of the personnel and better development of interoperability standards and practices as well as having all stakeholders using BIM in the projects.
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