aceBIM Hosted Construction Talks Was a Big Success
On June 2nd, 2016 REACH Consulting and aceBIM hosted the inaugural Construction Talks Workshop in a packed conference room of 60 attendees, representing all sectors of the AECO industry. This was the first of an upcoming series, each of which will focus on a main discipline along the value chain of construction.
The first workshop was directed towards owners and started with a bang as Glenn Matich from Alberta Infrastructure (AI) presented some BIM research as well as highlighted future ambitions of the Province’s largest owner. One memorable quote from Glenn was “if we successfully implement BIM for the lifecycle of project, we will save enough money to build 5 projects for the price of 4”. Needless to say, for their planned $24 billion in capital projects over the next 5 years, this represents significant incentive for AI. Moreover, the fact that this is tax payer’s money, should provide incentive for the entire provincial community.
Once the room was fully inspired, predetermined groups of 6 convened and, working on a fictional project, were given a BIM goal to achieve. An obvious oversimplification; however, the exercise was about analyzing process, gaining multidiscipline perspective and team collaboration. While enthusiastic discussions filled the room, REACH and aceBIM representatives facilitated the conversations and answered any questions that arose. The assignment was about communication between stakeholders, a rudimentary task that, if echoed on real projects, would be a proactive way to synergize and find efficiencies. The teams gave a short summary of their discussions to the entire room at the end to compare notes. Although many differing ideas were heard, the general consensus was the same: collaborate early, collaborate often and involve everybody. Stay tuned for a whitepaper highlighting the session and the collective discussion.
There is already a buzz about the next Construction Talks Workshop scheduled for September 1st, 2016. The focus of this session will be construction management and will certainly dig deeper into collaborative BIM processes.