Treating the Redline Blues

This Architexts comic is funny because it’s true:

If you would prefer to get your laughs from sources other than frustrating rework, Newforma has a solution, and a Newforma customer has published the step-by-step instructions.

In “Managing Revit Drawing Revisions in Newforma Project Center” at AECbytes Issue #62, Matt Tosto describes how Affiliated Engineering, Inc., a multi-discipline technical consulting firm, is managing the steady stream of drawing revisions generated from Revit.

The process Matt shows in his “Tips and Tricks” article eliminates the possibility of people accessing dated drawings.

You’re not restricted to Revit alone to employ the Newforma Document Control activity center. It can be used to manage revisions of any file types, including AutoCAD DWG and Microstation DGN files.

For a short video overview, visit this page at newforma.com.

Electrons vs. atoms: Guess which is winning.

Although global paper consumption has increased by half since 1980, the architecture, engineering and construction industry has an increasingly reduced role for paper.

Newforma Vice President of Construction Services Dan Conery can tell you the reasons why.

“Clash detection can’t be done with paper,” Dan says. “You have to share models to find clashes between them.

“Also, submittals are on the rise,” Dan says. “The industry is evolving integrated ways to manage submittals, RFIs and other contract documents that don’t involve paper.”

For more on the twin trends of paperlessness and information integration, read Dan’s guest post at constructiondive.com. It offers two thoughts about trends in construction project information management.

One direction it’s not going is that of tracking paper.

“Systems built 15 and 20 years ago were built to track paper,” Dan says. “Now the shift to 3D modeling, higher-speed networks and Adobe allows us to manage information electronically, in real time.

“Incumbent technologies have not made the shift,” Dan says.

“But the key to productivity moving forward is not just paperless operations. The key is to integrate electronic processes.

“For example, sharing files with a dropbox-style utility is electronic, but it lacks a project context and lacks integration.

“It doesn’t make sense to manage electrons if you’re going to separate them in silos, just as you did with paper,” Dan says.

For a fuller explanation, read Dan’s post, “Two Gretzky-Inspired Process Trends for Builders,” at Construction Dive.

Complex projects require team-wide project coordination

A recently published project case study, General Contractor Strengthens Ability to Win, Manage and Deliver Projects, showcases how Nibbi Brothers General Contractors successfully uses Newforma enterprise software to manage their project information and improve project team collaboration.

Even though projects continue to get more and more complex, contractors are expected to complete their work faster than ever and with fewer mistakes. For many general contractors this a problem but not for Nibbi Construction.

“Our most successful projects have resulted from highly collaborative approaches to complex technical challenges,” Nibbi President Bob Nibbi said. “As the construction marketplace moves in this direction, we become more competitive.”

Nibbi recognized that a complete construction solution would improve coordination resulting in reduced cost and fewer mistakes. They have seen improvements in managing their email, processing submittals, RFIs and other project documents, as well as improving coordination and collaboration with project partners and Nibbi professionals working in the field.

The Exploratorium @ Pier 15 project is just such an example. As Assistant Project Manager Jill Brown explains, "On the Exploratorium project, supervisors, superintendents, partner architects and subcontractors are submitting and responding to RFIs an submittals using Newforma software. We've eliminated potential errors and tremendous amount of data reentry." In fact, Nibbi has had so much success coordinating with the partner architect, EHDD Architecture, EHDD just purchased Newforma software themselves.

As Bob points out, “All of our communications – email, transmittals, RFIs, submittals, changer orders and more – presents a consistent professional image that promotes clarity and confidence."

Read firsthand how Nibbi Construciton has used Newforma to improve team coordination allowing them to win more work, accelerate turnaround, avoid disputes, manager their risk and stay on schedule.

Click here to learn more about the Newforma Construction Suite.