The BIM Spectrum
Building Information Modeling (BIM) is recognizable across many industries worldwide for being one of the most successful and impactful technologies and processes to affect the built environment. Many industries have either adopted BIM throughout their organizations or at least identified it as a priority that needs to begin soon. BIM is not a “nice to have” anymore. It is not solely how industry leaders work but how the entire industry works. Many technologies within the built environment hope to become as ubiquitous as BIM has become, but with many nuances in work type and workflow, some technologies have been adopted slower than others. In this blog, we will dive into the expansion of BIM methodologies as well as how this has helped certain industries and hindered others.
The Proliferation of BIM
BIM has seeped into many more industries than originally expected. Initially intended for the architectural profession, BIM was quickly seen as not just a technology – but more as a work process. It evolved from beginning as a noun to gradually becoming a verb. The idea saw incredible translation to other disciplines within architecture and outside into civil engineering, and it even progressed beyond project designs and into construction. With its widespread adoption throughout the AEC industry, it gained owner approval and even prejudice, where owners began specifically mandating deliverables in a BIM format.
BIM has been able to proliferate successfully in this way because of its tangible return on investment during the design and construction phase, as well as into the lifecycle of the asset being built. While BIM may have begun in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, similar working methods arose and blended across sectors, such as the EPC and owner realm, and have become popular with industrial companies.
While the proliferation of BIM has been an incredible leap forward in changing perceptions around the construction industry being perceived as a laggard in the technology space, it has also gained its own internal perception as a panacea for any and all problems throughout the building process. While what BIM can promise is large, it is still limited in what it can deliver to an industry. BIM has begun to seep into every aspect of the built environment, from commercial, residential and medical to oil and gas, energy and chemical.
One facet of our broad built environment industry everyone can agree with is the nuance with which all these industries operate. The expanse of sub-industries within the built environment is large and BIM has been perceived as a cure-all that can equally cover all of them and provide the same success across sectors. Many owners in the industrial space beginning their BIM journey have been sold certain solutions that lend themselves to certain commercial construction types. Many in the same position have found out years later that the solutions they deployed cannot take their projects across the finish line. Others have been able to disassemble their solutions and make do with where they are to generate a portion of their needs while also having to reevaluate what solutions can actually provide a full solution.
BIM Variations
Where typical BIM falls short with industrial clients is the ability to incorporate methods and workflows into their industrial processes. Now, a part of this is an unintended consequence of the technology which revolves around the needs of the owner. Commercial buildings fundamentally have different needs than industrial facilities. Commercial buildings place heavy emphasis on the building's exterior as well as structural and mechanical needs throughout.
With industrial facilities, the emphasis is almost reversed. Industrial facilities do not place a strong focus on the exterior of the facility, seeing it as a basic shell with less building height when compared to higher commercial buildings. Industrial facilities look for basic coverage of their mechanical needs but emphasize much more the actual product being produced and processes within the structure of the building. Again, this ties back to the incentives of the different facilities. One focuses on the impact on the people within the building as being the space’s primary function. The other focuses on the primary function of mass production of different products and processes occurring within the building.
Traditionally, BIM’s origin focused on the commercial side of the industry and thus saw more attention from those industries. Lately, however, we have seen an emerging trend of traditional BIM solutions weaving their way into the industrial space, making bold promises to cover the unique needs of these facilities – leaving many owners halfway through a project without a way to finish. Many solutions land under the broad BIM umbrella, but with such a wide acceptance of the technology, many have either been misled or misunderstood when it comes to what BIM technology actually is. In other words, it takes more than a BIM label on the software to accomplish the needs of certain facilities. With the rapid growth of BIM, there needs to be a natural evolution of BIM into more of a spectrum. This BIM spectrum can begin to tout and promote how different solutions cover different industries and can then begin to help future customers understand which BIM solution is right for them.
This is where Hexagon has provided industrial BIM solutions specific to this complex space for decades now. The industrial space requires complex tools and capabilities to discern and produce detailed engineering designs for large scale projects. Hexagon provides solutions for the largest of projects as well as to the most agile and smaller projects and everything in between. Learn how Hexagon’s industrial design solutions can ensure your next project’s success.