BIM&CO
For more than 50 years, Madel has specialised in the design and production of components for the diffusion, adjustment and monitoring of the air in air conditioning installations.
It was in 2014 that the company began to express an interest in BIM: with the increase in demand on the part of engineering consultancy and architectural firms showing no sign of slowing, the manufacturer decided to take the leap and offer its products in BIM format. Jordi Delgado, an industrial engineer at Madel, explains: "For some of our services, the ideal of having our products in 3D seems completely logical. However, we are aware that the most important thing was the information contained within these objects, and not just the geometry in itself."
Working in close collaboration with the Madel technical teams, BIMETRICAL, a Spanish company with expertise in BIM modelling and Content Partner to BIM&CO, was given the responsibility of defining the manufacturer's specific needs, and then realising the creation of digital copies of its products. "We were quickly faced with the problem of parameters, as we wanted to offer a coherent catalogue of products, containing all of the necessary information, without overloading the file, so as to guarantee the fluid use of the BIM objects, without making abstractions of the numerous variants and options relating to our products. Collaboration with a trusted partner was therefore essential to the success of the project," explains Jordi Delgado.
Madel was also attracted by the BIM&CO platform as a tool for the autonomous management of its objects and BIM data: as a matter of fact, the BIM&CO for Manufacturers offering enabled Madel to offer BIM objects compliant with international classification standards, such as Uniformat or Omniclass, but also with the Spanish classification system GuBIMClass, while still remaining in control of its data (manageable without professional tools). Using the Analytics tool the manufacturer was also able to visualise the growing success of its products among users and to identify potential prescribers with ease.
The technology developped by BIM&CO resolves the issue of the separation of data and geometry. Muriel Bourgeay, Country Manager in Spain, explains: "Processing geometry and data separately enables the advanced management of the data. Using the OPMS (Open Properties Management System), the technical information relating to the equipment can be organised and managed with a view to meeting all of the requirements specific to each stage of the life cycle of the building. Thus, the manufacturers have the guarantee that the are offering products that meed each professional requirement within the BIM process."
The Madel product catalogues, modelled in Revit format, are available at this address.
Through collaboration with Bloc in Bloc, BIM&CO now allows users of the Bimandco.com and Onfly.io platforms to visualise items from their BIM mock-up directly on site using augmented reality, or to choose an alternative item based on the space it takes up in a building.
The core purpose of BIM is to let various kinds of professionals collaborate, making it a natural starting point for cutting-edge technology firms BIM&CO and Bloc in Bloc to come together and enhance the service they offer to their respective clientele. As part of this technological exchange, Bloc in Bloc provided expertise in on-site augmented reality while BIM&CO contributed exclusive technology for data standardisation, interoperability and object collaboration.
BIM&CO develops cloud solutions for construction companies and construction suppliers, enabling them to manage their object data and make that data compatible with any software. A centralisation tool allows users to provide a single, reliable source for their data. All technical and 3D data can now be managed in the same place, and made accessible through BIM&CO's API.
"We're delighted to be integrating BIM&CO's expertise into our application. It gives manufacturers a new tool that can show a BIM object in augmented reality. The collaboration between our two businesses has been the most natural thing in the world. BIM&CO and Bloc in Bloc have so much in common: the way our teams work, the technologies we create and the environment in which we operate. These similarities have formed a strong basis for an effective partnership," said Laurent Bartholomeus, co-founder of Bloc in Bloc.
Now that Bloc in Bloc has integrated the API, manufacturers can use AR to visualise the digital versions of products they have uploaded, and engineers and architects can access these BIM objects, integrate them directly into their digital mock-ups and see them in augmented reality (video available here).
It also makes a useful decision-making tool, as the application can test out an object of any size or weight on site. "I'm proud to welcome Bloc in Bloc into the ranks of our API users. Bloc in Bloc is a true French technology pioneer, bringing AR to building sites, and this collaboration will create greater exposure for our clients' products," said Baptiste Mullie, CEO of BIM&CO.
Both companies are always looking for a new challenge and would love to hear from anyone in the construction industry who wants to push the boundaries of how augmented reality can help them in their work. There's no such thing as impossible for BIM&CO and Bloc in Bloc.
Transair® is a brand of Parker Low Pressure Connectors Europe (formerly Legris), who specialise in modular piping systems used in transporting industrial fluids.
For a hundred years, Parker has been engineering solutions for clients across various industries, from metallurgy and electronics to pharmaceuticals and aerospace. The Transair® range of products (manufactured across four sites in the Rennes region of Britanny) provides a comprehensive solution for transporting compressed air and industrial fluids from production site to place of use.
"Our state-of-the-art parts and fittings are the most technically innovative, long-lasting and energy-efficient of their kind. If, on one hand, our products are defined by these qualities, then our business is defined by the outstanding service we offer our clients. In fact, it is this desire to offer our customers more and more ready-to-use solutions that has driven us to invest in BIM technology. Currently, we are the only manufacturer in our field to offer a product library in REVIT format. At every stage, from design to installation of our products, our aim is to make life easier for professionals wherever we operate, and to provide clear added value." explains Nicolas MAUPILLE, Division Support Office Manager at Transair® France.
Parker Transair® uses BIM&CO technology to create its high-quality BIM objects, but it also benefits from their expertise, too. BIM&CO provides manufacturers a dedicated, private space in which they can submit a prototype object for evaluation by trade experts, which allows design departments to test and discuss findings in a discussion forum. After receiving feedback, they can then submit amendments to their object until it has been approved unanimously by the experts. It is a step-by-step process by which prototype objects with consistently high added value have been created.
After having approved of this testing phase, which they trialled with the hope of guaranteeing that their BIM objects successfully met their clients' specifications, Transair® decided to entrust BIM&CO with modelling, managing and distributing its range of BIM products. "This partnership is the crowning achievement of close collaboration with BIM&CO, who have been extremely attentive and receptive to our need to fulfill our clients' demands" emphasised Nicolas MAUPILLE.
Transair® products are available in REVIT format. These BIM models include rich technical data and several levels of detail (LOD 200 & 400) so as to ensure that engineers working with these products can use BIM technology effectively. A template including the entire range of object models is also available, which simplifies the process of implementing Transair® products when designing piping networks. On the whole, this reduces the time spent designing as well as the costs of building, all while improving coordination between everyone involved in a project.
"BIM&CO's policy is to offer manufacturers easy access to BIM via an object management and distribution platform, as well as personalised guidance in using it. We have a range of tools available that let manufacturers structure and distribute their product data in the form of BIM objects. As such, their objects are adapted to work at any phase of the process, from the initial design to maintenance, and even construction. Our aim is to help guide our clients until such a stage that they can competently use our tools on their own. This autonomy, as well as the guarantee that Transair® would keep control of its BIM data, is what motivated this partnership, and we are proud to be working with them" stated Baptiste MULLIE, Director General of BIM&CO
Transair®-brand BIM objects are available through this link.
With more than 50 years of experience in the design of insulation systems for conduction cables in electrical and telecommunication installations, such as non-metallic cable trays, the European group Unex, based in Spain, publishes BIM objects for BIM&CO.
In response to requests from clients about BIM objects, in 2010 it decided to move to BIM by integrating two of its projects into the construction project of a medical centre. Jaime Esteve, Industrial Technical Engineer, said: “The more we knew about the potential of BIM, the clearer it became that there was no going back and that we were faced with a new way of designing, building and maintaining that would end up imposing itself on the conventional method."
Despite the challenges related to the application of this new methodology:
- Speaking about BIM at a time when it was still unknown to many people.
- The way clients work in many cases does not follow the recommendations of the BIM standards and uses the libraries in a different manner to that for which they were created.
- Translation of families/objects.
- Details related to the behaviour of certain objects.
Unex maintained the development of the BIM libraries, looking to meet the wishes of its clients.
In order to facilitate access to its BIM objects, Unex incorporates the BIM&CO platform into its dissemination plan, finding the automatic translation of the parameters of the BIM objects particularly useful.
The catalogues of Unex products, in Revit format, are available here.
About Unex
Unex is an independent European group which specialises in insulating and flexible systems for the channelling, assembly, fixing and signalling of cables and tubes in electrical installations, telecommunications, air conditioning and auxiliary services.
For 50 years, Unex has put its efforts into constant research, technological innovation and commercial expansion, whilst remaining true to its values and committed to the environment.
The quality of its solutions is guaranteed by European and international standards, as well as the most demanding quality brands.
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