Success Story
In 1945, architect Jake Gatewood established his practice in Mt. Vernon, a bustling crossroads town and county seat in Southern Illinois. He soon joined forces with Cliff Fields, Jack Goldman, and George Magee. Today, the firm operates as FGM Architects (FGMA), a nationwide, employee-owned architecture and interior design firm with offices in five United States. The firm is particularly well known for its expertise in education-related design. They also specialize in faith-based design for churches, including their facilities, gathering spaces, and educational areas. Additionally, FGMA handles municipal and public safety projects like police stations, firehouses, village halls, and recreational facilities.
FGMA faced a primary challenge in "Construction Administration" (CA) of on-site workflows since there wasn’t a clear standard for those workflows resulting in many different processes and inefficiencies. Critical activities that required attention included site walks, punch lists, note-taking, and picture capture. To address this, FGMA aimed to transform its cumbersome multi-step process into a more streamlined procedure by reducing tasks, such as eliminating manual data entry, which could significantly enhance efficiency. They recognized the need to transition from paper-based systems, where information is handwritten and then retyped to a digital solution that could greatly improve productivity and accuracy. This approach would not only simplify workflows but also minimize the potential for errors, resulting in a more efficient operation.
Because FGMA recognized that most people are creatures of habit and skeptics of new approaches, the second and related challenge faced was resistance from FGMA team members to change its historic methodologies.
* The primary goal was to make FGMA users more efficient with the design and technology tools they have in place.
* Secondly, there was a need to consolidate various project data siloes so all information could be accessed on one platform.
* Because Autodesk Revit is a foundational part of the FGMA design platform and workflow, it is important that it works with the FGMA current BIM team to better understand what could be done to make its design staff more efficient when producing Construction Document deliverables.
* There was an emphasis on assisting the FGMA design team in becoming more efficient in producing 3D models that are readily usable outside of the design world.
* Finally, implementation of a “Real-time” administration view of project status and instantaneous access to project data for all active projects. Beyond the ability to see real-time project status and project data access, a future goal will be to enable an administrative view of project schedules that would allow for both an overview of current work and the ability to do informed long-term planning.
After examination of multiple solutions, it became apparent that each potential solution had its strong points, while other necessary features were completely lacking or were limited in scope. That is when FGMA decided to investigate the Autodesk Construction Cloud. After an exhaustive analysis, it was determined that the Autodesk Construction Cloud with its “Build” component would be the best option. While meeting most of its immediately identified needs with its out-of-the-box capabilities, Autodesk Construction Cloud offered additional functionality that can be turned on or activated as they add new features and functionality. One of the biggest factors was the ability to seamlessly integrate its entire collaborative design process using Autodesk Revit, all the way through to construction administration.
Autodesk Construction Cloud with the Build component allowed FGMA to streamline its design processes and enhance its overall efficiency. They determined that the Autodesk Construction Cloud and Build solution gives them the ability to be more proactive and “less reactive” to the current project circumstances. Leveraging the built-in analytics capabilities, while not part of the initial implementation for FGMA, will be a future project that will allow them to fully leverage the power of the connected data environment for better-informed decision-making.
The Autodesk Construction Cloud data is proving its worth, providing more seamless stakeholder collaboration, and more efficient innovation, design, and production procedures. Secondly, there is a newfound assurance of meeting deadlines while speeding up project lifecycles. Finally, FGMA now has a sole source of truth for all its latest project data spanning all related corporate silos of information.
One of the most significant benefits of the implementation of Autodesk Construction Cloud is that it aids in facilitating design collaboration across multiple locations. With Autodesk’s ability to connect projects and workflows across all the FGMA offices, Autodesk Construction Cloud's streamlined workflow is proving to be invaluable. FGMA is excited to take the ACC platform even further in the future and is enthused about some of the additional capabilities they have not yet adopted like meeting minutes, schedules, and model coordination. The migration from server-based projects to cloud-hosted solutions and the adoption of the Build platform have further simplified processes. By consolidating various functions—like document access, issue tracking, and field observations into a single platform, the process has become much more efficient.
The toughest obstacle remains overcoming resistance to new methods. However, when technology like the Autodesk Construction Cloud is user-friendly, rolled out, and adopted properly, it can gradually convert skeptics into powerful advocates. In FGMA’s case, previously resistant individuals have come to embrace these new tools because of a carefully planned execution by the FGMA team as it relates to its adoption.
“Autodesk Construction Cloud has been beneficial as it provides a much better workflow than we have had in the past. We are migrating all our server-based projects to be cloud-hosted in the Autodesk Construction Cloud. I’m also well into the process of implementing the ‘Build platform, where we get away from paper or multi-step processes. Now, we can utilize Sheets, Issues, Photos, and access documents in the field all in one platform." -Dwane Lindsey, Architectural Applications Director
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The Moth Wing to Sound Absorbing Acoustic Panels
The Biomimicry Alliance wanted to find an alternative method for creating sound absorption materials for application in open office work environments. They posed the question, “How would nature absorb sound?” Through investigation, they discovered the “Cabbage Tree Emperor moth” (Bunaea alcinoe) a moth species belonging to the family Saturniidae, native to Southern Africa. This unique moth can avoid its most notorious predator, a bat, and its “sonar” like ability to track its prey. The moth's wings are covered by overlapping scales that are less than (0.0098 inches) long and have a peculiar porous structure. This structure absorbs the "echolocation" sound of their predator, the bat, and thus helps them to camouflage themselves acoustically. But could The Biomimicry Alliance successfuly emulate the acoustical features of the moth’s wings and apply it to the design of acoustic panels?
Enabling a Common Data Environment for Streamlined Communications
PowerHawke, Inc. specializes in commercial electrical distribution systems with a focus on safety, preventive maintenance and renewable energy. As a subsidiary of Phalcon Electric, PowerHawke is able to draw on a variety of expertise across eight different companies including Harlan Electric, McPhee Electric, J. E. Richards and Ravex. As the organization expanded both physically and virtually, PowerHawke required a system to connect field and office personnel to speed project delivery, streamline communications and consolidate project data.
Large Greenfield Expansion 2
Hargrove is a multi-discipline Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) firm that provides comprehensive on-site support to their clients in the energy generation, manufacturing, research and development, infrastructure, and process-heavy sectors. They have completed over 22,000 projects and served over 2,100 facilities since inception. Over the last several years margins on projects have gotten tighter and project timelines have become shorter. To meet these heightened demands, Hargrove began to realize that they needed to be able to communicate more effectively between engineering disciplines, field employees, subcontractors, and owners. Also, with the constraints imposed by the current Covid-19 pandemic, employees that are being kept out of the office are creating even greater challenges when it comes to sharing data across projects. Included in their desired enhancements is to automate data output during projects whenever possible.
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