Strategic Shift to BIM Methodology for Enhanced Competitiveness

ELVIAL S.A. is one of the largest and most well-known aluminium (aluminum) extrusion industries in Greece. It produces integrated aluminium systems in a fully vertically integrated production line housed in a new, state-of-the-art plant in Kilkis, Northern Greece.

ELVIAL S.A. 's aluminium systems are certified from world known international institutes (Ift-Rosenheim, Germany), as well as acknowledged Greek certification bodies (Aristotelion University of Thessaloniki, Greece).

The company has consistently focused on improving its products and services to remain competitive both in the Greek and international markets. Until recently, ELVIAL relied on Autodesk Solidworks and AutoCAD as its primary tool for designing its profiles and products, consistently offering AutoCAD drawings to its customers.

With advancements in the construction industry and the increasing use of Building Information Modeling (BIM), the need to provide parametric Revit Families became essential for ELVIAL. Offering their products as designs in Revit, instead of traditional 2D AutoCAD drawings, would offer significant benefits to their customers, such as:

1. Improved customer service: Architects, engineers, and contractors using Revit could more easily integrate ELVIAL’s products into their projects.
2. Competitive advantage: The ability to provide parametric Revit Families would give ELVIAL a competitive edge over companies that still only offer 2D drawings.
3. Increased efficiency: Parametric Revit models would help both ELVIAL and its customers speed up the design process, reduce errors, and optimize production.
4. Increased Precision: Making the Revit Families in-house would give the company the opportunity for more precise work, in the most cost-effective way, while it will open the horizons to get involved in BIM projects in future themselves.

With these factors in mind, ELVIAL realized that its staff needed specialized training in creating and using Revit Families to adapt to market demands and promote its products in a modern, parametric environment.

Following consultations to understand business needs, our team at ATC OIONEI designed and delivered a specialized training program for ELVIAL’s staff, focusing exclusively on their requirements. The training included:

1. Basic principles of BIM and Revit: The key features and capabilities of Autodesk Revit were presented to familiarize the designers with the platform.
2. Creating parametric Revit Families: The core part of the training focused on creating Revit Families tailored to ELVIAL’s products. The designers learned how to create parametric models, with flexibility in dimensions and features, to meet different customer needs.
3. Optimizing designs for use in BIM environments: Techniques and best practices were introduced to optimize the Revit Families so they could be easily integrated into BIM projects, ensuring ELVIAL’s products could seamlessly fit into the clients' construction workflows.
4.  Connecting AutoCAD with Revit: Emphasis was placed on techniques for effectively converting existing AutoCAD designs into Revit Families, ensuring a smooth transition between the two environments.

The training provided brought multiple benefits to ELVIAL:

1. Increased efficiency: The design team is now capable of creating and providing parametric models to their customers, offering greater flexibility and accuracy in the designs.
2. Enhanced competitiveness: ELVIAL managed to stand out in the market by offering a new level of service through the provision of Revit Families, giving it a competitive edge over its rivals.
3. Easier integration into clients' projects: ELVIAL’s products can now be directly incorporated into BIM models, making it easier for architects and engineers to use them in their projects.
4. Reduced errors and improved quality: By using parametric models, ELVIAL’s clients can precisely manage the dimensions and specifications of the products, reducing potential errors during construction.
5.  Convert REVIT families into detailed 3D Photorealistic models, ready to be presented to potential customers using live rendering REVIT plugins.

"The strategic implementation of BIM methodology marked a significant milestone in ELVIAL's digital transformation journey. With no prior expertise in this domain, we evaluated two potential pathways: outsourcing Revit Families creation or developing in-house capabilities. After careful analysis, we opted for internal development to maintain full control over our digital assets.

We partnered with ATC OIONEI to upskill our team through an intensive two-month training program, covering both fundamental and advanced Revit concepts. This strategic investment in our personnel's professional development proved highly successful. Within months, our newly trained team was proficiently creating custom Revit Families.

The collaboration with ATC OIONEI has yielded exceptional results, not only enhanced our service portfolio but also strengthened our market position. Our transition from 2D AutoCAD to 3D Revit represents more than technological advancement – it exemplifies ELVIAL S.A.'s commitment to innovation and market leadership in the aluminum systems industry.

This initiative has positioned us to better serve evolving client needs while maintaining our competitive edge in an increasingly digital construction landscape." -

Vasilis Kerestetzis – ELVIAL’s Head of Digital Business Solutions & Innovation, Trainee and BIM Team Leader.