Many industry leaders have heard of 3D printing, often in the context of concrete or small-scale homebuilding. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. When leveraged successfully, 3D printing can play a key role in structural components (big and small), spare parts, fixtures, and even the furniture that inhabits a space. But what does it all mean to your projects?

 

Listen to the episode now

You can also listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, and anywhere else you get your podcasts.

 

On this podcast episode

Our guest, Stephan Mansour, is a 3D Printing & Emerging Technology Advisor at MaRiTama Ltd. Stephan is leading the international team that’s developing global 3D printing standards from the ground up, and in this episode, he takes us on a journey into the world of 3D printing in construction.

We discuss:

• Common misconceptions about 3D printing
• How supply chain issues have increased interest in 3D printing for construction
• How to implement 3D printing in your organization
• How upcoming standards will enable mass adoption

“Everything can be 3D-printed; it’s just a matter of how far you want to go, how scalable it is, and how much money you’re going to put in.” — Stephan Mansour

 

Podcast highlights from Episode 23

To kick things off, Stephan shared a high-level overview of 3D printing in construction. According to him, 3D printing is “laying one material over another, to build a structure that you normally have in every construction site.”

He continues, “it’s based on a 2D model or design, that is later sliced into robotic language in order to achieve the print. So the material is tailored sometimes to the printing application that is available.”

In terms of materials used, Stephan says that 3D printing can use cement, polymer plastic, synthetic materials, or different types of recycled materials.

 

Debunking the myths of 3D printing

3D printing is rapidly gaining steam in the construction industry. In fact, The 3D printing construction market is expected to hit $1.5 billion by 2024. 

But despite its growing popularity, there are still a number of misconceptions surrounding the technology. According to Stephan, here are some of the most common 3D printing myths. 

Myth #1: 3D printing is a new process

Some people think that 3D printing is a new thing, but nothing could be further from the truth, says Stephan. 

“The early first 3D printing machine was created in the 1930s and 1940s by a company called Urschel, based in Indiana. They actually printed several structures, and the same technology is still being used by various technology providers today,” he explains. 

“So it’s not a new technology; it started off in the 1930s and ’40s. It picked up again back in the 1990s, and since then, it’s continued to gain speed.”

Myth #2: You can print anything in 24 hours

Another misconception is about the speed with which you can print. Stephan remarks that while the actual printing time may take 24 hours, the construction period of a building can take two to three weeks. 

“Expecting to have a house available and finished in 24 hours just doesn’t work,” he adds.

Myth #3: 3D printing is cheap

There’s also the notion that 3D printing structures only cost $4,000 or $5,000. 

“I’d like to debunk that,” says Stephan, who adds that while affordable housing is possible, you can only achieve it when you’re building things at a large scale. 

“If you’re doing 100 houses, 1,000 houses—then yes, the price of technology and material will go down. But when you’re building a single house or just a handful of houses, you’re still carrying on the price of technology, material, logistics, and so on, onto those five houses.”

Myth #4: You need a large R&D department to implement 3D printing

Think 3D printing requires a ton of R&D? Think again. According to Stephan, there are numerous opportunities to get started with 3D printing without pouring a lot of money into research and development.

“There are many ways you can start getting into 3D printing. You can do it through collaboration with technology providers, pilot projects, and starting small. From there, you’ll be able to move little by little, to actually having 3D printing as part of your toolbox in the construction process.”

 

The various use cases of 3D printing 

Some construction professionals might think that 3D printing is all about concrete and building houses. However, there are many other applications for the technology. As Stephan puts it, “you could do many things with 3D printing, just like you do anything normally with conventional means of concrete, mortar, or brick.”

Intricate facades

Stephan shares that 3D printing “can play a key role in creating facades for buildings.”

This is particularly true for projects that call for intricate and unique designs. With 3D printing, the facade “doesn’t have to be square, and you don’t have to do a mold in order to achieve very artistic or inquisitive designs that you want to get into,” says Stephan.

Parts and fixtures

In addition to printing the house itself, Stephan says you can also use 3D printing for spare parts and fixtures. 

“You can 3D print everything and anything in the house, in terms of fixtures, FTS, doorknobs, lintels, door frames, doors themselves, window frames,” he shares.

Furniture

3D printing can be used to print furniture and eliminate the lead time associated with purchasing and delivering them. 

Doing so may also help you be more sustainable. “Just looking at the waste that each construction site actually produces, you can take the wood that is discarded from the formwork, turn that into dust, and print furniture,” says Stephan.

3D printing can improve efficiency in remote projects

Being able to print spare parts, furniture, and materials can also come in handy when dealing with remote projects or when you’re facing inventory shortages and supply chain issues. 

As Stephan points out, “when you talk about oil and gas and remote projects, there’s a lot of problems that happen in consortium sites. Inventory can be an issue and you may not have the right piece at the right time. When this happens, there’s usually a two- or three-week lead time.”

He continues, “3D printing can be very effective in providing that material. You can have parts available within a few hours or a day at most, as opposed to waiting three weeks. You don’t have to put the whole project on a standstill just because you’re waiting for, say, a $10 piece that is crucial in operations.”

 

How to get started with 3D printing

Implementing 3D printing isn’t just about purchasing a printer and building things from scratch. You need to consider a number of factors to ensure that your initiatives are successful. 

Stephan says, “Another misconception that we need to rebuff is that you can simply buy a 3D printer and presto—everything’s going to work. But that’s not the case. You have to think of 3D printing just like you would for any other piece of equipment in your construction site.”

Start small and address a pain point

Just like when investing in a large piece of equipment, you must determine a need for it before going out and purchasing the technology. 

As Stephan puts it, “you’re not going to buy a multimillion-dollar piece of equipment to sit on your construction site, and now scratch your head and figure out, ‘Okay, how am I going to use this?’”

Instead, you must first identify a pain point within your construction projects or operations and then figure out how a 3D printer can help you solve the issue. For instance, if you’re constantly running into delays for a particular part or fixture, you may consider investing in 3D printing so you can produce the right parts more quickly.

Determine your scope and investment

“There are many different variations, versions, and materials out there when it comes to 3D printing, so there’s no one size fits all solution,” says Stephan. 

The right setup depends on your project scope, objectives, and budget. So, make sure that these elements are ironed out at the beginning of your 3D printing journey. 

Have a clear idea of what you’d like to achieve and the investment you’re willing to make, and then let those factors inform your decisions on what materials or printers to utilize. 

Find the right partner

“Collaboration is key,” remarks Stephan. It’s essential that you find the right partners for your 3D printing projects. 

Who to partner with depends on the project as well as your capabilities. In some instances, you may need to bring in a technology partner who can help you get up and running. Maybe you need to find new vendors who can supply the materials required. 

Whatever the case, be aware of your capabilities and limitations, then use that knowledge to find the right collaborators.

  

The bottom line with 3D printing in construction

3D printing is gaining traction in the AEC industry, and it will continue to do so in the near future. The specific role that 3D printing will play in your organization will depend on your projects, so take the time to evaluate your pain points and objectives then find technology solutions and partners that can fill the gaps. 

 

New podcast episode every two weeks

Autodesk’s construction podcast, Digital Builder, is hosted by me, Eric Thomas. New episodes of the Digital Builder podcast go live every two weeks. 

If you’d like to take an even deeper look at 3D printing, catch the full episode of Digital Builder to learn more. 

Listen to the Digital Builder Podcast on: 

• Apple Podcasts 
• Spotify
• Stitcher
• Google Podcasts
• or wherever you listen to podcasts

The post Digital Builder Ep 23: Harnessing the Power of 3D Printing in Construction appeared first on Digital Builder.

The accompanying table records the top 10 project starts in the United States for August 2021.

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Eamon Costello is a construction services company based in Tralee, Ireland. For over 45 years, the family-owned business has worked across a wide range of disciplines, from healthcare and education to residential and conservation projects.

The team at Eamon Costello is focused on delivering the highest quality projects at the best value for clients. The company’s longevity is testament to the experience and commitment in the business. However, some of the company processes had become outdated – and the organisation was keen to innovate.

Overcoming inconsistency and onerous forms

Director Paul Lynch explains, “The construction industry is virtually unrecognisable from where it was even in 2000. In Ireland, we’ve seen the introduction of BCAR, and technology has progressed leaps and bounds. We had systems that were fit for purpose when they were initiated, but were laboursome and time-consuming.”

Processes at Eamon Costello were largely paper-based, with staff taking large amounts of time to compare drawings manually and fill in onerous forms. Inconsistency was a major challenge. “Younger people especially had no interest in filling out forms because they took so long, and the standard of information we were getting back could be diabolical.”

In 2019, the company leadership team had a “Eureka moment” and decided to re-evaluate the processes in place across the whole business. It was clear that a modern technology platform was needed to support data management for the long-term. Given Autodesk’s commitment to continuing product innovation, Eamon Costello chose Autodesk Build, a unified construction management software platform for connecting teams, workflows and data.

Future-proofing problematic processes

Eamon Costello introduced Autodesk Build on a pilot project, an €11 million social housing project running across multiple disciplines. “We were keen to find a good meaty project with lots of trade involvement to assess the system against,” Paul explained.

The implementation involved a reassessment of the company’s overall processes, which created some difficulties. “We hadn’t fully anticipated the number of internal challenges that would come to light during the process. It was nothing to do with the Autodesk system, but there were residual challenges that we wanted to solve.”

The pilot project was a learning experience. For example, initially the team planned to convert the existing Word and Excel forms into Smart PDFs, when actually switching straight to the Autodesk format brought more benefits. Now, Eamon Costello has a new folder structure and forms in place and is using the team’s feedback to finalise the system. “Everything will be much more streamlined for the future.”

An intuitive solution for managing information

Eamon Costello is using a wide range of functions on Autodesk Build to share information. The issues management system is already proving very beneficial. “Previously our safety audits were completely paper-based. Now, we can capture live issues on the site and assign them to specific people; that’s a huge benefit for us,” Paul explains.

The team is finding Autodesk Build very intuitive. “We’re working with many people who come from a very low base in terms of their IT capability. However, anyone who has taken the time to follow the tutorials and immerse themselves in the system is completely fine with it. It’s a real endorsement of the platform.”

Experienced members of the team are using Autodesk Build to make their working lives easier. “We have foremen who are in their mid-sixties and aren’t very high tech themselves, but are finding the platform really helpful,” Paul notes. “They can see and tag sheets at the touch of a button. Rather than being locked in an office looking at racks of drawings, they can take their phones out on-site and bring up anything they want. It’s a big achievement.”

Improving efficiency and traceability

Autodesk Build has now been rolled out across Eamon Costello, with five live projects and three more to come shortly. With around thirty users to date, Paul believes that the time-saving has been the biggest benefit so far. Sheet comparisons, for example, had been completed manually, with site managers and engineers taking what were originally hardcopy drawings and comparing them line by line.

“With Autodesk Build, you can take two versions of a drawing and see the changes that have been made instantaneously – without the risk of missing anything, like previous revisions,” Paul explains. “In fifteen minutes, I had trained our office administrator to complete sheet comparisons; it’s invaluable from a site management perspective.”

Traceability across the business has also improved. “Previously it was a huge chore for people to complete checklists and take photos back into the office. Now, documentation and quality checks can be completed digitally, providing us with information in a standardised format. It’s much easier for the team, and we’re benefitting from a higher quality of information and traceability.”

Using digital plans on-site is also beneficial for sustainability. Prior to the introduction of Autodesk Build, Eamon Costello printed 52,473 sheets and 1795m2 of plotted paper over a two-year period. Now, that printing has been completely eliminated on the projects where Autodesk Build is in place, saving paper and energy and creating more environmentally-friendly builds.

Ways of working ready for the future

Introducing Autodesk Build has already helped Eamon Costello to deal with the challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, such as using the platform to host remote site meetings. Having a centralised source of information has also made the business more resilient to unexpected events, such as staff absences.

“There was one project where we lost an engineer, and the site manager was on his own for a week and a half. He said that he probably wouldn’t have coped without Autodesk, but with the platform in place he had the information he needed and could still cover the ground even in the engineer’s absence,” Paul recalls.

As well as supporting the current team, Paul believes that having modern construction software in place will help to attract younger people to the business. “We’re constantly recruiting for all kinds of roles. As soon as we tell them that we use Autodesk, you can see them getting engaged and interested.”

In the year ahead, Paul and the team will focus on making use of even more features on Autodesk Build, including progress tracking, scheduling and assets. The next stage will be to get collaborators, including designers and subcontractors, onto the platform to further improve project processes. “The Autodesk product development team has been hugely responsive to our needs. With a few minor developments, it will be a fantastic solution that will grow with us and help us to keep up with the future of the industry.”

The post Eamon Costello Future-Proofs Its 45-Year-Old Business with Autodesk Build appeared first on Digital Builder.

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We’ve compiled the list of Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards for Construction for fiscal year 2021 (October 2020 through September 2021).

Are you still performing your takeoffs manually? If so, you probably spend more time shuffling through papers and plans than putting together your estimates and bids. Chances are you aren’t alone. While construction takeoff software has been around for decades, there are still many in the industry who perform their material takeoffs and estimates by hand. 

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Clichés are often true and it is the case that a picture can be worth a thousand words.

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Trimble Viewpoint makes year-end processing easy for its clients.

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Fewer cost overruns, fewer missed schedules, fewer safety incidents – the benefits of using quality data to inform decisions in construction projects are many. 

“We are using project data to alert us to things before a problem arises,” one BIM coordinator surveyed for Autodesk Construction Cloud’s recently released global report Harnessing The Data Advantage In Construction told us. 

“For example, we can track the number of encountered defects. We know once they exceed a certain number the schedule is going to be delayed. Having these insights allows us to address things when we can still do something about them.” 

Our research found the construction industry is collecting more data than ever before but many are struggling to translate raw data into actionable insight. 

In many cases, what is missing is the clear overarching data strategy, encompassing how data is collected, analysed and acted on. 

Bad data has clear costs – our research found it caused 40% of the average construction firm’s poor decisions. Despite this, many of the more than 3,900 construction industry professionals we interviewed listed multiple roadblocks to establishing a formal data strategy. 

Of those without one, the chief reasons why were: 

• Not knowing where to start 
• Lack of leadership and organisational support
• The cost and resources required. 

So, how can the motivation and momentum needed to  better harness data be built? 

 

Opening the black box

As useful as knowing where your destination is, it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t also know where you currently are. That’s why a good place to start is with a software audit.  

When we speak with potential clients and ask what they’re doing with their current software and why, they often don’t know. It’s a ‘black box’, they tell us.  

It’s difficult to compare what benefits a new approach would bring if it’s not clear how the current approach is functioning. 

A basic software audit can give decision makers a better understanding of where they are at right now including what their systems are capable of doing, and how they’re being used. That, in itself, can be a revelation to many organisations as they start to map a smarter way forward. 

Once an audit has been completed, processes can be benchmarked and compared against the concrete benefits of making a switch. 

 

Engage the right stakeholders

Next, a broad and diverse group of people from within and around the organisation should be convened to help guide the process. This group should represent all stakeholders and potential data users – including major suppliers and contractors. 

Their first job is to come together with decision makers to discuss how they currently make decisions and where their frustrations lie. 

• Where can manual, repetitive and time-consuming tasks be automated? 
• What is it that slows decision-making down? 
• Where are each department’s blind spots in terms of data? 
• Where is data held and who can see it? 
• What should be defined as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ data? 
• In what situations are people relying on ‘experience’ and ‘know-how’ rather than accurate, real-time data to make decisions or implement changes? 
• This can be an eye-opening process as there are always frustrations. Staff have been using technology in their private lives for long enough to know when the systems they’re using at work are inefficient. 

It’s important to consider even the little things that can introduce errors. One CIO, during the research for the Harnessing The Data Advantage In Construction report, told us, “When we started to review the quality of our data, we encountered no fewer than 20 different spellings for the same supplier.”  

All of this gets in the way of developing data you can trust and base important decisions on. 

At this stage, the group is in a discovery period, learning from each other the benefits to be had from a smart data strategy.  

The outcome here should be a clear understanding and prioritisation of the data categories and data capabilities that could alleviate the issues identified. 

 

Imagine the future

It’s normal for a project manager to understand where a specific project is at. But it’s rare for a business executive to have the confidence to say they know for sure that a specific project is on schedule, on budget, has particular challenges that need to be solved, etc. 

Executives in businesses that have smart data strategies can say this, and much more. 

Data-driven systems offer such powerful insights that it can be quite a mental leap to imagine their business uses. Many organisations continue to discover new and exciting use cases for their data years after the system has been implemented. 

First and foremost, it’s vital to develop buy-in. This means teams and individuals at all levels should be able to fully appreciate how a data strategy will make their jobs better, and make them better at their jobs. 

“You have to take a human-centric approach,” a Senior Digital Delivery Manager told us. “You have to show them that you are reducing the amount of time wasted for them personally. 

“If you are cutting down on their work by reducing time spent on administrative tasks, people are more likely to make the transformation.”  

 

Take small steps

Building a wall begins with putting a single brick in place, not placing all the bricks in a single movement. The same principle applies to instituting a successful data strategy. A successful pilot project will demonstrate the benefits better than any PowerPoint deck.  

By focusing on the project data that you know can bring the most value to the business, you will be able to demonstrate results and return on investment quickly. And good data platforms are modular and easy to integrate, meaning elements can be introduced one at a time.  

Best practice is not to change anything mid-project. Start with a new project and compare results with another project that is still using traditional methods. The more clearly you can quantify the benefits, the smoother the introduction of a full data strategy will be. 

 

Ready for what comes next

It is vital for the future of many organisations that a strong business case is created.  

Up against challenges such as the labour shortage, ever more aggressive schedules, greater quality assurance expectations, more competitive bidding processes, sustainability pressures and more, the insight offered by a strong data strategy is a powerful driver of performance. 

To learn more about how your competitors are making use of data, download the Autodesk/FMI Harnessing The Data Advantage In Construction report. 

The post How to Build a Business Case for a Better Data Strategy appeared first on Digital Builder.

Based in Holland and founded in 1990, Alkondor engineers and produces façades, windows and doors, particularly for large and complex projects. The team work on a host of construction projects from residential to non-residential buildings, like hotels and cinemas, and have specialist expertise with complex architecture programmes.

 

Digitalising to reduce risk

With their own production facility in the Netherlands, 150 employees support Alkondor’s activity including Chris Schoneveld, BIM Manager and Bram Kotter, CEO. When Chris joined the team five years ago, his remit was to focus on all of Alkondor’s digital processes, including how the team can use digital solutions for better insights and modernise their ways of working.

At the time, the team used many time-consuming processes which included printing physical copies of PDF documents and delivering them between departments and to the factory manually. This meant that there was a layer of risk added to projects – working in such manual ways mean newer versions of drawings were again hand-delivered to production teams in the factory. “It was very easy for things to go wrong,” reflects Chris. “We were working in a way that was open for errors and meant there was a lot of work for everyone; we used Excel forms, handwritten notes, PDFs and spent a lot of time transferring and tracking documents.”

With all documents stored on local servers, soon the team recognised they began to have issues with different naming conventions on drawings and poor practices led to miscommunication and confusion. “It would be difficult to search between different documents,” says Chris. Alkondor decided that they needed to change the way they in which they managed their documents and knew that investment in their digital processes would help them be more efficient and collaborative when it came to working on their projects.

 

A step change in ways of working

“We were already using some digital products such as Revit,” reflects Bram. “We were working with ITANNEX (Arkance systems), an Autodesk reseller, who introduced us to Autodesk Construction Cloud’s BIM 360 platform.” Alkondor began trialling BIM 360 to see how the functionality could support the team with their document management activities as well as supporting version controlling and issues management.

To start with, Alkondor undertook a pilot project with a small group who trialled using BIM 360. The pilot group tested how the team could share documents and data from Autodesk’s Revit platform straight into BIM 360, but they also tested other functionality like quality control and issues management.

After an initial trial, Alkondor decided that they wanted to roll out BIM 360 across all of the organisation and provide dedicated training to their team to ensure this investment was firmly embedded in the company’s ways of working. Bram introduced the solution during learning sessions for all employees, with Chris taking colleagues through the features and functionality. Chris also ensured he was available on site so the team using the solution were able to ask questions and troubleshoot collaboratively.

“I think the best features we have found in BIM 360 is the quality elements we can derive. We can document and freeze elements at certain points during construction,” says Chris. “This means we can complete extra quality checks which avoid extra costs that could be incurred to our products we install on site.”

The team use Ipads on construction sites and in the factory where they can access BIM 360. They use digital checklists for quality checks, and this also means they reduce the amount of paper used, ensuring Alkondor’s carbon footprint remains as low as possible.

Having digital document management practices means that all Alkondor team members can find documents quickly and easily using Autodesk Construction Cloud’s BIM 360 platform. “Being able to search and find documents easily saves a lot of time,” says Chris. “We can also see version history and there is a clear audit trail when it comes to changes.”

 

Capturing learnings for greater insights

When it comes to learnings on each project, Alkondor use BIM 360 to capture insights on the progress of their projects to provide greater certainty. Chris remarks: “We have integrated PowerBI with BIM 360 so we can visualise our data and improve outcomes. We use PowerBI and BIM 360 to provide detailed information about the project’s progress. Sometimes we adjust production and engineering processes where necessary to ensure there is no disruption to our projects.” For project managers at Alkondor, this provides them with an overview of each project helping them to make more informed decisions.

For Alkondor, quality is underpinned by their use of BIM 360. “All of our windows and doors are digital assets within the BIM 360 asset module,” says Bram. The team use this module to track the progress from their factory to project handover. “We add quality checks during the different stages of production and element mounting,” says Bram. “We can visualise our asset progress again using PowerBI dashboard updates with the help of Autodesk’s data connector. This updates every two hours and provides valuable information to our managers,” says Bram.

The team managers in the production area can review both data and issues using this functionality. This means that communication between the production and preparation departments are much more streamlined.

“Things are much quicker and time isn’t lost waiting on information,” – Chris Schoneveld, BIM Manager, Alkondor

“For example, colleagues in the production areas can attach issues to drawings to ensure the right materials are being ordered. This can all happen in BIM 360 with ease.”

This also means the teams have much more insight into what is going wrong and what can be done to change it. When it comes to Alkondor’s use of BIM 360, the company are embedding its use more and more. The team have used BIM 360 on 197 projects, documented 13810 issues and created 17500 checklists as well as 10500 assets.

 

Data, data and more data

For Alkondor, having meaningful data available to analyse is significant. Chris reflects: “We have data and dashboards to make it immediately visible. Previously, we couldn’t analyse anything, but now we can use BIM 360 to analyse everything.” When it comes to using this data, it is invaluable to be able to document and capture the quality of products at a moment in time. “In the past, we were unable to confirm with our clients that there weren’t any scratches on door panes, broken glass or concrete stripes. So if there was a defect afterwards, customers could blame us and ask to front the costs for solving it,” says Chris. Now, Alkondor has evidence of the quality of their outputs on a set date. Which is stored in BIM 360. Depending on the project, that could save somewhere between 10,000 euros to 100,000 euros.

In the future, the team is looking to add in sensor data, so that the business can offer services like predictive maintenance. As an example, they could use this functionality to identify that one door opens once a year, while another opens a thousand times a year. They could use that data to inform predictive maintenance schedules.

For Alkondor, embracing technology of the future like the use of robotics in their factories means they will enable their workforce to focus on higher value and complex work. Being able to offer data to their customers also means that they can be more transparent and provide information that will help their customer to better manage the asset in the future.

“We are committed to embracing technology today so that we can use it for the better in the future,” says Bram. “This also means we can be more flexible as a company – for example pivoting our market offering from projects to ongoing services which will provide us with more revenue streams to explore. And at the heart of all of this for Alkondor is using their data for the better.

The post Data-Driven Insights Improving Quality With Alkondor appeared first on Digital Builder.

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Due to its complexity, much of the subject matter concerning the economy requires detailed editorial commentary, often supported by relevant tables and graphs.

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