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ABSTRACT: Severe issues about data acquisition and management arise during the design
creation and development due to complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity. BIM (Building
Information Modelling) is a tool for a team based lean design approach towards improved
architectural practice across the supply chain. However, moving from a CAD (Computer
Aided Design) approach to BIM (Building Information Modelling) represents a fundamental
change for individual disciplines and the construction industry as a whole. Although BIM
has been implemented by large practices, it is not widely used by SMEs (Small and Medium
Sized Enterprises).
Purpose: This paper aims to present a systematic approach for BIM implementation for
Architectural SMEs at the organizational level
Design/Methodology/Approach: The research is undertaken through a KTP (Knowledge
transfer Partnership) project between the University of Salford and John McCall Architects
(JMA) a SME based in Liverpool. The overall aim of the KTP is to develop lean design
practice through BIM adoption. The BIM implementation approach uses a socio-technical
view which does not only consider the implementation of technology but also considers the
socio-cultural environment that provides the context for its implementation. The action
research oriented qualitative and quantitative research is used for discovery, comparison, and
experimentation as it provides “learning by doing”.
Findings: The strategic approach to BIM adoption incorporated people, process and
technology equally and led to capacity building through the improvements in process,
technological infrastructure and upskilling of JMA staff to attain efficiency gains and
competitive advantages.
Originality/Value: This paper introduces a systematic approach for BIM adoption based on
the action research philosophy and demonstrates a roadmap for BIM adoption at the
operational level for SME companies.
1. INTRODUCTION
The construction industry has been facing a paradigm shift to (i) increase: productivity,
efficiency, infrastructure value, quality and sustainability, (ii) reduce: lifecycle costs, lead
times and duplications, via effective collaboration and communication of stakeholders in
construction projects (Nour, 2007). Building Information Modelling (BIM) seeks to integrate
processes throughout the entire lifecycle (Aouad and Arayici, 2010).
There is some evidence to suggest that the architectural profession is beginning to come
under pressure to adopt BIM. Although BIM has existed for over 20 years, it is only over the
last few years that building owners are becoming aware that BIM promises to make the
design, construction and operation of buildings much more streamlined and efficient (Coates
et al, 2010). Owners are starting to insist that architects and other design professionals,
construction managers and construction companies adopt BIM (Mihindu & Arayici, 2008).
On the other hand, there are challenges in implementing BIM in UK construction practice
such as:
• Overcoming the resistance to change, and getting people to understand the potential and
the value of BIM over 2D drafting
• Adapting existing workflows to lean oriented processes
• Training people in BIM, or finding employees who understand BIM
• The understanding of the required high-end hardware resources and networking facilities
to run BIM applications and tools efficiently
• The required collaboration, integration and interoperability between the structural and the
MEP designers/ engineers
• Clear understanding of the responsibilities of different stakeholders in the new process by
construction lawyers and insurers
(Arayici et al, 2009a, Arayici et al, 2009b, Eastman et al, 2008)
Hence, implementing BIM effectively requires significant changes in the way construction
businesses work at almost every level within the building process. That is to say, it does not
only require learning new software applications, but also how to reinvent the workflow, how
to train staff and assign responsibilities, and changing the way of modelling the construction
(Bernstein and Pittman, 2004, Eastman et al, 2008). Thus, it appears that the industry could
benefit from a clear set of guidelines outlining an effective strategy and methodology of
implementing BIM at the organizational level (Bernstein and Pittman, 2004). Therefore, the
aim of this paper is to introduce a best practice study of BIM adoption for an architectural
company practising in social housing and to highlight the implications for the company
workflows and identify efficiency gains. The paper then recommends the adopted approach
of BIM implementation at the operational level for other SME architectural companies.
John McCall Architects in Liverpool focuses primarily on social housing and regeneration,
private housing and one off homes and large extensions. JMA works with many stakeholders
from design through to building construction process and the associated information is very
fragmented. Projects in which JMA are involved include many stakeholders and need
considerable interoperability and information exchange.
Historically JMA has used a 2D CAD tool for two decades. The company also has its own
procedures and templates to optimize its practice. However, the current practice with this 2D
CAD tool brings about some inefficiencies such as timescales, deadline pressures,
duplications, lengthy lead times, lack of continuity in the supply chain, over processing,
reworking, overproduction, distractive parallel tasks, lack of reliability of data and plan
predictability, lack of rigorous design process, lack of effective design management and
communication. Hence, the company need to improve its capacity for i) greater integration
and collaboration with other disciplines in the production process, ii) adopting technology
change to provide a more effective business process, iii) effective intelligent real time
response, iv) moving into related building sectors.
At the strategic level, lean principles (Liker, 2003, Koskela, 2003) which are: i) eliminate
waste, ii) increase feedback, iii) delay decision, iv) deliver fast, v) build-in integrity, vi)
empower the team, vii) see the whole have been utilized and they formed the seven pillars of
the BIM implementation strategy. There was no practical understanding and awareness of
BIM in the company at the beginning of the project. Yet, senior managers of the company
had some visionary understanding of BIM for investment to attain competitive advantage and
better position in market place and provide sustainable green design solutions in the future.
The next section explains the research methodology of the paper.
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The aim of the paper is to demonstrate a BIM adoption process for mapping and re-
engineering the strategic and operational processes of the company at the organisational level
of SMEs. It adopts a socio-technical view of BIM implementation in that it not only
considers the implementation of technology but also considers the socio-cultural environment
that provides the context for its implementation.
An action research oriented qualitative and quantitative approach for discovery, comparison,
and experimentation has been employed in the research. This is because, the KTP project
with JMA also provided an environment for “learning by doing” (Boshyk and Dilworth,
2009).
In accordance with the action research philosophy, the BIM implementation process is
planned through four stages as illustrated in figure 1. These stages further detailed in table 1
below.
The remainder of the paper elaborates the activities above and highlights the outcomes.
To make lean process improvements it is necessary to understand the existing practices used
at JMA. Firstly the methods of communication in the organization were analyzed and flow
diagrams produced. The main methodology for mapping the current process workflow is the
contextual design technique (Beyer & Holtzblatt, 1998), which prescribes work modelling
techniques such as communication flow modelling, sequence modelling, artefact modelling,
physical environment modelling and culture modelling to understand and examine the current
practice, needs and requirements for improvement via contextual inquiry.
For example, the communication flow diagrams formed a good basis for discussion with the
members of staff and feedback was obtained from them (Arayici et al, 2009a). Following
this, face to face interviews were undertaken to understand and examine the artefacts used in
the current process. The findings from the interviews around the communication flow
diagrams were brought together to create the artefact models that are tangible and intangible
aspects used in the workflow.
The overall flow chart was produced by mapping out a typical project undertaken by JMA.
This was divided up into the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) stages of work and
by taking into consideration the other disciplines involved in the design project who
collaborated with JMA as external partners. The artefacts at each activity stage were
identified and reviewed - see Arayici et al (2009a) for details.
Soft systems methodology (SSM) is a systemic approach for tackling real-world problem
situations (Checkland & Poulter, 2006). It sets out to build a model of what a Human Activity
System must do if it is to achieve the purposes defined. This was achieved through these four
steps: i) an initial appreciation and expression at JMA was developed using rich picturing, ii)
the human activity systems thought to be relevant to the situation of concerns were defined,
iii) Activity models were produced with their dependencies, iv) these models were then
presented to the JMA stakeholders and staff to gain further insight into the work activity at
JMA. For example, the storyboarding technique was adopted to find out how the members of
staff carried out their activities at JMA and to identify the correct needs and user
requirements through contextual inquiry. This was undertaken by a series of interviews with
members of staff in their working situation where possible examples and demonstrations
were asked for.
The IT System at JMA was integral with the production processes undertaken by the practice.
The software adopted could be broken up by usage such as document production,
presentation production and drawing and graphic production. Bespoke software was used for
accounting and resource monitoring processes. All the different types of software result in a
lot of duplication of data in different file formats. In some cases the data was fragmented
such as reference files to allow multiple members of staff to contribute to one drawing or
brochure.
Packaging and transmission of information represented a time consuming activity for many
of the staff, who are generally proficient software users. The IT system was overseen by the
computer manager and CAD management was devolved to the team members. The IT system
was on a rolling programme of upgrade and subsequently staff skills were upgraded while
hardware and software were upgraded. The underlying observation from the review was that
the data used by the company was very fragmented. The inefficiencies are mainly because the
software tools used do not have bidirectional interoperability.
Most of JMA’s work is within the housing sector and therefore certain criteria will be
required by the BIM system chosen. Multiple house types should be inserted into a single site
model. Ease of creating site terrain is also important. Also the ease of working with brick
dimensions would be a real advantage. In evaluating the appropriateness of the BIM tools to
be adopted, it is important to understand the present skill set of the staff. Also high quality
presentational output from the BIM system will be expected. Additional rendering engines
may be used. The way multiple users interact with a single model is also important. The
methods of sharing outputs and interaction with other consultants within the building team
are also critical. How models can be recombined and clash and warning mechanisms are also
important. The level of support and training provided by the software vendor also needs to be
considered. The other question is whether to adopt a BIM system that runs on top of 2D
software or to purely adopt a BIM system. Another consideration is the level of bidirectional
interoperability the BIM software has.
An evaluation of alternative BIM systems took place for a period of three months. Software
vendors visited to give presentations or webinars to discuss the benefits of their particular
software platform. Furthermore, software vendors demonstrated their tools through a given
project scenario by JMA in front of the staff. This has proved to be an effective way to
generate interest and awareness about BIM and its terminology and associated ways of
working. It was also a good way to reduce the reservations of many staff in the office to the
adoption of BIM.
Although these activities helped to short-list three potential tools (ArchiCAD, Revit and
AllPlan), they were not sufficient to determine which BIM authoring tool should be best
suited to JMA’s priorities and the intended competitive advantages to be gained through the
BIM adoption. Thus, it was also necessary to conduct comparative evaluation of the potential
BIM tools in a quantitative manner. Thus, a list of 40 criteria was produced via brainstorming
sessions for the matrix analysis of the potential BIM authoring tools. It was now time for the
JMA staff to test and experiment with the three remaining BIM tools on past projects of
JMA. This provided the opportunity to compare the three BIM tool with each other. The test
results were logged into the checklist document by the three testers individually to form the
basis of the quantitative assessment.
Each criterion in the checklist was then given a score of 1 to 5 depending on how well each
BIM tool met the corresponding criterion by each tester separately. All three analyses showed
that ArchiCAD was the leading tool in the results. Following that, the 40 criteria in the
checklist were weighted by JMA’s top management based on the priorities of these criteria.
The three separate test results were averaged and weighted collectively according to JMA’s
priorities and specific requirements and cumulative scores were generated for each BIM tool.
As a result the ArchiCAD tool was the favoured selection for JMA use as shown in table 2
below.
Table 2: Comparative analysis of the BIM tools under consideration against the checklist
3.1.4. Stakeholder Review and Analysis
An important part of the project has been the buy-in by the senior members of staff. Since the
BIM implementation will affect both internal and external stakeholders, contextual design
technique was used to see how the existing stakeholders interact with the present process. An
area of particular interest was how internal stakeholders maintain the consistency of the
drawing set. An area where BIM could make considerable savings is in maintaining the
dimensional consistency between representations (drawings) was noted.
External stakeholders may demand intelligent or non intelligent outputs from the BIM
system. In this sense there should be a flexibility of outputting, but this does not degrade the
output to the stakeholders compared with the output from the existing CAD systems. The
primary need of the external stakeholders is to facilitate the built objective. Though the
multifaceted forms of output and analysis from the BIM model is possible, new and more
appropriate artefacts can be created and tailored to the building design process.
The stakeholder review and analysis involved presentation, survey based questionnaire and
discussions with clients, consultants, surveyors and contractors. It was recognized that the
full benefits of the project can only be realized if the BIM process is integrated and utilized
by the other disciplines in the building process.
The competitive advantages via SWOT were identified as cost leadership, differentiation,
cost focus, differential focus and collaboration. BIM has the potential to provide advantages
in all of these areas. By reducing both the time and the effort to generate architectural
information, BIM may give JMA the opportunity to offer the most competitive bids for
projects. By avoiding errors and reducing the need for information requests from site, JMA
has the potential to differentiate itself by providing a better service with BIM.
Cost focus competitive advantage is gained by carrying out specific parts of the process
cheaper than competitors. Sustainability issues are becoming more and more important for
housing design. By adopting BIM, JMA can analyse environmental factors at a lower cost.
BIM offers several potential areas for differential focus. The BIM system has a major
potential for use in facilities management and life cycle management. The major advantage of
BIM is by providing a central focus on the collaboration between the building team and
through integration and alignment of all the participants within the building process, savings
will be made on cost, quality and time.
One of the potential gains coming out of the SWOT analysis is the use of BIM models for
rapid prototyping via 3D printers. This has the potential to give yet another understanding of
a scheme as it develops.
The SWOT analysis also demonstrated how saving could be made through the adoption of
Lean principles. Seminars were given in the office on “quality” and “lean principles”. The
discussion about lean principles; avoiding waste and focusing on value adding processes has
provided a good counter balance to the ISO 14000 principles.
3.2. Action Planning Stage: Design of New Processes and Technology Adoption Path
3.2.1. Identification of Lean Efficiency Gains
Findings from the SWOT analysis helped to identify the efficiency gains that are treated as
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to undertake quantitative and qualitative assessment.
These KPIs are identified at the organizational level and project level (details can be found in
Coates et al, 2010). These KPIs briefly are:
• Man hours spent per project
• Speed of Development
• Revenue per head
• IT investment per unit of revenue
• Cash Flow
• Better Architecture
• A better product
• Reduced costs, travel, printing, document shipping
• Bids won or win percentage
• Client satisfaction and retention
• Employee skills and knowledge development
1.Background
JMA uses Microstation V8i and Powerdraft to produce their production information to enable the contractor and
the stakeholders to understand their design requirements. This method of production has been used since the
inception of the practice almost 20 years ago. 2D representations are created to illustrate 3D forms.
2. Situation before the BIM tool Adoption
Elevations/Sections projected manually from plans using construction lines. Schedules produced manually.
3. Analysis
The problem is that the plans, sections and elevations generated on a project are not dynamically linked and
therefore inconsistencies between the representations can arise. These can lead to costly mistakes if they are
constructed on site. The process of creating the plans, section and elevations separately is also time consuming.
Using the current method the 3D form may not be correctly represented within the 2D representations. A
considerable amount of time is spent checking drawings to ensure inconsistencies do not occur. Using separate
representations revision control becomes more of a problem. Drawings are divided up by levels but these need
to be applied and managed manually.
4. Goals
• To ensure that all representations are consistent and remain consistent and accurate when any
representations are altered.
• To remove the task of level management.
• To automatically generate schedules from the BIM model.
• To achieve shapes that work in 3 dimensions.
• To speed up the production process.
5. Situation after the BIM tool Adoption and the Lean Efficiency Gains Achieved
Using BIM software to create 3D models from which 2D representations and schedules can be generated
automatically. Furthermore, construction planning, costing, energy and thermal analysis, daylight and acoustic
analysis can be carried out in a fast and accurate manner to ensure sustainable design outputs. Efficiency gains
are: 1) the consistent and better quality design outputs, 2) reduction in RFI (Requests For Information) and site
management issues 3) reduced checking time 4) ability of staff to use the BIM system and capacity
improvement 5) pinpointing other areas where BIM is not traditionally the tool for improvement but still
requires improvement, 6) reduced costs, travel, printing and document shipping.
Table 3: A3 exercise for process improvements via BIM tool adoption
1. Background
• Items of information that are distributed through many non-connected files
• Items of information that are difficult to locate
• Some information is not consistent across the files in the company
• Review of data from multiple projects is difficult
• Time is wasted searching for information scattered across the company
2. Situation before the knowledge database development
• Duplications and multiple files with different file types but containing common data
• Simultaneous searches of multiple projects are not possible.
• Projects are delayed from archive because important data would be more difficult to find.
• Time is spent searching for historic information for future marketing and submissions is painful and lengthy
• Knowledge and experience from past projects remains only with the individuals not as company knowledge
and experience
3. Analysis
Some primary project support information has been identified as commonly reoccurring such as project number,
project name, project architect, email address, project start dates, project description, project castings, and
project sectors. The database structure was developed around these fields. The scope to be covered by the
database came out of interviews with most of the staff in the company and discussion on how different stages of
the projects are addressed at John McCall Architects. Tasks that currently cause the difficulty in practice were
identified and the structure and the front-end of the database were designed to address these deficiencies in the
current system.
4. Goals
• To make project support information more consistent
• To make data easier to find, save time and money
• To make multiple project review possible and obtain lessons learnt from past projects
• To flag up error and omissions in data
• To keep critical project data available even after the project is archived
5. Situation after the knowledge database development and lean efficiency gains achieved
Database can be accessible to all JMA staff to input and obtain project related information. JMA staff can also
refer to past projects of similar kinds to learn and apply to their current and future projects.
In addition, lean efficiency gains obtained are 1) reduced waiting time, 2) improved quality in dealing with
project support information and external stakeholders, 3) facilitating audit and reviews, 4) improved quality of
service to JMA partners and clients, and 5) allows archiving and learning from past projects 6) retaining key
knowledge and experience from projects for the company not only with individual JMA staff.
Table 4: A3 exercise for process improvement via the development of the Knowledge Database
It was recognised that standard elements of data exist across letters, spreadsheets and
drawings etc. A list of over 500 of these data elements was created. These data fields were
then normalized into a proposed data structure. This has provided an integrated knowledge
database platform to record, share and interrogate project support information internally
across the company. The particular benefits of this knowledge database are that information
is retained in the same database even when projects are archived. This database is centrally
accessible to all staff for the operations at JMA. However, it will also be integrated with the
BIM project databases to enable bilateral information feeding between design information
encapsulated in BIM and the project support information encapsulated in the knowledge
database. The resultant schema that is being worked towards is to capture knowledge and
experiences from past projects and from experienced staff via this knowledge database in the
future as illustrated in figure 3. This also proves the importance of linkage between BIM and
Knowledge Management.
Figure 3: Combined model of architectural practice with the design information encapsulated in
BIM and the project support information encapsulated in the knowledge database
In addition, particular consideration in the planning process was given to when and how the
BIM object libraries and also office BIM standards were to be developed. The BIM
implementation plan was then presented to all in the company.
Two pilots of current projects were undertaken. The first is the Millachip Phase 3 project; a
series of sheltered housing bungalows. A 2D set of CAD drawings had already been
developed for this project and BIM models with associated plans sections and elevations
were rapidly produced. Objects were built from scratch on this project. This has helped to
match the generated 2D drawings from the BIM model with the previously produced 2D
drawings to observe the accuracy, consistency, speedy and timely maintenance of such
drawings and finally to establish good communications with the client. Figure 4 shows the
BIM model of the Millachip project produced with ArchiCAD.
The other current project is the Leathers Lane project, which is a series of flats and
communal accommodation for the infirm and those recovering from hospital treatment.
Through the piloting in this project, the BIM object libraries have been developed and
implemented for JMA in its practice in housing and regeneration. The BIM object libraries
will be further developed and improved through the future projects. Figure 5 below shows the
schematic structure of the object library under development.
However, the future projects will be identified later in the project once the initial core training
for JMA staff has been completed via piloting. Furthermore, it will be determined on a
project which can benefit from eco analysis in line with the sustainable design vision being
developed as a result of new BIM led infrastructure.
BIM opens the door to many possibilities. For example, working with 3D models facilitates
the generation of 3D visuals, 3D printing and linking with virtual environments. Part of
improving the companywide capabilities is maintaining the BIM dialogue. Hence, BIM
knowledge and best practice is disseminated around the practice. Currently the BIM enabled
process and procedures are being documented. This will explain and guide the JMA staff how
best to use the BIM authoring tool, BIM object library addressing building types and
components and the knowledge database.
3.4. Evaluation Stage: Project review, dissemination and integration into strategy plan
Since stage 3 has not been completed yet, the evaluation stage has not been formally started
according to the project plan yet, assessment and discussions have been taking place as
findings and efficiency gains are realized through stage 3 activities simultaneously in a
collaborative manner involving all parties in the KTP including JMA staff. Lean thinking is
an ongoing journey that JMA can now more effectively undertake through the demonstration
of Lean practices. The internal adoption of BIM at JMA is well underway. What JMA needs
to do is push to develop linkages with other BIM enabled organizations so the true benefits of
BIM can be realized. JMA intends to be a market leader in the field of BIM. To support this
aspiration, a vision development exercise has also been undertaken, which brings together
BIM, Lean and the sustainable design context as complementary components to provide a
future roadmap for continuous improvement towards sustainable design solutions.
It is envisaged that this adoption would enable JMA to provide faster and additional services
such as i) the analysis of models to confirm compliance with the Code for Sustainable
Homes, ii) the potential to provide models for post completion services and iii) output to
virtual reality, iv) facilities management services. Furthermore, if the ArchiCad BIM tool is
customised for JMA’s practice, even more lean efficiency gains can be achieved towards a
leaner design practice.
As part of the dissemination of the project, presentations at different conferences, events and
workshops for industrialists and academics, and involvement in exhibitions have already been
undertaken. However, some formal analysis and reviews such as cost benefit analysis have
not been undertaken as the formal evaluation stage of the project has not been started yet
according to the project plan. With respect to evaluation and dissemination of the project, a
tangible benefits log has been maintained throughout the BIM implementation project (see
section 3.4.1 for summary of the log). This will form the basis of an evaluation report that is
to be written at the conclusion of the project.
3.4.1. Lean Efficiency Gains and Benefits Log Summary
While this benefits log will help to note the short term efficiency gains, it will also help to
formulate the mid and long term efficiency gains by means of the KPIs listed in section 3.2.1
during the actual evaluation stage of the BIM implementation project. Some of the benefits
are listed below.
However, it is clear that in the project further benefits and lean efficiency gains will be
logged such as effective resource monitoring, effective and accurate modelling with the JMA
specific BIM object library, logical directory structure, provision of quantifiable building
models, and linking drawings to specification.
4. CONCLUSION
The BIM adoption and implementation at JMA is well advanced and the project is moving
from stage 3 to 4. The impact of the BIM adoption has already been realized during the
project in that it has improved JMA’s practice in eliminating the risk of duplication,
misinterpretation of design, improving communication, streamlining processes, providing
collaborative practice and, ensuring control and sharing of documentation. Thus, it is
believed that it will provide a clearer vision and roadmap with detailed strategies, methods
and techniques for successful BIM implementation. Furthermore, based on the current
findings and optimistic behaviour and culture evolved during the project, it can re-engineer
the operational and IT processes and broaden the knowledge of existing staff and
stakeholders up and down the supply chain. This is because the BIM adoption and
implementation approach is actually as much about people and processes as it is about
technology to i) engage people in the adoption, ii) ensure that people’s skills and
understanding increases and thus companies build up their capacities, iii) to apply successful
change management strategies, iv) to diminish any potential resistance to change.
Although the adoption process can be slower than envisaged, as it is inclusive and engaged
with people, the impact of the BIM adoption on the company practice can be measured. The
employed action research strategy has enabled “learning by doing”. For example, in the JMA
case study, no one had any knowledge or experience of BIM prior to this BIM
implementation project apart from a few forward thinking top management members, which
shows that top management support is also critical to the success of BIM adoption. However,
after 18 months, the company has already made significant progress in up skilling staff,
technology infrastructure development and lean process improvements. This progress has not
been stopped. The intention is to ensure that the company has sufficient capacity to maintain
the continuous improvement, even after the project, by establishing new service offerings
such as facilities management. Finally, the paper recommends the BIM adoption approach
based on this case study experimentation as a guide at an operational level for SMEs.
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