In “Imagining construction’s digital future” 5D Building Information Modelling is identified as one of the five trends that will shape the future of c

Global consultancy firm McKinsey says “Combining 5D BIM and augmented-reality devices will transform construction, maintenance, and operations. To get the full benefit of BIM technology, project owners and contractors need to incorporate its use right from the design stage, and all stakeholders need to adopt standardized design and data-reporting formats compatible with BIM. In addition, owners and contractors need to dedicate resources for BIM implementation and invest in capability building.”

5D BIM is the next step up from 4D (time scheduling):

and includes integration of the design with estimating and costing, including generation of quantities, development of rates and overall cost.

McKinsey has identified 5D BIM as one of five trends that will change the future of the global construction industry. Together, the five big ideas are:

• Higher-definition surveying and geolocation;
• Next-generation 5D building information modelling;
• Digital collaboration and mobility;
• The Internet of Things and advanced analytics;
• Future-proof design and construction (using “future” materials and methods).

McKinsey says these are practical and relevant and are “designed to work together to deliver greater impact”.

We are on the verge of a substantial paradigm shift which is fueled by the appearance of innovative construction technology startups and their effort to build new tools and applications which will eventually transform the way companies design, schedule and operate on projects.

At the moment, the engineering and construction sector is under extreme pressure due to the continuously increased perplexity and cost of construction projects. As a result, project managers are in a very tough spot as they constantly try to boost efficiency, minimise costs and improve timelines.

This is where cutting-edge tech startups enter the game and try to help through the creation of smart construction hardware, advanced software and by providing a more analytical approach to the whole construction process.

But before construction firms lay their first brick (or extrude their first layer), they must first draw up comprehensive blueprints, and the McKinsey report also looks at the ways building design will change in the future.

A big part of construction’s future will purportedly lie with 5D building information modeling, a more advanced (though we wouldn’t necessarily say more dimensional) form of 3D modeling that also incorporates the factors of schedule and budget into CAD projects.

Next-generation 5D BIM is a five-dimensional representation of the physical and functional characteristics of any project. It considers a project’s cost and schedule in addition to the standard spatial design parameters in 3D.

What this means is that construction firms could bring together their currently disparate software tools for 3D modeling, budget planning, and schedule planning, integrating them into a single system that treats the entire process as one. a 5D BIM platform would allow companies to instantly assess the impact of certain changes in terms of their 3D structure, cost, and time.

The visual and intuitive nature of 5D BIM gives contractors a better chance to identify risks earlier and thus to make better decisions.

McKinsey Global Institute’s 2017 Reinventing Construction report found that U.S. construction productivity is lower today than it was in 1968, and it lags significantly behind industries such as manufacturing and agriculture. However, if the construction sector could meet the productivity levels of the overall economy, it could unlock more than $500 billion in value. This represents a significant opportunity for all stakeholders involved in major projects.

Some of the key themes that is emphasizes, and even sometime a by-propduct of Integrated BIM and 5D BIM:

1. Predictability and performance must be addressed alongside productivity. While construction does not take place in the same repetitive environments as industries like manufacturing, there is a clear opportunity to incorporate greater levels of standardization and repeatability across projects and project owners. This will require a mindset shift from custom scopes for each project to implementing standards across processes and the supply chain where possible. There is also an opportunity to learn from manufacturing. Predictability and performance can be driven by improved up-front planning processes and well-defined scopes, with outcome-focused and data-driven performance indicators. Participants agreed this will only be successful if contractors and owners work together and have buy-in from the top to fundamentally reconfigure the way they think about projects.
2. A new project-operating system is needed to achieve change in predictability, productivity and performance. To overcome today’s stalled productivity, change should be implemented across all three aspects of the project operating system: management systems, technical systems and mindsets and behaviors. These changes should be aimed at minimizing variability in activities and timing. One participant offered the oil and gas industry’s relentless pursuit of safety as an example of how all industry players can work together to create change in both behaviors and systems. When project owners have centralized projects organizations this can also help create cultural change and define new processes and systems for use across the entire project portfolio.
3. Improving contractual relationships will be fundamental. The current contractual environment is highly focused on risk transfer, and often results in adversarial relationships between owners and contractors. Case studies have shown that the when contractors’ and owners’ interests are aligned and aimed at successful project outcomes, the project is more likely to meet schedule and cost targets. BP’s Project Andrew in the North Sea in an example of a project that was delivered using an alliance contract model, and it was delivered 35% under budget and ahead of schedule. While this project occurred two decades ago, its lessons are still relevant.
4. While integrated project delivery (IPD) may not be the right answer for all projects, industrial players should consider how they can mimic the positive aspects of IPD that focus on making the best choices for a project, encouraging innovation, reducing variability, and cutting down the excess inventories that burden so many of today’s projects. One important attribute of any relational contract should be the incorporation of lifecycle maintenance costs and a focus on long-term operability. 
5. The industry should look to international peers and projects to help overcome skills gaps in the workforce. The group explored long-term, socio-economic trends impacting today’s construction workforce, from literacy and education to negative perceptions among younger generations. While these major challenges may take years to overcome, the industry could look to other countries such as the UK and Germany where they have instituted strong apprenticeship programs. Contractors can also look internally at what they have done in emerging economies where they have overcome education and literacy challenges on projects with local hiring requirements to identify transferable programs or ideas. A well-defined project scope at the outset is also incredibly value because it allows both contractors and the owner’s team to identify skills gaps and anticipate training needs.
6. The industry needs to think creatively about how to embrace technology. Technology alone will not address the root causes of poor productivity. It is important that companies put in place the right systems and have the culture to embrace technology in a way that would catalyze a “manufacturing-like” step-change in the industry. However, it is a critical enabler to improve productivity and because there are disruptors entering the market, companies need to institute changes now to maintain their competitive advantage. Project directors and senior management need to help educate company executives and boards on which innovations are working, where investment is merited, and which digital or technology-focused questions the organization should be pursuing. At the field level, it is important to receive “bottom-up” feedback and work collaboratively with the on-site team to align on what you are trying to solve for and how technology can help. Pilot projects can test innovations, while minimizing risk, and also help secure investment for broader change initiatives.

5d BIM (MTWO and iTWO) integrates 3D modelling with scheduling and cost information to improve on-site coordination. Ideally, this will advance to a 6D model that also incorporates supply chain and materials data (YTWO). Augmented reality is an interface to your 5D BIM data to help project owners physically “see” and “experience” project attributes from initial design to minimize change orders later in the project. as such digital collaboration tools to enable real-time feedback from the field, and adds to the eco-system of applications across infrastructure-, platform- and application layer capturing and utilizing data.

And how it all flows together: From C-suite to field, across design and O&M. Managing individual projects in a big data context, to ensure project efficiencies as well as enterprise value.

Technology has arrived, and with blue chip companies like Microsoft stepping into construction, it is time for us to partner up and push the boundaries - we at RIB are ready to run with you - #WEareRIB

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