AUTODESK MANUFACTURING WHITE PAPER

AUTODESKMANUFACTURINGWHITE PAPER Gaining CompetitiveAdvantage by UsingDigital Prototypingto Support BuildingInformation ModelingBy Brian Frank, Rob Cohee, and Peter VinhSummaryBuilding information modeling (BIM), the process of using digital modeling software to moreeffectively design, construct, and manage building projects, is rapidly becoming the globalstandard in the architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. As part of compilinga BIM database, architectural firms often require building product manufacturers to deliverdata about their products—including HVAC, lighting, plumbing, doors/windows, and furnituresystems—in Autodesk Revit file format. Today’s manufacturers leverage mechanical CAD toolsto assist in the design, simulation, and visualization of product offerings, investing time and effortin creating 3D models to aid in the manufacturing process. The Autodesk solutions for DigitalPrototyping and BIM can help provide building product manufacturers a competitive advantage.By using a Digital Prototyping solution, building product companies can bring together designdata from all phases of the product development process to create a single digital model, whichcan be seamlessly integrated into BIM. This integrated workflow enables the manufacturer tocommunicate and collaborate more effectively with their customers, and improve productivity,predictability, and control throughout the life of the project. By providing the right information tothe AEC communities to inform the BIM process, the manufacturer can increase opportunities tosecure new business.

AUTODESK MANUFACTURING WHITE PAPEROverviewThe Need for Better Integration of Building Product Manufacturing in BIMCurrent trends in the building product manufacturing segment—including HVAC, lighting, plumbing,doors/windows, and furniture systems—require building product manufacturers to deliver very specificcontent to the AEC community. The process that drives the need for this type of content is known asbuilding information modeling (BIM) and is rapidly becoming the standard around the globe. This presentsa significant challenge (but also new opportunities) for all building product manufacturers, and drives animmediate need for companies to develop strategies and workflows for delivery of BIM-ready content foruse by customers and distribution channels.As the design and construction industry continues to adopt BIM to realize increased productivity andcollaboration goals, the building design process is requiring coordinated, reliable, and detailed information,from design through construction and into operations. As a result, building product manufacturers who cansupport this process are increasingly gaining a competitive advantage and becoming trusted partners byproviding manufacturer-specific content to inform the BIM process.Autodesk’s solutions for Digital Prototyping and BIM can help the various disciplines involved communicateand interpret design intent required to design, build, and operate a successful project. Through DigitalPrototyping and BIM, project teams can better simulate performance and constructability of a projectdigitally before it’s built to deliver projects faster, with fewer errors and coordination issues, and at lesscost.Market research shows that the future of building design and construction will increasingly rely on BIM.The adoption of BIM has grown by 75% in that last two years, with over 50% of professional service firmsusing BIM as the foundation for their projects.1 Both private and government agencies are increasinglyadopting and requiring BIM for usage in building projects.2As a result, manufacturers today are being asked to support their customers’ design processes more closelythan ever. Coupled with the application of BIM to manage and support increasingly complex buildingdesigns and performance goals, the demand for information and content that will support the needs ofthe architects, engineers, and other construction professionals assoc ation. Bylooking for solutions that will tie these needs together, the manufacturer can leverage the time and effortthat is used for development of products to satisfy customers’ content and information requests. Autodeskis able to assist its manufacturing customers in building a comprehensive pipeline to deliver informationderived from manufacturing models through service networks directly to architects, engineers, and builders.The illustration below is a simple example of how a digital prototype can support a variety of processesand needs. What is relevant and important to the architect is different than the details required by themanufacturer for the same building component. The different details, however, need to be coordinatedwithin a consistent process.Dynamic BlocksAnalysisSheet MetalAssembly DocsDigital PrototypeRevit & BIMMarketing2D DWGEngineering4

AUTODESK MANUFACTURING WHITE PAPERThe Autodesk Digital Prototyping-to-BIM WorkflowThe diagram below provides an overview of Autodesk’s approach to using the Digital Prototyping process toleverage existing CAD designs to create BIM-ready files for AEC totypingand BIMSolutionsAECCustomers2D CADDrawings /VisualizationRenderingsCatalog BIMModelsOnlineDistribution(Autodesk Seek,manufacturers’websites)The Autodesk Digital Prototyping-to-BIM workflow is composed of three main phases: 1) input, 2)processing, and 3) output.InputExisting product information consisting of 3D CAD models, 2D drawings, and product performance datafrom multiple sources are collected and stored through the Autodesk Digital Prototyping solution.ProcessingThe information is leveraged and reused to create a variety of deliverables that vary in detail and format,depending on the needs of the AEC customers. This is achieved through a combination of tools andservices.Autodesk Inventor enables a manufacturer to simplify a manufacturing model; remove intellectualproperty and sensitive information; add additional data that is beneficial to the BIM process, such asmetadata and connector specifications; and publish this model representation for consumption by theAutodesk Revit family of products, AutoCAD MEP, and AutoCAD Architecture products.The Autodesk solutions also include tools to easily produce a variety of file formats depending oncustomer needs, for example: 2D DWG drawings, DWF /DXF visualizations, and high-qualityvisualization renderings.OutputThe output consists of drawings, specifications, and visualization renderings, in addition to BIM-readymodels. For the latter case, these consist of Revit files that are typically provided to AEC customersthrough two primary methods: Directly to customers as a bid/RFQ response during the bid and shop drawing phases of a buildingproject Via an online catalog (for example, Autodesk Seek) to be used by architects, engineers, andspecifiers in the design development phase5

AUTODESK MANUFACTURING WHITE PAPERThe Autodesk workflow encourages the reuse of critical engineering data to enable the provision ofcontent in multiple formats as required by different customers and stakeholders, while eliminating theneed to re-create content and the associated incremental cost, time, and inaccuracies from duplicate effort.Furthermore, the workflow contains a standard of best practices that will guarantee only the highest qualityof content, and provides a new level of automation that further simplifies the dealer’s ability to configure.By offering better, more reliable content faster than its competitors, Autodesk’s workflow providesmanufacturers with a competitive advantage.By helping manufacturers to author, validate, and market BIM-ready content throughout workflows with anoptimal mix of software, user processes, and services, the Autodesk tools facilitate improved collaborationand communication between manufacturers and their customers. So

Autodesk’s purpose-built BIM tool is Autodesk Revit . A recent survey of AEC professionals indicates that two of the widely recognized BIM software tools are Autodesk Revit and Autodesk Navisworks .3 Autodesk Inventor gives manufacturers the ability