Building The Present, Creating The Future Changing The Way We Create Our Built Environment

The six lifecycle steps
A project lifecycle is comprised of six major process steps . We start with Scanning the existing situation, this can go from green field situation where we will realize a new project or to an existing situation that needs to be renovated. One of the methods we use is 3D laser scanning on a tri-pod or attached to a drone, to create 3D point clouds that will be used as a basis for the design. Other examples for scanning are taking in the information provided by a client and sketching the existing situation. This we then use in the Design step, where we use 3D modelling technologies to develop the design of a project. We coordinate the designs of different disciplines (i.e. concrete, steel, façade, installations) and check for potential clashes between the disciplines. The final step in the Digital side of the lifecycle is the Simulate step, in which we use different simulation technologies to optimize the Digital Master of our project. Here we simulate the schedule (4D planning), the logistics, extract quantities and costs (5D estimating) and look into subjects like structural analysis, constructability, lifecycle assessment (LCA), health & safety, people flow and way finding, acoustics, fire safety, lighting, waste management, and many other aspects. By exploring the usage of advanced technologies, like Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality, we continuously strive to improve our methods to be able to get to the most efficient and qualitatively best end result for our clients and end-users.

Once we have finalized the Digital Master we are ready to move into the physical side of the lifecycle. We start Producing the objects that at a later stage will be assembled into the final building. During production, we aim to produce as many objects as possible in an industrialized factory environment (Offsite) using CAD-CAM machines, robots, 3D printers and more. Some of these facilities are owned by BAM, others are owned by our supply chain partners. These objects are then transported (by air, water, rail or road) to the construction site where they together with the onsite produced items are Assembled into their final configuration. This is like an IKEA or LEGO type of approach often referred to as Industrialized Construction.

During the production and assembly process steps we actively monitor our lean processes, perform quality monitoring, stakeholder management and monitor all kind of aspects like safety, people, site access, weather and more. We can link this information to the 3D model that we carry with us on tablet devices on the construction site. Before we hand-over to the client, we produce our as-built model with all the relevant information that is needed to operate the project (Digital Twin).

The final process step mentioned in the circle is Live (or Operate) where the project is handed over to the end-user. This phase is often referred to as the Operation & Maintenance or Facility Management phase of the lifecycle. When BAM is still involved we also apply digital technologies to operate our projects in this process step. We use sensors and IoT devices to monitor our projects and support predictive maintenance processes. All this Live information again forms the base for the Scan step.

Data
During all the process steps described above a lot of data is being produced and managed in on-premise and cloud based environments. We are using Common Data Environments (CDE) and platforms like Microsoft SharePoint and Autodesk BIM 360 to manage this data. This data is a rich source of information that we use to Learn and Scale by applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning algorithms to provide our project teams with predictive information and dashboards.