BIM Show Live Review, Part 1

BIM Show Live ran on the 8th and 9th April and was a huge success in its fifth year. UK Construction Media attended and here is the first part of our review of the two days. 

Two days, more than 60 speakers, the very best discussions and exhibitions for BIM, guidance from some of the most intelligent minds in the industry, exhibitors showcasing the latest technologies the industry has to offer, countless networking opportunities, and yet you feel that BIM Show Live is not long enough. 

That’s not to say that the 750+ people in attendance would have left the event unfulfilled, or bereft of the information to make their organisation more BIM-friendly. 

The opposite is actually true – BIM Show Live packs in so much information that tough choices have to be made. A plethora of sessions are available throughout each day, with four main stages hosting four sessions each following introductory addresses. 

Each stage is designed with the differing BIM stages in mind to make sure that all are covered in depth by the people who speak on each given stage. 

Stage one covered ‘Define & Validate’, stage two was for ‘Design & Prototype’, ‘Manufacture & Assemble’ was at stage three, and stage four was set aside for sessions that covered ‘Operate and Maintain’.

The latest instalment is BIM Show Live’s fifth and it continues to be successful, with people attending encouraged to learn and think differently. It leads to many going away with a different outlook and new ideas. This comes from an environment where different strategies are put forward, constantly challenging the way to make the step to Level 2 BIM. 

Each year, the theme of the event changes. Last year, the strapline, was ‘now it’s serious’. Being a year away from the Level 2 BIM target set in 2011, the strapline this year was ‘it’s time to prove it’, because the use of BIM has continued to grow and the theory around proving it is that it is being used now. 

As a result, this year’s event challenged those in attendance to start seeing a return on investment and projects delivered while showing how BIM has offered value rather than it just being a process that people have adopted. 

Thriving from the first minute of the first day, BIM Show Live opened suitably with an address from BIM guru David Philp, who described BIM as a “journey”, stressing to the listening audience that there is no specified end point and that people can continue to learn and improve their own processes. 

As BIM Director – EMEA at AECOM, Head of BIM at the BIM Task Group and having spent time as Head of BIM Implementation at the Cabinet Office, few people are as qualified to open such a prestigious event. 

His opening address set the scene perfectly. A man with an enviable portfolio in the BIM environment, David told the audience that the use of BIM all over the world has really taken off in the last year. 

As much as anything else, he stressed that this digital transformation – which was apparent everywhere you looked during the two days – is about giving clients added value.

We are currently less than a year away from the target of hitting Level 2 BIM, set out as part of the Government Strategy in 2011 for public projects, and this opening address talked about how tools, guides and processes drive Level 2. 

Crucially, and this will undoubtedly be reassuring for companies to hear who feel that the 2016 deadline for Level 2 is final, David describes this as a “staging post” during the journey that he hopes can raise awareness throughout the UK and move even more people into the world of digital transformation. 

This will get a client base in the right frame of mind and all will be ready for adoption to the right processes sooner than they would have been previously. 

One of the main drivers of BIM is the need and commitment to improving efficiency. This was apparent on that first day, with the first speech targeting moving things from mechanical processes, to digital procurement where possible. 

The BIM Show Live journey was outlined by David, who said: “We started off with the whole enabling, testing and building a strategy and putting the tools in place. We went through our trial projects where we test our hypothesis, making sure it works and building capability capacity both in terms of client and supply chain.

“We’re now at that point and there are 20% of savings regularly being cemented regularly through Government construction strategy. That’s very much a combination of BIM and soft landings.”

The results speak for themselves regarding the success of BIM, with last year showing at least £840M of savings made at the public sector stage, something “the industry can be proud of.”

In terms of process and guides, Level 2 will be complete this year – a key year for all involved. 

The opening speech showed a great number of savings because of BIM processes, and the bigger picture of a project lifecycle too. 

Indeed, in comparison with 2011, the Highways Agency and Ministry of Justice have made approximately 80% of savings. 

The opening address was wide ranging, introducing the digital plan of work and core classification systems of NBS – this was discussed in detail later on that first day. 

Level 3 was touched upon, with integration, smarter access as well as performance and operation of assets being key parts of this process. 

Companies were challenged to think about and understand what their own BIM journey is going to be like, and where they want to go. For some, this could be Level 1, something of which David said “there’s nothing wrong with that.” That creates a consistent foundation, allowing Level 2 maturity to be thought about, whether this is at organisational or project level. 

What the first part of that first morning did more than anything though, was get people thinking about their own businesses and processes, how they can add value to their own projects and encouraged the type of thinking that would focus minds for the two days of workshops, seminars and networking to build upon the work already achieved. 

This was followed with the keynote address from Josh Valman of RPD International. His story is a fascinating one. At ten years old, he designed his first robot and three years later, sent his life savings of £500 to have drawings turned into real components. 

Barely out of his teens, Josh was working as a freelance engineering supply chain consultant at just 15 years of age and in those years, would often have a routine of coming home from school to take conference calls from China and the multinational firms he was consulting for. 

Josh used his speech to get people thinking about what they are trying to push and who they are trying to push it to and their goals.

He said: “There’s far too much assumption in understanding our customers. To make innovation happen we have to have this culture of iteration, a culture of feedback and understanding.”

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