Autodesk launches complete project lifecycle management platform

Yesterday, Autodesk announced a new set of products for Autodesk Construction Cloud that further connect data, workflows and teams throughout the entire building lifecycle, from design to operations.

Built on a unified platform and common data environment, the new products – Autodesk Build, Autodesk Quantify and Autodesk BIM Collaborate – empower general contractors, specialty trades, designers and owners to drive better business outcomes.

“Almost a year ago we introduced Autodesk Construction Cloud, sharing our vision for the most powerful and complete portfolio of construction management products. The new products we announced today represent a huge milestone for connected construction, with Autodesk Build providing an entirely new approach to project management,” said Jim Lynch, vice president and general manager of Autodesk Construction Solutions.

Construction teams will have a comprehensive construction management platform with all data in one central location to simplify collaboration, proactively anticipate project changes and provide data-driven guidance for organizational improvement.

“We’re continuing to deliver on our promise of helping builders across the world catalyze their digital transformation and make construction more predictable, safe and sustainable,” Lynch said.

The three new product offerings announced today include:

• Autodesk Build: Unites the best of PlanGrid and BIM 360 with additional new functionality to create a comprehensive field and project management solution. Autodesk Build also includes the PlanGrid Build mobile app with additional new capabilities for field workers.

• Autodesk Quantify: Empowers estimators to automate 2D and 3D quantification from a single comprehensive platform.

• Autodesk BIM Collaborate: Enables project teams to align and execute on design intent by managing the entire design collaboration and coordination workflow from a single solution to reduce rework, improve productivity and accelerate project delivery.

As part of the unified Autodesk Construction Cloud platform, every new product is reinforced by:​

• Autodesk Docs – underpins the common data environment for every unified product with centralized document management, providing users with seamless navigation and integrated workflows to create a single source of truth across the project lifecycle.​

• Insights – delivers analytics from the data collected and analyzed, as well as the ability to export that data; encompasses Construction IQ artificial intelligence to identify and mitigate risk.

• Administration – provides centralized user management and permissioning, templates and other tools for project setup, as well as a single authentication method for any unified product.

“The continuous and fluid flow of data is the backbone of our teams’ success, with our healthcare projects in particular requiring tremendous scrutiny in inspections and documentation,” said Amy Kozlowski, project manager at Herrero Builders.

“Autodesk Construction Cloud delivers a unified platform where data and information are centralized. We can immediately get new design details into the hands of preconstruction and construction teams, proactively make adjustments in the field and better understand the health of our project portfolio. With Autodesk Build, we will be able to connect critical field and project management workflows, powering seamless collaboration across locations and devices. Just as importantly, the new products are intuitive and simple to use. Autodesk inherently understands the construction industry and provides technology that fuels success across the entire building lifecycle.”

“Construction is about building, not learning how to navigate complicated software,” said Sameer Merchant, head of product development, Autodesk Construction Solutions.

“Technology should be easy-to-use and effortless to scale – if a construction company grows, its software should grow with it. In developing our new offerings, we incorporated the best-in-class features of existing Autodesk construction products into a common web and mobile framework and integrated them with a shared data platform. As a result, the most loved capabilities will be immediately available within Autodesk Build, Autodesk Quantify and Autodesk BIM Collaborate.”

Autodesk’s new construction management products will connect construction teams, data and workflows across the headquarters, office and job site. Products will be available in early 2021.

Developers say e-commerce, amenities will drive successful future

An ABC Heart of America webinar recap

This week Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) Heart of America held an online developers panel moderated by Eric Mann with Emery Sapp & Sons.

Panelists included Andy Ashwal, VP, senior asset manager of GFI Management, Mike Bell, senior vice president of Hunt Midwest and Oscar Healy, regional vice president of Opus Design Build.

The discussion focused on the challenges as well as the opportunities surrounding future development resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of the trends the panelists are seeing skyrocket is e-commerce and the need for additional storage space as the U.S. supply chain has relied on ‘just in time’ delivery for many consumer products that are imported and shipped overseas.

“You’re going to see a change from ‘just in time’ deliveries to having a 5% safety stock being held in distribution facilities. Based upon different national brokers, you’ll hear numbers ranging from 500 million to 750 million SF of additional industrial space needed just to supply distribution centers that 5% safety stock,” said Bell. 

“It will bring manufacturing back to the US. I think ‘Made in America’ will mean something more than it has in the past, said Healy.

The panelists also predict a surge of data centers to help fuel e-commerce.

“Kansas City is seeing the first wave of data centers. We’ve always been seen as a lower-level tertiary market, said Bell. 

Panelists agreed other side-markets to the e-commerce industry include an increase in the need for robotics and higher, stacked building spaces.

The importance of the ‘live, work, play, stay’ concept of living is not going away anytime soon. Having amenities for offices and apartments will become of even greater value to millennials who might be staying in lofts and apartments longer than they expected.

“I think the trend of millennials staying in multifamily or maybe moving up to larger multifamily spaces is going to continue (as) they’re going to start to have children. They’re going to need services for their children there and play spaces. That has not existed in the Kansas City market, said Ashwal.

The need for additional on-site package delivery storage was also discussed.

“The ripple-effect of what’s going to happen on the office and multifamily side is there will be a need for larger package rooms to accept trackable deliveries. Refrigerated storage in office buildings will be a new trend to accommodate employees that want packages delivered to their office to bring home,” said Ashwal. 

Some of the obstacles the panelists are seeing now and going forward are cost of construction and shortage of labor.

“Material increases and labor shortages have caused issues on our side from a development perspective, said Bell.

The panelists agreed that municipalities that are “developer-friendly” will be more attractive to developers going forward more than ever before.

“If you don’t have a tax incentive or tax abatement in some of our various cities or counties, you’re at a competitive disadvantage,” said Healy.

The discussion ended with hope that the pandemic is creating opportunities, especially for industrial development because of Kansas City’s well-built infrastructure and land availability. Also, KC offers 90% of the U.S. within a two-day shipping window.

Associated Builders & Contractors Heart of America is a commercial construction trade association serving contractors and construction related firms across Missouri and Kansas. ABC connects contractors to industry information and safety resources; serve as advocates at the state, local, and federal level; and provide a variety of educational opportunities for those in the industry including our federally registered apprenticeship program in multiple trades.

Sponsors of the event included: Nabholz Construction, Emery Sapp & Sons, Fogel-Anderson Construction, IMA Financial Group, HTH Corporation and Autodesk.