BIM and New Technologies are the Future of Aarsleff
Today, BIM models are standard in the industry
Years ago, BIM was not a word many people in the construction industry knew about. If you wanted to work at the forefront with BIM models, you should ask for it yourself. Today, BIM models are standard in the industry. As a result of this development, Aarsleff decided in favor of a more structured collaboration with BIM and VDC in early 2016. It is the future, and it will continue to grow and expand.
Aarsleff has formed a section in the company, which consists of around 23 people and works exclusively with BIM and VDC. In this way, you will retain and develop skills internally. However, you will also be advised by external BIM specialists such as Exigo A/S. Aarsleff wants to be innovative, and in the future, the vision is to spread the technology to the rest of the company so everyone can know and use BIM for the aspects of their projects where relevant.
If you ask the VDC Development Manager in Aarsleff, Hjörtur Sigurdsson, why BIM is the future, the answer is clear:
- Firm: Per Aarsleff A/S
- Web: www.aarsleff.dk
- Industry: Building Contractors
- Size: 6.200 employees
- Why Vico Office?
- Everything collected in one package
- Integrates both time, finances and quantities
- Provides a graphical overview
BIM gives an overview and insights into the projects we have had so far. With BIM, we can significantly improve the quality of the end product as we know the basics better and can find the bugs before the start of the construction process. As a result, there are fewer unknown sizes in the project.
– Hjörtur Sigurdsson, VDC Development Manager, Aarsleff A/S
BIM must be part of the everyday life of most people
An employee of Aarsleff, who already uses BIM in his everyday life, is the construction manager Thomas Haraldsen. Thomas uses Vico Office in his daily work. He had been waiting for a program like Vico that would pack everything together and integrate all the tools, including time, finances and quantities. In Vico technology, Thomas is particularly pleased with the location planning tool Vico Schedule Planner, and he uses that the most. Aarsleff initially used the Vico Schedule Planner for a project where he could predict which concrete project changes would affect finances. Thomas says:
The Vico Schedule Planner is not only a temporal distribution of work schedules as in Gantt schedules, but also the finances can be kept in mind. The schedule allows you to track the quantity, account, management, production, and so on. It is intelligent and manageable.
– Thomas Haraldsen, Construction Manager, Aarsleff A/S
Es ist fast dumm, es nicht zu benutzen
According to Thomas Haraldsen, the Vico Schedule Planner gives a very different insight into the duration and planning than Aarsleff was used to. According to Thomas, the advantage of the Schedule Planner is that, where durations in Gantt are pieced together from several sources, the Schedule Planner provides all the data in planning. “With cyclograms you get a different insight.”
Aarsleff does not want to stick to a single BIM tool, and assesses for each project separately whether and in what case BIM should be used and which BIM tool to use. However, we are very excited about the Vico technology.
I will always use Vico in future projects as the insights, quantities, production rates etc. in Vico are so much better than in other technologies. The Schedule Planner certainly has an advantage for larger buildings with many repetitions.
– Thomas Haraldsen, Construction Manager, Aarsleff A/S
Models are the future
Aarsleff proved that Vico Office and the Schedule Planner can be used for projects without many repetitions while working at the Amagerwerk in Copenhagen.
“We have used Vico Office in our project of the Amagerwerk with very good results. Vico requires big projects to be relevant, but not necessarily repetitions in the building process, as Vico is good at managing large complex buildings”, says Hjörtur Sigurdsson.
Location based planning was one of the strongest arguments for Aarsleff to use Vico Office. It was also important to be able to plan on the basis of models. Changing from drawings on paper to 3D models is one of the most groundbreaking things at BIM, if you ask Hjörtur Sigurdsson. With BIM and digitization, one eliminates the human interpretation of a drawing and, with it, the mistakes and the delayed process that would accompany the construction. The computer can accurately quantify everything, reduce human error calculations and interpretations and, in part and over time, may also build parts of the project itself.
Errors in complex 3D models can be identified in Vico so that the models can be corrected. A good model base is indispensable in the BIM process.
– Hjörtur Sigurdsson, VDC Development Manager, Aarsleff A/S
BIM ensures efficient construction and better buildings
BIM has achieved its goal if you can push a button and then just build a building, “says Hjörtur, stating that he does not know if the technology allows it. Moreover, he does not believe that humans will ever become unnecessary. Humans can not use robots to evaluate a process and deal with unforeseen events. However, with BIM, you can support the most difficult parts of the process, reallocate resources, and minimize surprises.
In the short term, Hjörtur wants BIM to become standard, and that everyone within construction and design begins to use it, so that one can cooperate to a greater extent and exchange models. He states that BIM entails more efficient construction and better buildings.
