“The overwhelming, unanimous response was positive in that the workshop helped not only define and support what an MPS can do for the process, but it also was one of our more “open” group discussions wherein each and every attendee from across all disciplines (marketing, admin, design, architecture, cad, estimating and project management) could speak to what is important to them in the process. Keep in mind our CEO, CFO, and most of our senior management team was present on the first afternoon, so to have lively, open discussions with the diverse attendance was great.
Hiring Vico for this workshop was critical after looking back at the path we were taking. Recall we were in the process of creating our own MPS. Not that we couldn’t have got there, but it would have taken us weeks or even months to get to where we are at now after your visit.”
– Kevin Littman, Director of Operations at Nor-Son
Learn more about the Model Progression Specification and consider an executive workshop to jumpstart your firm’s BIM initiatives.
“Webcor has recognized that the integration of 3D Building Information Modeling (BIM) with our cost estimating, project scheduling, and project management functions offers a whole new way to plan and manage projects. We have amassed a knowledgebase of real data – from past projects and from our subcontractors – that when combined with the integrated 5D approach gives us an unprecedented planning and management capability on all projects. The precise information derived from this approach, both in preconstruction planning and in ongoing construction operations, helps us to resolve issues early and to make prompt fact-based decisions.“
– Frank Haase, Director of Virtual Building at Webcor
To see how Vico Office connects the 3D model to the 4D schedule to the 5D cost plan, watch the video BIM for Dummies.
“Navisworks is a good tool, but it is basically a viewer and does not push and pull from the actual native BIM platform. Therefore, it’s power for 5D is extremely limited and basically manual.
What is absolutely crucial to the advancement of BIM is the intelligence contained therein and the ability to push and pull that information within and outside of the native platform for specific end user needs such as Estimating and Scheduling. Specifically in this discussion, resources, consumption/productivity rates and geometry must be tied to the BIM and be integrated into the Estimate and Schedule. Accordingly, any modifications to the BIM would then be immediately reflected in the Estimate and Schedule.
Having this power will also allow Project Teams to move from CPM-based scheduling systems to Location Based which is far more superior and allows greater predictability and control.”
– Bill Klorman, president of Klorman Construction in Los Angeles
Watch the video blog from Klorman Construction featuring Vico’s scheduling solutions for an Amtrak station.
“The Vico scheduling solution, with Flowline™ technology that fully-utilizes location-based management principles in addition to traditional CPM, is working well on our field projects. The result is a better schedule with up to 10% compression and no added risk. This affords us a unique advantage that we offer to Owners – the ability to deliver a project faster without risk to budget or safety. And our experience with the solution in the field in the hands of our knowledgeable operations personnel has been phenomenal. Our teams are enjoying tremendous success with it. Now we can turn our attention to model-based estimating and tying the two processes together to continue to utilize the advances in Vico Office.”
– Viktor Bullain, VDC Manager at Turner Anaheim
Learn more about Vico’s scheduling solutions powered by Flowline theory.
“We have started to use [Vico] Office on three projects now and we are very happy we did. It is the greatest tool the construction industry has seen since the first tower crane.”
– Frank Haase, Director of Virtual Building at Webcor
Learn more about Webcor’s work with Vico Office.
“Vico Office is a powerful solution from Vico Software that we will use in all of our construction planning and management. The Vico Office workflow allows us to automate the task of generating location-based quantities both for our estimates and for the powerful Flowline™ schedules. We have been using Vico’s Flowline-based software successfully for years with great results, but typically generated our quantities manually. Now with the full 5D solution, Vico Office is THE solution for our construction planning and management.”
– Heikki Hartela, President and CEO at Hartela
Read more about Vico Office’s 5D BIM workflow.
“As an estimator for the majority of my career, and now as Haselden’s Virtual Construction Manager, I’m really excited with the new improvements that Vico is releasing in this version. One great new feature is having the ability to import from an excel file which will make it possible now to use a standard company database directly inside of Vico Office. This database could come from any of the more widely used estimating programs out there. This feature alone will allow us to continue to be a leader in BIM/VDC while expanding our capabilities to real time estimating from our internal database. I see the ‘Compare and Update’ feature being a wonderful tool to use to help our estimating department and project clients see changes, which will in turn, lead to better management of project budgets. The enhancements that Vico is making in this release are once again pushing their product and us, as well, to be one of the leaders in the 5D arena and with the new importers, allowing for even more models to be used as part of their process.”
– Todd Ellsworth, Virtual Construction Manager at Haselden Construction
Learn more about Vico's estimating solutions with the movie, BIM-Based Estimating for Dummies.
“We ran some metrics on ten major projects and the average cost of a change order was $17,000. On the [Lake Tahoe] Ritz-Carlton project we found over 450 change orders that we were able to avoid through the model coordination process. So, if you do the math, that's about $6.7 million that we saved the Owner.”
– Dan Gonzales, corporate virtual design and construction manager
See four different virtual design and construction projects by Swinerton on their Fridays with Vico case study episode.
"With Vico's Doc Set Manager, we can quickly compare thousands of drawings and locate even the smallest design changes. This used to be an arduous manual process. But now we can find the changes electronically almost instantly and avoid costly change orders later in the construction process. This saves the entire project team plus the Owner time, money, and frustration.“
– James Bedrick, Vice President, Virtual Building and Design
Read more about Vico’s 2D BIM solution, Doc Set Manager, for automatically collating and comparing thousands of construction drawings.
The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) developed agcXML as a framework to facilitate the reliable exchange of digital project data for construction. Allowing professionals to openly share key project information will deliver enormous efficiencies and savings for architects, engineers, contractors and project owners. Partnerships like this [Vico and Newforma] are essential to converting the promise of improved data exchange efficiencies into a reality that saves the construction industry millions of dollars every year."
– Stephen Sandherr, AGC Chief Executive Officer
Learn more about how Vico leverages agcXML to share RFI transactional data.
“The professors at Cal Poly couldn’t be more proud of our students. They deserved to win based on their depth of knowledge with model-based estimating and model-based scheduling. Modeling has almost become a commodity, so now we have the responsibility to teach our students how to blend technology with the art of scheduling and estimating. By scientifically basing these crafts on the model geometry and quantity takeoff, our students are learning very valuable 5D BIM skills.”
– Elbert Speidel, construction professor at San Luis Obispo
Learn more about the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo win at the national Associated Schools of Construction BIM Competition in Reno.
"At PCL, the tagline for our Virtual Construction efforts is ‘build it twice.' It might sound like extra work at first, but using the Virtual Construction methodology with Vico saves us a significant amount of time, money, and energy to build projects in the computer before we break ground. Having a project come together on the screen means that we can build higher quality projects, in less time, on-site.
The true value of BIM for a construction company is being able to leverage the information in a BIM model throughout the organization. Vico Office is a solution that can help us extend our BIM models across our operations without everyone becoming a model expert.“
– Ed Hoagland, Manager of Virtual Design and Construction at PCL
See ten different virtual construction projects by PCL on their Fridays with Vico case study episode.
"Getting subcontractors involved early in the process is critical for the success of any BIM project. This is one area where we'd like to see BIM coordination grow - we should be able to accept and incorporate models from all the subcontractors in order to fine-tune estimates and scheduling.“
– Paul Hedgepath, Senior BIM Engineer at Holder Construction
Read more about Holder and Vico’s work together on the Atlanta Aquarium Hilton Garden, recognized as a Constructech Magazine Vision Award
Jim Bedrick, VP for Virtual Building and Design
Webcor Builders, USA
Webcor describes itself as a “hands-on builder”, with the technical expertise needed to design smart, cost-effective building solutions. It’s also the largest construction firm in California - a full-service general contractor which prides itself on its honest and open communications with the client, architect, engineer, and other members of the team.
Paul Case, President
Urban Building, USA
Urban Building has long realized that 2D drawings are simply ineffective at communicating in construction, so it has chosen a better path. It takes on varied roles: construction manager, design/builder, and general contractor. It provides development, project and construction management, as well as other construction and consulting services.
Daniel M. Gonzales, Corporate Manager, Virtual Design & Construction (VD+C)
R Q Construction, USA
R Q Construction, provider of construction services, has earned high recognition as a premier builder in the West. By using technology to support skilled team members, RQ is able to apply "lean engineering" concepts in ways not before possible to the complicated processes of design and construction projects. RQ has put in place a major initiative to become a national leader in VD&C practices and to deliver greater value to its clients through the use of state-of-the-art VD&C technology.
Pierre Puyrigaud, Pre-production Director
Applecross, UK
Applecross is a building owner which has embraced Virtual Construction, and is actively driving 5D construction modeling down through its supply chain of project contractors.
Sakari Pesonen, Project Engineer
Skanska, Finland
Skanska is the second largest construction company in Finland. With 4,000 employees, it is oriented towards housing and building construction, and services related to roads and civil engineering projects - all in a climate which demands the most effective project scheduling and communication between contractors.
Walid Shihayed, Chief Estimator
CW Driver, USA
CW Driver’s comprehensive list of educational, biomedical and healthcare projects has paved a solid foundation for this multi-faceted builder - providing general contracting, construction management and design/build services. The company’s dynamic management teams, coupled with technological sophistication, allow it to work collaboratively with clients, achieving the highest level of innovation and quality.