 Direct Data Exchange Validation—Faster, Cheaper, Better. It was once necessary to set priorities between schedule, quality, or costs. Now it is possible to improve all three areas through earlier involvement by the entire design team, providing integrated design and faster issue resolution. This includes, for example, the opportunities for project direct data exchange for structural steel from integrated design analysis, to design data, to 2D drawings, to 3D models, to 2D fabrication drawings. This one element alone saved six weeks on a recent project. However, the ability to go directly from the 3D model into shop/fabrication drawings for everything from structural steel, to sheet metal, to piping and fire protection has a huge potential to save 15% to 20% on overall project schedules. It allows offsite prefabrication for a high percentage of the systems with improved quality, reduced rework and elimination of conflicts. That provides further savings by eliminating change orders and design clarification requests. Source: Published in ASHRAE Journal (Vol. 48, August 2006) |
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