SAP Visual Enterprise and BIM ( Building Information Modelling) .. Integration??

[Former Member]

Hello Friends...

I wanted to start a discussion on SAP Visual Enterprise and  BIM ( Building Information Modelling).

Every Civil Engineer will mostly agree that BIM is future of construction industry. Already many government ( for ex: UK)  and client adopted BIM and planning to implement it for all projects.

Now the question comes "How SAP Visual Enterprise- New SAP product for EC&O is going to help Construction industry" ? What the integration of BIM Technology with SAP.? Can we convert BIM model through SAP Visual Enterprise Generator?

Its say only "CAD" file  in given  information and does not give  much details @ file type..

Pour in your thoughts& information if any !

PS : Those who doesn't know BIM or confused @ its usage - Please check below Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Building_information_modeling

http://www.bimtaskgroup.org/bim-faqs/ ( Detailed Info throiugh FAQ)

Regards

Suhas Jadhal

[Former Member]

I'll add this demonstration video on how Visual Enterprise enables you to really visualize all your Enterprise data, not just design data.

[Johnny_Clemmons · Accepted solution]

Suhas - You have hit on the heart of our vision for Visual Enterprise as a BIM exploitation tool.  There are plenty of BIM design tools that all do very specific things and do them very well.  The world really didn't need another design tool and SAP chose to focus our BIM efforts on integration of model data with business data. 

Many companies have very uneven results with BIM, they have great success on some jobs and struggle on others.  These results often depend largely on the personality and aptitude of the specific team members, because construction companies typically have little control over the tools used to create the model.  So project teams may need to learn a new system on virtually every project.

With Visual Enterprise companies can consume models created in many different systems (currently well over 100 file types) and generate light weight Visual Enterprise models for use bythe project teams.  This allows companies to have standard processes from job to job and build user skills over time, not start from zero on every job.  This alone will improve results for construction companies but it is just the beginning.

By connecting Model data to business data you can begin to use the model as a way of interacting with the data.  The video David posted above shows some examples of this.  With this technology we start to really get BIM out of the hands of engineers and into the hands of tradespeople, technicians and managers exponentially increasing the benefits.

Great questions - thanks for asking.

[Former Member]

Dear Johnny,

Thanks for answering.  You have correctly mentioned about integration of model data with business data. But my question is still unanswered, which BIM format does Visual Enterprise accepts i.e. IFC 2X2, IFC 2 X 4 (Now called IFC 4)

Just to add, there is latest IFC 5 which is currently in early planning phase and expected to include full support for various Infrastructure domain and more parametric capabilities.

I am very keen on IFC because it is   mostly commonly used data exchange format and most of available modeling software (Autodesk Revit, Tekla, and Bentley etc) can produce IFC. 

Apart from  IFC , I would like to know  , how a 3D Model which is non-intelligent can be mapped  to time(Schedule) and Cost parameter to generate 5D simulation in Visual Enterprise?

The video posted by David is really nice and informative and put SAP on right track for making complete solution for construction industry but It will need lot of modification so that construction industry staff i.e. Project Manager,  Construction manager , Planning Engineer , Contractor, Supervisor , Site Engineer , and even Skilled Labor etc can use effectively on site.

Today's biggest problem is all available solution, ( ERP , Planning tool , Engineering software etc ) provides tons of information to all people but actually on construction site , what people use is Issued for construction drawing/shop drawing to do construction. 

I hope Visual enterprise will surely develop some solution which actually can be used by people sitting at construction sites to do construction and update the data effectively on 3D model.

Also I would love to see some screen dedicated to Construction Quantity tracking and its consolidation on 3D Model. (i.e. Planned Quantity vs. Actual Quantity vs. Remaining Quantity and its Catch up plan to complete the work on time.)

Thanks again for your reply and would love to take discussion forward...

Regards

Suhas S. Jadhal  (PMP, ITIL)

IFC Ref. http://www.buildingsmart-tech.org/specifications/ifc-releases)

[ken_brickner]

Hello Suhas,

SAP 3D Visual Enterprise has primarily served the data re-purposing needs for discrete and process manufacturers, and therefore has focused file format support in accordance with the design systems used in these areas. 

SAP 3D Visual Enterprise does support over 100 3D and 2D file formats, including Autodesk and Bentley formats.   We do not yet directly support an IFC format.  However, SAP is fully committed to supporting the translation of data structures that are compliant with BIM standards in a future release - starting with ISO 15926 and then ISO 10303 (the definition of IFC-SPF).

This will allow our Engineering, Construction and Operations customers to amplify the value of BIM tools such as Intergraph SmartPlant 3D, Aveva PDMS, and others by re-purposing BIM data into a lightweight 3D format with full topology and attribution. 

The SAP lightweight 3D model can be enriched with any master data that is available in a customer’s business system and provide tremendous value for construction personnel beyond the engineering department.   To accomplish this, each lightweight 3D model that is generated by Visual Enterprise is tagged with the material ID (or equivalent unique ID) of the item master.  This unique ID becomes the key to any project or business data associated with the item master.  The lightweight 3D model thereby becomes a graphical index into the master project data such as cost information, project task status, quantities planned vs. actual, etc.

SAP fully recognizes the value of relevant, accurate and easy to consume 3D information for the entire construction industry staff.   The above video is just one example application.  The beauty of the 3D Visual Enterprise solution is that the user experience and “view” into the master data via the 3D model can be tailored depending on the user’s role (i.e. Project Manager, Supervisor, Contractor, etc).   This can be accomplished in a variety of ways – for example, by deploying role-specific web-based user interfaces that expose only the most relevant layers of the available data and therefore provide a tailored level of user interaction.

Thanks for your interest in SAP 3D Visual Enterprise.

Regards,

Ken Brickner, PMP

[Former Member]

Suhas,

There are some formats that require an intermediate converter and that is the case when it comes to IFC, which is typically used in connection with Revit. There is one integrator I know that provides this service, named nextspace. This people are skilled into this type of work by bridging a number of different formats into VE. This company has recently implemented one converter tool reading ISO 15926 from Smartplant Marine into VE in a customer project I was involved with.

Regards,

Alb

[Former Member]

Dear Mr. Albeniz Crespo,

I have found your email from SAP NOTE "1670535 ISADECHBS".

I tried to send email to you but unsuccessfully. Maybe your email is not correct. We need to discuss with you about SAP Real Estate solution. Would you please send me an email at my address: dlam21@csc.com

Hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks & Best Regards,

Duc Lam.

[Former Member]

Hello,

I would suggest that you reach out to Carson Diltz, SAP Solution Engineer and Michael Quadt, SAP EC&O Industry Business Solutions with you inquiry regarding SAP NOTE "1670535 ISADECHBS".

Thanks,

David Clemens, SAP Solution Marketing

[Former Member]

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