Most contractors and trades – mechanical, electrical and plumbing – know about some of the benefits of working with Revit, but they may be unsure of how to make the transition to a new way of creating models.

Their existing processes are heavily centered around the model, so they need guidance and proof that, through the adoption of Revit and eVolve MEP, they can improve on what they do today, and their productivity and accuracy can be protected. These are some of the real design challenges businesses face:

1. Productivity

As a response to the skilled labor
shortage, how can companies become more efficient in tasks? The Revit process
streamlines hanger layout/coordination, spooling (prefabrication) planning and
document creation, general modeling workflows, multi-trade collaboration, and
coordination. The worksharing in Revit gives the ability to reduce the number
of models and delivers better collaboration and coordination between trades,
even if simply for the inhouse mechanical team.

2. Accuracy

How can companies increase the level
of accuracy and reduce errors for all workflows that rely on model data? Errors
can typically be caused by the many DWG files that are generated for each
project. Decentralization of the data requires the end user to manually rebuild
files or duplicate efforts to keep the data accurate. Another example of
intelligence and accuracy issues with AutoCAD-based workflows is the lack of
multi-trade relationships, such as hanger association to structural objects or
sleeves associating to walls and floors. In AutoCAD, these must all be managed
manually, as there is no intelligence among these objects as there is in
Revit. 

3. Duplication

The best example of duplication of
efforts in AutoCAD is when the spooling process creates exports and duplicate
DWG models. As a result, when a change is made to the master model, then the
user must also edit the spool sheets or rebuild them from scratch. On a
hospital, for instance, there are thousands of spool sheets to manage.

4. Rework

Using AutoCAD, separate DWGs must be
created for duct, pipe and plumbing – and often that means for each project
floor and area also. A typical AutoCAD project can require twenty models to
manage. The correlation in Revit between families and ITMs to architectural and
structural objects can drive better accuracy on the bill of materials. Revit automates
adjustments in the model if these objects are moved by another trade the user
is coordinating with, so the work doesn’t proceed using the wrong set of plans.
A great example of this is ITM hangers to structure.

The challenges are certainly out there, and Revit and Revit Fabrication can deliver solid benefits
over an AutoCAD-based process. As just one example, the Sheets
tool can deliver a direct relationship between the model and sheet
deliverables. This is in contrast to AutoCAD, where the user must create
separate DWGs. The model data, dimensions, annotations, and schedules in
AutoCAD cannot automatically update when they are separate files.

The “awesome sauce” that can be
added to the workflow is eVolve MEP. When that happens, the benefits of Revit
are extended:

• Hangers can automatically be populated for the entire model.
• Rods can be extended into the structural slab while Revit maintains the association
  between these objects.
• Spool assemblies and sheets can be populated automatically with
  annotations, dimensions and schedules. Using Revit with eVolve MEP, any change
  to the model automatically keeps the data in these sheets synchronized with the
  model.
• The annotation types needed for
  shop/field construction documents are provided by eVolve MEP. By using Revit
  tags, this data is associated to the model data and is always accurate. Since
  the ITM data is synchronized to Revit-shared parameters, eVolve MEP further
  extends the ability to deliver the right data to schedules and annotations.

If you are unsure of how your
company can make the transition from AutoCAD to Revit and develop a new way of creating
models, the industry trained specialists at eVolve MEP have your back. Contact eVolve MEP today for a quick discovery call to find out
how you can refine today’s processes while improving accuracy and productivity
going forward.