NBS event - BIM for manufacturers

We held an event yesterday for prospect businesses with a view to showcasing our business and our expertise in BIM. This blog post highlights some of the key messages and also some of the insight we received through asking the delegates their opinions. The speakers were largely from NBS giving different insights from their areas of expertise.

Rather than a big waffley blog post – I just include some of the slides and a little bit of commentary.

1. Richard Waterhouse – CEO
Richard gave a strategic overview as to what BIM is, what it means for the industry and how NBS can support construction manufacturers on their journey.

Every seat filled on the top floor of Millbank Tower

Still a long way to go in terms of manufacturers and BIM object creation

The NBS BIM ecosystem – coordinating well-structured information

2. Adrian Malleson – Head of forecasting and research
Regular visitors to the blog will know Adrian from the excellent work he has done over the years with the National BIM Report. Adrian’s team at NBS do far more than just this BIM report though and today he gave an insight into the external factors that influence our industry. The financial situation, sustainability and urbanisation challenges and disruptive technology where all looked at.

The industry is currently in a good place

Quite a lot of new buildings will be needed across the world

More evidence that the manufacturer community is largely not ready for the demands of BIM

To learn more about the Market Research opportunities at NBS - please visit:

- http://www.riba-insight.com/products/market-research.asp

3. Tom Murphy – David Miller Architects
To give the view of a construction professional independent of NBS, Tom Murphy from David Miller Architects kindly came and demonstrated how a small practice’s BIM process works.

BIM training and software is inexpensive when compared with costs and the fees that can come in

The NBS National BIM Library can be used as a model evolves from using generic to proprietary objects

The NBS National BIM Library can be relied upon for quality information rich objects

Certification against the NBS BIM Object Standard gives an assurance of quality

Using the NBS BIM plug-in allows the model and the NBS Create specification to be coordinated

4. Live demonstrations – Ian Chapman, Drew Wiggett and Chris Vickers
The delegates were then split into two groups. Ian Chapman took a group wanting a beginners introduction into BIM. Drew Wiggett and Chris Vickers presented some more advanced topics to those already on their BIM journey.

A beautiful venue with the Millennium Wheel in the background

Cheesegrater, Gherkin, Shard and Ian Chapman

How to create objects to the NBS BIM Object Standard

5. Me
Moving on, I then presented the BIM Toolkit and in particular how manufacturers can best provide their technical data to the project team working on level-2 BIM projects.

As time was a little tight, I focused around the Level of Detail (LOD) and Level of Information (LOI) guidance and how they can be referenced within a digital plan of work.

LOD guidance for building fabric and building services items

LOI guidance for building fabric and building services items

A nostalgic look at the inefficient ways that information used to be developed and transported

The argument is over now – the traditional methods are dead and digital is here to stay

Digital information in different formats from manufacturers is needed throughout the project timeline

The BIM Toolkit presents the correct information at the right time to the correct person  - NBS manufacturer customers are positioned in an optimum position on the page

6. Robin Cordy – Director of Digital
A BIM object is one way that a manufacturer can deliver greater value to their engineering or architectural ‘customer’. But how do they know that creating BIM objects provides a return on investment?

Robin Cordy, Director of Digital at NBS is a specialist in digital commerce, below are a few slides from him.

Know what metrics that will show things are working

Five steps to success

Maximise the exposure of your content in the products and services that the decision makers use

One final speaker was Fiona Cruickshank who is a Entrepreneur and Angel Investor. I always like to hear from those who have had success in other industries and how clear parallels can be seen.

Fiona talked about the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry and in particular how new legislation and disruptive change can be the best business opportunity. If you are fast to react, prepared to take calculated risks and invest a little then the rewards can be enormous.

Fiona had built up a number of businesses and had invested in many others and was an inspirational speaker to have at the event.

For manufacturers reading this blog who want to know more about how NBS can digitally connect you to construction professionals please see:
- http://www.nationalbimlibrary.com/bim-for-manufacturers