Autodesk Construction Cloud Case Study: Tim Kelly Group
CUSTOMER CHALLENGE
Tim Kelly Group specialises in the design, installation and maintenance of Mechanical, Electrical and Construction Services. From modest beginnings in Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo 46 years ago, today Tim Kelly Group is one of Ireland’s leading Mechanical, Electrical and Data Communications companies with over 150 skilled and professional employees. Core to that success is combining quality and efficiency with a strong customer focus, maintaining high-quality standards by applying LEAN Construction processes and workflows. The highest level of expertise is gained through experience and by combining quality with innovation using Building Information Modelling.
MEP coordination is one of Tim Kelly Group’s main processes in the pre-construction stage and over time they have realised how much information flow is important for high level coordination. As a specialist subcontractor they are responsible for complete coordination including all other disciplines with which services are interfering. With limited access to the client CDE (Common Data Environment), it happened that information was being delivered to some people, but not to everyone and that was causing re-work, wrong equipment orders, outdated revision drawings used on site and delays in general.
The company were using a server for document storage and emails as an information exchange service but this was not efficient. There was no consistent folder structure, permission set up or revision tracking. It was hard to find information and almost impossible to know if the latest document was available. Often information was lost between dozens of emails, and tracking tasks was inefficient, and often lead to more time tracking information over several departments that could’ve been avoided.
PROJECT GOALS
For a long time there was an opinion that subcontractors don’t require a document management system as main contractors or clients. However, Tim Kelly’s experience is that an internal document management system is as important as an external system. A system was needed which would interface in a timely and accurate way with clients CDE’s, would make relevant data available to all appropriate staff and sub-contractors, would be simple to use and administer, would track all communications including emails and issues, and would act as a single source of truth for a project.
SOLUTION
Researching available options in the market relevant to their needs, Tim Kelly worked with Diatec as advisor on this journey and, following discovery meetings and analysis, decided to implement Autodesk Docs as their CDE. The implementation program agreed with Diatec included installation, setup and upskilling of estimators, project managers, site personnel and admin team as part of a 20-day roll out over the term of the contract. Implementation was completed in November 2021 and has been the company-wide document management system since then.
At the same time, but for a limited set of users, the Model Coordination module of Autodesk Construction Cloud was implemented. This solution has great capabilities for automated clash detection and the issue tracking tool brings everything to the next level. With add-ins for Autodesk Navisworks and Autodesk Revit, it does make a difference as you are able to work in a familiar environment, while using all functions from ACC. Filtering and report options are very good with properties and model filters available, while reports are very easy to read and export to PDF and Excel. Another great thing about these reports is that they will include a hyperlink which will lead you straight away to the issue tab on the CDE if you need more details, to add a comment or just update an issue status. With every model re-upload clash detection will be automatically updated, likewise for existing issues. This was particularly good on projects where Tim Kelly had the main contractor and lead coordinator role.
BUSINESS OUTCOME
It has greatly improved Tim Kelly’s workflows. It is very easy to get the right information into the right hands with structured folders and robust permission tools. Issue tracking is one of the most used tools and it does help a lot with tracking tasks, changes and requirements at every stage of the project. It allows communication across all departments in the comment section while keeping the entire conversation about certain issues in one place. Document control is a big part of this solution, as it is very easy to check who has revised the document and when, while keeping all previous versions available for review, compare or even make them current again. As there are different departments across each company, it is easy to set up permission control for everyone, role or company which gives additional control over information flow.
The biggest challenge was to link between external clients and the internal CDE. The workflow consists of having one person – Information/BIM Manager - responsible for delivering information and data from any external CDE to the Company one, which is then available to everyone, and this has worked perfectly to date. The great benefit of this system is that it makes connections between office and site while delivering always correct information to the site crew and back to the office, with great feedback from both sides. Site personnel are now able to access all project documentation from their handheld devices anytime without needing to go back to the site office to look for it.
CONCLUSION
As Tim Kelly have seen all the benefits of Autodesk Docs and Model Coordination, they have decided to implement a full Project Management system across the company using Autodesk Build. The goal is to implement this system over the next year and educate all staff to obtain maximum benefit from the system. They are also implementing Autodesk Takeoff which will give another dimension to their BIM Processes, while having more automated quantification as a part of a centralized project management system.
Tim Kelly is confident that Autodesk Build and Autodesk Takeoff will meet their expectations and be as beneficial to their day-to-day project management workflows as Autodesk Docs and Coordination have proved to be. Tim Kelly is happy that they have been able to work with Diatec and greatly appreciate their support to date in this transition.
PROJECT SUMMARY
DELIVERY DATE
PROJECT DURATION
AUTODESK SOLUTIONS
SERVICES PROVIDED
- Assessment of Needs
- Implementation
- Strategy & Planning
- Workflow Optimization
- Optimize Accelerator Delivery
- Training