B.I.M and Information Silos: Are You Sharing the Right Information With the Right People?

To some, Building Information Model (or B.I.M) is a piece of software one uses during the construction of a building. But to others, B.I.M. is more a methodology one puts in place not just during construction, but well after. From the first architectural sketches until well after the last bit of concrete has been poured and years into the life of the facility, B.I.M has the power to transform facilities management in ways we never thought possible.

Moving beyond CAD (Computer Aided Design) and adopting the B.I.M. methodology has some key benefits that anyone involved with the management of facilities at any stage would appreciate. 

building information modeling graphic

Assessing the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) of a facility can be difficult when all parties involved are functioning more like silos and less like partners. One silo could have information that could be hugely beneficial to another silo and not even know it. With B.I.M., information creation and sharing is standardized and available to all parties at once. Not only does this improve decision making and keep everyone up to date on important information, but it also decreases waste of building material and time which, during the construction of a facility, is critical.

Another way which B.I.M could be beneficial to your facilities management operation is its ability to account for and manage information about a structure in a manner that goes beyond the structure’s physical traits. Budgets and budget changes, schedules and the amount of workers needed to manage a facility are all details that B.I.M. can track. Being able to access this information easily is critical to successful building management and can reduce operations and management expenses while improving profits.

These are just a few of the many ways in which B.I.M. can make your building management operation more streamlined, less wasteful, and more profitable. In a time when CAD is starting to look as innovative as a pencil and sketching table and people are searching for more efficient and better ways to run their facilities from inception and beyond, the B.I.M. methodology is looking very attractive.