How IMC Construction Reduced Quantity Takeoff Time by 40%
IMC Construction (IMC) is one of the largest full-service general contracting firms in the Philadelphia suburbs. The previous process for comparing drawings to determine what had changed in design to determine the cost and schedule implications was inefficient and time-consuming. By implementing Assemble within Autodesk Construction Cloud™, teams reduced quantity takeoff time by 40%.
Better Construction Data Management Enables Model-based Takeoffs
Before implementing Assemble, the project team at IMC was constantly exporting data from Autodesk Revit to Excel or overlaying different sets of drawings to compare various iterations of the design to see what changed to determine the cost and schedule implications. It was a painstaking and time-consuming process. It was a challenge to stay on top of the current data set and understand the cost drivers of the project.
“Designs change all the time. Even once the CDs come out, the design is going to change. Assemble makes it easier to tackle the design changes. When we get a new model or update our models, we can instantly put it in Assemble and visualize what’s changed.”
–Peter Gehring, Director of VDC
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Cloud-based Quantification Starts with In-person Collaboration
The end goal at IMC was to have multiple users collaborating on the same data set, normalized to be the standard across numerous projects and models. The team began by gathering stakeholders across teams for discussions about data prioritization. First, they defined standards in data, so they weren’t relying on architects to name model elements the same way and so that they could create a consistent internal template. Second, the IMC team took the time to draw dashboard sketches with colored pencils and paper. Every dashboard was first visualized in this way, from cost driver tracking to field installation and productivity reporting.
“This effort has allowed us to leverage our data in Assemble in the way our company needs to see it, and it has helped open our eyes into different standards and possibilities with our clients.”
–David Maser, Director of Construction Innovation
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Construction Data Management Yields Rewards
Implementing cloud-based construction data management and could-based quantification is no small task, but it’s been worth it for IMC. The company has effectively:
- Reduced take-off time by 40%
- Reduced time to produce a variance report by 70%
- Reduced time to create trending reports by 40%
Qualitatively it has yielded:
- More informed decision making
- Greater collaboration
- Faster, more reliable schedule updates
- Faster, more reliable payment application review process
This improved communication with owners, combined with the other benefits of cloud-based construction data management, has provided more than enough return to justify their investment, now and into the future.
“Being able to go back and analyze any two points in time is very powerful when you are sitting in a meeting with an owner. If you must go back a couple of days to analyze PDF drawings or sketches, then you’ve lost that critical moment of communication with the owner.”