Eptura updates Archibus to better leverage BIM models

Eptura updates Archibus to better leverage BIM models

Eptura, the global worktech leader, earlier this month unveiled a series of enhancements for its Integrated Workplace Management System, Archibus, offering increased visibility and reporting for occupancy, allowing facility management teams to leverage building operations data in the field, and introducing new bulk lease renewal capabilities.

Today’s facility management teams are facing a growing workload and an expanded role in ongoing space planning conversations. As these responsibilities mount, and organizations look to solidify the future of their workplace accommodations, facility managers are increasingly looking for accessible, actionable operations data to inform planning decisions. Eptura’s updates to the Archibus platform are enabling building owner-operators to digitize facility operations and analytics. Facility managers and building operators can now:

  • Navigate through models by Autodesk project in Autodesk® Construction Cloud® or BIM 360® Docs to easily search and find building models.
  • Visualize and work with custom 3D views from Autodesk® Revit® models so BIM Managers can focus on specific locations or asset systems in a building, eliminating the need to re-create visualizations when managing assets or planning spaces.
  • Customize BIM viewer display for data overlay preferences, from highlight colors and room opacity to zoom level for a more personalized view of key building data.
  • Streamline lease renewals at scale by automatically populating relevant information (location, contacts, lease type, suites, recurring costs, etc) from expiring leases to eliminate the repetitive process of copying these data to new leases.
  • Integrate VergeSense occupancy data to better understand space utilization and patterns to determine peak hours and workspace traffic.
  • Upload files in the mobile app and view attachments associated with work orders to provide more data to facility managers responding to tickets, and to build a more comprehensive work order ticket.
  • Ask and respond to questions within mobile service tickets to resolve issues faster and on the go.

The enhancements unlock new capabilities in Archibus’s Building Information Modeling (BIM) Viewer tool, allowing post-construction teams to more effectively manage their buildings. In the lifecycle of a building, 80% of the costs are associated with the post-construction phase, making it crucial for data to transfer smoothly from construction over to post-building operators and ensure lifecycle continuity.

Updates to BIM Viewer streamline navigation through Autodesk projects and grant facility managers more control over their preferred building models and views. Eptura is an Autodesk Strategic Alliance Partner, working together to deliver integrated solutions to help mutual customers be more successful.

Space utilization data has become paramount for planning teams that are tasked with recommending space consolidations and increases for their organizations. Through an integration with VergeSense, space planners can deploy sensor hardware and leverage IoT occupancy sensors to document the utilization of workspaces. By bringing these data points into Archibus, customers will have the most accurate measurements of actual space utilization to help them find more opportunities to optimize their space.

“Data is the ultimate driver behind space utilization decisions, and we strive to deliver the visibility and context on which our customers rely,” said Paul Phillips, CTO of Eptura. “In collaboration with partners like Autodesk and VergeSense, we’re able to rethink the way that organizations approach building operations and digitize components to more conveniently provide our customers with the decision-making tools they need.”

The user experience within the Archibus Workplace app has also been updated, building upon the service request functionality introduced to the mobile app earlier this year. Now with easy access to service request responses and document support, users can save time in the field by managing each step of the request process conveniently from their mobile devices.

“Autodesk customers are looking to maximize the lifecycle of their Autodesk Construction Cloud and Revit models beyond construction so that building management can efficiently maintain the space and assets,” said Susan Clarke, Senior Manager, Building Operations at Autodesk. “Building information modeling in Archibus is accelerating the digitization of building operations by making custom 3D views, asset and maintenance data, and access to documents and files intuitive for facility teams around the world.”

For finance and facility teams managing multiple properties, Archibus’s newest updates are also intended to simplify workflows for lease administrators. Juggling extensive lease portfolios, administrators may find themselves with 10 or more lease renewals to manage at the end of a fiscal year. Archibus is easing the burden with the introduction of bulk renewal capabilities that can automatically generate new leases within minutes.

Optimize Ongoing Building Operations with BIM for FM

Optimize Ongoing Building Operations with BIM for FM

Making the Case for BIM for FM

Your company spends years planning and budgeting for new construction, but in the end, 75-80% of the total cost of ownership of your building takes place after it’s built, in the operations and maintenance stages.

If you use BIM and an integrated workplace management system, you already have the date you need to run more efficient, cost-effective, and comfortable facilities – you just have to connect the data.

 

Understand the gaps in the building management life cycle.

In the drive to capture and leverage data for better business intelligence, many organizations still rely on different data sets for the separate life cycle phases, first with planning and construction and then ongoing operations and maintenance. By disconnecting the data between departments and teams, you slow down processes, reduce asset life cycles, and drive costs higher.

A lack of data flow between life cycle phases causes information to become segregated, and any benefit from the construction and planning phases’ data is lost on future operations and maintenance. This impacts the total cost of ownership (TCO) for a facility and leads to a lack of support for the people who occupy the space.

For example, data used in the design phase, like how many occupants a space was intended to accommodate, could be helpful in the operations phase,and operational data, like average daily occupancy,could help inform future building designs.

Creating a clear path for data from building information modeling (BIM) systems to integrated facilities management (FM) systems closes the life cycle management loop and allows you to monitor and react to changing conditions in real time.

Implement BIM data for FM with three core questions

Creating a set of guidelines for how you use BIM data in your facility management and operations is a process, and these guidelines evolve over time. Though the process may seem overwhelming, the best first step is just to start, even on a small scale. You continue to refine your process over time and from project to project.

First, you need to answer three critical questions with your team:

Who will use the data, and what problems are they trying to solve?

The goal of a BIM-for-FM pathway is to make it easier for your people to perform their jobs as effciently as possible. Make it personal. List the different demands and challenges of each role to help match them with the most effective data. It’s imperative to know who the final consumers in your organization are, and work to
understand what data they need, how they will consumeit, and what they will do with the information once it’s delivered. The needs of a space manager are different than the needs of a commissioning manager or a space reimbursement analyst.

Be as specific as possible. A helpful exercise is to create personas for each role or type of data consumer and treat them like your team. Consider a maintenance
manager who needs to access systems and component information, such as asset locations, maintenance histories, and repair instructions. The maintenance
manager also needs to see how certain systems were designed to operate at optimal levels to be able to prioritize preventive maintenance activities.

Your chief operations officer doesn’t necessarily need to see this level of detail, but they will be interested in efficiency and cost metrics.

Once you have outlined the roles and responsibilities of each person who will need access to building and operations data, you can clearly define what information they need and answer the next question.

What data will you collect and how will you do it?

The role 

Optimize Ongoing Building Operations with BIM for FM

Optimize Ongoing Building Operations with BIM for FM

After new construction has finished, how do you ensure that your building continues to run efficiently? If you use BIM and an integrated workplace management system, you already have the data, you just need to make the connection.

Learn more about how other companies like your run more efficiently by checking out our eBook – Optimize Ongoing Building Operations with BIM for FM.

 

 

The Future of iOffice + SpaceIQ: Introducing Eptura to Archibus Customers [ON-DEMAND WEBINAR]

The Future of iOffice + SpaceIQ: Introducing Eptura to Archibus Customers [ON-DEMAND WEBINAR]

We are excited to announce that iOffice + SpaceIQ, which is the parent company of Archibus, is merging with the leader in workspace scheduling and visitor management, Condeco.

Together, these combined companies create a new parent brand called Eptura™ which stands for the epicenter of the future at work. This strategic combination creates a global worktech leader that provides software solutions to power the modern workplace.

The new Eptura parent brand is designed to bring more innovation to your iOffice solution. We have been investing in enhancing your user experience with new designs, workflows, accessibility enhancements and exciting additions to our roadmap.

We invite to watch the replay of our virtual webinar to hear from our experts about how the new company combination will accelerate the innovation that we can deliver to you.