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BIM for Building Product Manufacturers - Do I Need It For My Products?

Written by CADdetails | Mar 9, 2021 8:50:00 PM

Many building product manufacturers offer a range of product content to the design community.  This content allows manufacturers to communicate the properties of their products to architects, engineers, and designers. By having quality product content such as BIM, you’re able to keep up with the current industry demands and encourage the design community to incorporate your products into their project plans.

As many large architecture firms have adopted BIM, and adoption is growing at smaller firms, the demand for BIM Revit models is prevalent. Manufacturers, however, still have many unanswered questions as to whether or not they are a good fit for adopting BIM. These questions may include; Do my potential customers to BIM?  Am I limiting my customer base by not having BIM Revit models?  Can I grow my reach in the architectural community if I invest in BIM development? 

Of course, the answers to these questions will vary based on your specific niche.  Generally, architectural product manufacturers are at a competitive advantage by offering BIM Revit.  For most architectural product categories, there are manufacturers that have already invested in BIM models and made those available to the AEC community.  For those manufacturers, a competitive edge can be gained over other manufacturers offering BIM by ensuring BIM models are up to date, of high quality, and ready to be used in projects.  

For architectural product manufacturers that have yet to have BIM models created for their products, it is time to consider your options.  BIM Revit development costs vary, and modelers will need to review your product information in order to provide you with an accurate estimate of development costs.  

For manufacturers of landscape products, adoption of BIM Revit technology has been slower in the landscape community.  BIM software does not include specific tools or even basic elements needed for the landscape community as discussed in ArchDaily, so implementation of BIM technology by landscape architects has been slower than among general architects.  This challenge is being met by specific tools such as VectorWorks’ Landmark.  Research and development continues to improve landscape architects’ ability to implement BIM Revit technology.  

As the use of BIM in landscape architecture grows, the pressure on landscape product manufacturers to offer BIM models of their products also grows.  Currently landscape product manufacturers investing in BIM are able to get ahead of many of their competitors.  As with general architecture, the larger firms are moving to BIM at a faster rate.

 

 

If you would like to discuss your BIM development needs or the current state of your BIM models, please visit our BIM page and book a meeting with an in-house BIM expert.