BIM for MEP Engineering

BIM - a topic for management

BIM - Building Information Modeling – contributes significantly to economic efficiency in the planning and creation of building projects. At the same time, BIM represents a major challenge for manufacturers of mechanical – electrical – plumbing (MEP) engineering, especially if not only standard products are manufactured, but products are adapted to individual needs. In the latter case, strategic consideration is particularly important, as the aim is to also make individualization efficient with BIM data, while at the same time maintaining the diversity of variants in order to fully maximize the niche potential.

Designing your BIM strategy

As an MEP manufacturer, you cannot avoid the topic of BIM, and it is significantly advancing the digitization process throughout the construction industry.

So, the question is not really whether to introduce and use BIM data, but rather how. Strategically important is the question of who will be responsible for the topic of BIM at your company. This can be either internal employees or external service providers who do the legwork. For this decision, an essential role is played by how your products are designed and your actual starting position. In other words, whether you are dealing with standard products, for which BIM data is relatively easy to generate, or variant products, for which separate BIM data has to be generated for each variant. And since you usually work with CAD in the design phase, this data will be available in very good quality - then it makes sense that you can rely on it when creating the BIM data.

Reasons for BIM

But why is BIM actually so important? It's simple: your customers demand it! Designers are increasingly working with BIM, and in some areas it is already mandatory. These regulations vary greatly from country to country, but what is common to all is that BIM is becoming increasingly important.

You make it easier for planners to invite tenders if you also provide exact BIM data for your variable products, which they can then adopt directly. And satisfied customers who appreciate your service are - and we all know this - priceless!

BIM: current situation

In some European countries, the use of the BIM method is already mandatory; in Germany, this only applies to civil engineering so far. However, experts assume that corresponding regulations for building construction will follow soon. So, it is still voluntary, but is also recommended, particularly by numerous industry associations.

BIM standards and guidelines are still incomplete, which means that there is (still) a lot of room for freedom of design, and you can make good use of it.

What BIM can do for you

Your products are typically characterized by a high degree of variability, which makes the creation of BIM data more complex. But that is exactly when you should deliver BIM data, because it gives you a real competitive advantage. Designers can use your data at an early stage. Especially with variable products, later it will be difficult to replace the component with one from a competitor.

Be a pioneer, not a follower - build an image that combines digitization, customization, as well as product and data quality with high speed

Planning timeframes and resources

Plan your transition to BIM carefully, and keep in mind that you will also need to have your staff trained. But don't wait too long, because the speed of implementing the BIM method is constantly increasing.

Create human and technical resources promptly so that the next steps can follow quickly. With customX the training of your employees will be much easier because they can continue to work in their familiar CAD environment, and the BIM data will be generated automatically as soon as a product is configured.