CU Nov-Dec 2021

TECHNOLOGYfocus
location - easy to locate and use.
The processes that Glider use - they
have now dropped the 'Technology' suffix
to their name - can be integrated within a
customer's own system using a highly
flexible API (as used by Deutsche Bank,
Defence Infrastructure Organisation and
Coventry University for instance),
providing simple and flexible collaboration
with third parties and other companies
using gliderbim®.
On completion of the building phase of a
project, Glider often hands over the
gliderbim® license to developers or clients
who can run the AIM CDE under their own
terms, deleting contractors and suppliers
purely involved in the building phases if no
longer required. They can also use the CDE
to support their own business intelligence
processes. As well as supporting ISO
19650 standards, gliderbim® can be
configured to support similar best practice
schemas where needed.
VALIDATION IS A KEY PROCESS
On large projects, with many teams
involved with multiple technologies,
designers, engineers and other contractors
will more than likely be using their own
systems, and the information being
compiled for the CDEs will be in a number
of different formats or will come with the
originating source's component names
and descriptions. It could even have
originated in older catalogues of
components and archaic practices - long
before the concept of CDEs was
introduced. Before a contractor uses
gliderbim® to create a Project CDE or an
AIM CDE, it needs to collate that
information, to simplify naming systems,
remove ambiguities and get rid of
confusing duplicates before it can build a
Common Data Environment that is easy to
access and relevant to its ultimate purpose
- namely to furnish an AIM CDE with the
information that facility and asset
managers need to manage their property.
That goes way beyond just substituting a
lengthy product code with a shorter and
unique title. Sometimes the individual item
needs specific attribution that precisely
describes its location and identifying
features. To provide the necessary
information, gliderbim®, uniquely as a
developer of CDEs, goes through a
process of document and data validation
before it stores it within the CDE.
In consultation with the contractor
charged with creating the CDE, Glider
helps them build a data validation
framework using Excel and Glider's
mapping tools to convert information
from its original format into one that can
be used by gliderbim®. Excel may not be
the most modern of tools, but in this
context it appears to be ideally suitable
because of its universal availability and
flexibility in handling gliderbim® data
mapping tasks.
Once it is validated - the data has been
converted to meet the exchange
information requirements - the information
deliverables are approved and made
available in COBie and/or download
formats for transfer at handover. The
Project CDE will have provided the raw
materials for the construction phase,
providing a common and single source of
information for contractors, subcontractors
and suppliers, but with that task completed
and the project ready for handover, Glider
is happy to transfer the AIM CDE directly to
the asset owner or developer, enabling
them to fulfil their obligations to the client
more professionally, at lower cost and
more quickly. They can also hold on to the
license until the building is sold, when the
gliberbim license and modeled data
containing fully validated information can
become a value added item.
Glider also license gliderbim directly to
the asset owners and developers, allowing
them to insource the data and take full
ownership of all validated project and
asset deliverables. In doing so, they have
a highly enriched representation of their
built asset portfolio complete with all
relevant documents and data needed to
support operational teams during the
operational phase.
The aim, ultimately, is to provide the client
with an AIM CDE that provides complete
independence from the construction
supply chain, by providing them with
ongoing and intuitive access to their built
asset data. Ownership of the gliderbim
license also provides the client with a level
of independence over the software as
asset information needs change over time
as they can configure their own workflows
and processes and task management
processes, such as RFIs and change
management, FM, and, of course, their
own data validation processes.
Clients using gliderbim® for the whole
lifecycle of an asset can then use it to
control who enters the CDE - for example
contractors employed for building
modifications, refurbishments or
equipment exchange - and when.
Contractors can then be removed following
the completion of the building phase. A
typical instance where this would be useful
is in campus or estate management.
www.glidertech.com
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