How BIM 360 Relates to Autodesk Unified Platform

Autodesk Unified Platform (UP) is part of Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC). For all practical purposes, this is the updated version of BIM 360 and was put into place to accommodate the “bring your own subscription” (BYOS) collaboration model that’s becoming a feature of construction industry software products. Essentially, the BIM 360 caterpillar has turned into the ACC butterfly.

Products

The products in the Autodesk UP include Autodesk Docs, Autodesk BIM Collaborate and Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro. Each of these products sits on a toolset foundation that includes Document Management, Insight and Administration. In the following chart you can see how each product has a base set of similar tools and features.

The standalone product Autodesk Docs, once only available in Architecture, Engineering and Construction Collections, can now be purchased on its own. It also resides as a tool in BIM Collaborate, BIM Collaborate Pro, Build, and Takeoff.

BIM Collaborate Pro differs from plain BIM Collaborate as it offers the additional professional packages of Collaboration for Civil 3D, Collaboration for Plant 3D and Revit Cloud Worksharing.

From where UP sits on ACC, itconnects the post-project features of Tandem.

Tandem delivers a digital view of an entire project, including the metadata for each asset. The resulting digital “twin” of the BIM model is useful for handover at the close of construction. It gives the owner and operators of a building indepth information about the components of the completed project and greater insight into how to manage its systems.

Takeoff enables simplified, automated and aggregated takeoffs from 2D drawings and 3D models. Cloud-based document management gives teams the ability to collaborate on construction drawings, documents and 3D models.

Build software is used to connect the office and the field to improve quality control on a job, track performance, and manage issues, requests for information and submittals.

Single Source of Truth

With a common data environment, the project information resides on Autodesk UP from the beginning of design to the project’s completion and handover. This single source of truth eliminates the confusion that causes a rampant problem in the construction industry: knowing which set of project drawings is the most current. In the days of paper-based workflows, we might have had three or more sets of job drawings lying on different desks; in the digital age, that can translate to multiple files on the server being accessed, changed and saved – sometimes with the same name.

Countless detailers have worked from the wrong set of drawings, only to have to go back and do their work over after the correct set of drawings was identified. The implications can be disastrous if those incorrect drawings are used by the field crews for construction.

Using Autodesk UP, everyone knows which drawings and models to use, avoiding time-consuming and expensive rework. This is just one example of the benefits companies can reap from connected construction on projects using unified products.

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If you’re looking for a partner to assist you in implementing a “single source of truth” in your processes, contact Applied Software today. Let the experts of Applied show your team how to conquer confusion and gain greater insights into your projects.

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