Defining the measure of success when implementing new technologies

I sat down with Chad Dorgan, Vice President Of Quality & Sustainability at McCarthy Building Companies, to learn more about their process for reviewing and implementing new technologies. Dorgan believes success is ensured by focusing efforts at the grass roots level and keeping workflows grounded in processes, not necessarily looking at “technology as a solution.”

For instance, start with the best way to manage documents or the most effective way to handle an RFI. Then, apply technology on top of that existing process to make it more efficient, reduce steps and improve collaboration between partners.

At McCarthy, they start with a small core group who guide the process and share their learnings. They make it work on a smaller scale with a few projects, work out the bugs first and then raise it up to the next level. It’s less about “software as a solution” and more about how software integrates into what the company is already doing. Software is not a fix-all.  It’s the people and the process that brings it all together and makes it work.
 

Looking down the road, I asked Dorgan what he sees as the next leap the AEC industry needs to make. He believes the future of design and construction lies in creating, accessing, and sharing data-rich 3D models. But, the challenge with building information modeling (BIM) is finding viable paths to take all the data and distill it down to a form that people in the field can utilize.  

Beyond just the creation of a model, the goal of integrating design and construction is to equip all project partners with the tools to get it right the first time. Portable Document Format (PDF) files and 3D documents are an integral part of that process, but knowing how to implement these technologies into existing workflows for a better, more efficient process will be the keys to success. 

Editor's note: This is sponsored content. The text and video were provided by the sponsor company.