iConstruct helps SSOE create efficiencies across 30 of their projects
Announcement posted by iConstruct 18 Oct 2016
With more than 20 locations worldwide and more than 1,000 employees, the SSOE Group is no stranger to big projects. This global engineering, procurement, and construction management firm has a 65-plus year history working with clients in the semiconductor, automotive, chemical, food, power, glass, healthcare, and education markets, among others.
To date, this U.S.-based company has completed projects in 40 countries and has established itself as a recognized leader in the industry. It has also won numerous awards for its design work, as well as many accolades for consistently being a great place to work.
“SSOE’s roots are in the design and engineering of complex facilities and processes for our clients, and we leverage that skillset to provide complete solutions for clients, including construction management and fully integrated delivery in some cases,” explains Mark LaBell, Jr., a senior virtual design and construction and BIM/CAD technical leader, who has been with the company for eight years.
Even with a long history of success, LaBell says there is a constant focus on providing a high-level of service to their clients, which is one of the reasons they are always looking for ways to improve the way they handle (and process) the large amount of information that goes with any project.
MARK LABELL, JR. SENIOR VIRTUAL DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION AND BIM/CAD TECHNICAL LEADER
“I first became aware of iConstruct through various trade shows. We officially started talking to them in 2014 and then began using the product shortly thereafter,” says LaBell. “Our initial interest in it was for the Clash tools, but now we are frequently using Zone Tools, as well as those for pending Data and Reporting.”
According to LaBell, using the Reporting, Data Integration, and Custom Reports features have really helped them with the QAQC process, but iConstruct has also made a favorable impression on their clients.
“The feedback we have received so far is good. In fact, our clients are the most receptive of it because having a quality report to give them has been a real plus . . . so it is definitely benefitting them as well and they recognize that,” explains LaBell.
SSOE’s first experience using iConstruct was actually on one of the largest manufacturing projects ever built by a Chinese firm in the United States. This involved a 1.6 million square foot facility that LaBell says put the software’s capabilities to the test right from the start.
“This particular project contained complex foundations and structures, which resulted in thousands of invalid clashes to sort through. Using iConstruct really helped us start looking at things in bite-sized chunks so we could focus on real constructability and design issues,” LaBell explains.
Fast-forward to today and LaBell says they have now used iConstruct on more than 30 projects so far; and they continue to find different ways to utilize the software’s many different tools.
“The user pool internally has been relatively small with about 8 to 12 BIM managers regularly doing work in iConstruct, though the number of people it has positively impacted is much, much larger. More importantly, the value passed onto our clients has been huge, including the advantages for all involved during the collaborative 3D reviews,” offers LaBell. “But there are so many different tools in there we have not had time to try them all yet.”
iConstruct is business information modeling (BIM) software for Autodesk Navisworks, suitable for a large range of industries worldwide. It ensures a project is as efficient and simple as possible for teams to manage and maintain from concept to completion and beyond, and is backed 24hrs a day by our support and development team. to find out more, visit our website