AMV House thanks AGACAD for efficiency and customization gains in its prefab timber homes

This Estonian producer of timber element buildings says AGACAD’s wood framing, clash detection and other BIM software for Revit^® has strengthened the competitive advantages that are fuelling its Northern European expansion.

Client Profile

AMV House OÜ is a maker of prefabricated timber buildings. Established in Estonia in 2016, AMV is rapidly expanding across Northern Europe. It sees the keys to its success as the efficient design, production and erection of quality timber-frame structures that are affordable, ecological, and tailored to the needs and identity of every client.

Business Need

What made AMV House seek professional productivity software for building design and information management? According to Marko Otsus, the company’s lead structural engineer, it was a drive to be maximally fast and affordable while ensuring quality and a personal touch in the timber element buildings AMV makes at its factory near Tartu and mounts all over the Nordics.

Without such tools, it is costly “to deal with each project as unique and individual”, as AMV’s philosophy demands, and to manage compliance with local building standards in a growing list of countries. All that eats into the efficiency advantages of production in a factory environment.

“We needed some sort of automation for 3D design, software that’s able to create shop drawings fast and check that frame members are in the right spot,” Otsus says. “It had to work for houses with valleys, different roof pitches, building components at different levels.”

The team at AMV chose AGACAD’s Wood Framing Suite of BIM solutions for Autodesk^® Revit^® and its popular Cut Opening and Sort Mark tools. Otsus, the company’s Head of Design, says AGACAD outshone its competitors – from collaboration benefits and pricing options to key features and flexible settings.

“Firstly, I liked that these are Revit add-ons, so we can continue a building model from the architectural drawings and can easily draw coordination documents to show how architectural changes affect the building.

“And the price was good relative to alternative software and we like the many options for configuration settings. Other software has more limitations. And the demo and presenter both impressed us, showing that the product does what we need and that the company is very professional.”

Solution

AGACAD’s Wood Framing package is powerful and flexible BIM software for constructions with multi-layer timber-frame walls, floors and roofs. That includes prefabricated panels, rafters and trusses, and even SIPs, CLT and post-and-beam solutions. Advanced automation and built-in best practices help BIM professionals make optimal choices, move much faster, and avoid errors at every stage – from design and documentation to fabrication and construction. It’s easy to quickly batch add, modify or mark just the right elements or parameters, distribute details, flexibly manage openings and connections, and find clashes. Frames dynamically update and adapt, ensuring that shop drawings and cut lists are always accurate.

As it started using the AGACAD software, AMV immediately noticed that many tasks were faster and easier. “Making changes in projects was quicker,” Otsus says. It was now easier to notice incompatibilities in architectural projects and fix them. If he needed to adjust the size of a window, for example, that’s no problem since the framed panels in the model and drawings all get updated.

“In AGACAD, even when I’ve finished my assembly drawings, I can easily update them. And since all the drawings are connected in Revit, it’s faster to make changes. If I choose to change something in the plan, views or sections, the detail drawings change also. The changes are done automatically, no need to change them all separately anymore.”

Areas where the company has gained competitive advantage include roof design processes: “It’s easier to design prefabricated roofs in AGACAD than in other programs. There and elsewhere, the diversity of settings is great. It lets us add specific members in whatever position we want.”

The ease of customization in the highly automated processes seems to be the feature that AMV House – with its focus on a personal touch – values most.

Results

“The configuration settings are the most useful thing, covering all different types of connections and openings, how much detail is added, etc. If the configurations are set up, then it’s a breeze to finish drawings. User-defined families are also ideal. I can add custom members that AGACAD recognizes, like, say, third-party structural connections. And you get an overview to ensure no collisions between members.”

Otsus continues to be impressed both by AGACAD’s customer service and how it continues intensively developing its software further.

“In support and training, AGACAD is great. Every question I’ve asked has been answered and their support has improved my own Revit skills,” he says. “And in a relatively short time I’ve seen updates that added many useful features. So building design work keeps getting even quicker.”

Prepared by Bryan Bradley of Textus Aptus

This client relationship exemplifies the AGACAD ideal of “Building BIM Together!” After 28 years creating AEC technologies, AGACAD today is the developer of the world’s widest range of true BIM software for Revit^® professionals, with 13,000+ users in 130 countries. Its three areas of focus are BIM Content Management & Classification, BIM for Prefabrication Construction, and Digital Asset Inventories & BIM for Facility Management.

For more information, contact us at info@agacad.com or +370 618 55 671.