UBS: “AGACAD framing tools let us confidently take on more complexity”

This U.S. design firm identified AGACAD’s wall framing solution for BIM as the only software on the market that fully meets its needs for flexibility, complexity and productivity. It also says support is “prompt and remarkable”.

Client Profile

United Building Solutions (UBS) provides design, planning and construction services throughout the Midwest. The company sees BIM technologies as the key to lean and integrated projects.

Business Need

UBS provides engineering, design, and virtual modeling services for a sister company – which manufactures CFMF (cold-formed metal framing) wall and floor panels. Given limits in the functionality of Autodesk® Revit®, which the company uses, it needed tools to drive down project costs and ensure its prefabricated panels can be installed efficiently.

“We tried one add-on for creating the panel shop drawings but weren’t satisfied. So we decided to hunt for other panelizing programs until we found the very best one – even if wasn’t for Revit,” says Chandel Ninmann, a Virtual Design/Construction Specialist at UBS.

The company had a long wish-list for its ideal software, starting with a user-friendly interface and great support. It had to generate all types of wall panels and component members, with customizable and saveable configurations. It had to be able to create complex framing openings, add posts and other structural materials, generate sheathing and pre-configured shop drawings, and work well with multi-story buildings. Making changes should be easy, with auto-updates of panels and shop drawings and quick adjustment of panel numbers for sequencing. Simple creation and customization of schedules was also key.

Solution

While trying out multiple panel design programs, Mrs Ninmann saw that Metal Framing Wall from AGACAD seemed to stand head and shoulders over the rest. So she arranged a live demo with Renata Jočienė, AGACAD’s Lead BIM Application Engineer, and confronted her with UBS’s ambitious requirements.

“I needed a program that could do a lot, and she was able to show me how Wall+ does just about everything I asked,” the UBS specialist recalls. And as for the few details she wanted that were missing, they developed and released that functionality in an update of the software within 2 weeks. “That was enough to convince me that Wall+ is the best Revit add-in for panelization, knowing AGACAD would listen to my needs and actually develop the program to meet them… at an impressive timeline too!”

UBS found AGACAD’s framing tools (which are available for timber, too, and for roofs and floors as well as walls) help with more than just panelization. Mrs Ninmann soon wrote to say how much she liked the custom join function: “I was able to adjust my first join within minutes! I was also glad to see the preview adjust with each change and how the dropdown options made sense. I think I’ll end up using the spacing option the most.”

Results

AGACAD’s BIM framing software has boosted UBS’s productivity all around and enabled the firm to handle more complicated jobs, according to Mrs Ninmann. She can now complete and adjust panels faster. She can also easily create any needed type of schedule: for ordering material, sending to the shop, analysing panels across levels, finding panel weights, and more.

“We often use unique and custom details to improve productivity or make a difficult spot in a building easier for all trades to build. It used to be difficult, if not impossible, to create those details and communicate them clearly. Wall+ and the team behind it gave us more confidence in our ability to create unique and custom panel shop drawings,” she says.

She characterizes AGACAD’s customer support as “prompt and remarkable”, citing as an example the perfect advice she got (in a quick e-mail response to her query) on how to use special framing-member marks to distinguish post assemblies in a building from various types of studs. Mrs Ninmann also says she’s “baffled” by how fast the company can develop requested new features.

This client relationship exemplifies “Building BIM Together!” – the slogan at the heart of everything AGACAD does. The focus is on accelerating Building Information Modelling for everyone in AEC based on the insights and experience of advanced BIM practitioners. New and enhanced features based on client feedback and requests are regularly incorporated into solutions.

AGACAD is the developer of the world’s widest range of true BIM software for Revit® professionals, with 10,000+ users in 130 countries. The company is now celebrating 25 YEARS DELIVERING TOMORROW’S AEC.

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