Sam Williams, CAD/BIM Manager at Crookes Walker Consulting was looking for new ways to make life easier for the MEP design and engineering teams. In particular, looking to streamline workflows, minimise rework, and save the teams he supports time
To meet those objectives, he focused on establishing standardised processes for MEP design across Crookes Walker’s three UK offices. The challenge was that each engineering team used a different approach to projects, leading to inconsistent results, repetitive steps, and a lot of extra time to complete a model for the client.
Sam explains, “Engineers would create an MEP design in Revit, run calculations in a spreadsheet, and pass everything along to the CAD team. Everyone had their own idea of how to do things, so it was a constant flow back and forth to get a common result we could present to the client.”
Crookes Walker needed more consistency across the design and engineering process, which was a major driver for evaluating Stabicad.
Stabicad brings standardisation and time-saving
Having researched the MEP design and BIM software marketplace, Sam knew about Stabicad and requested a demonstration for his team. “We saw right away how Stabicad could standardise our process, so designers and engineers are working in the same format. The demo showed how tasks that took us hours could be completed in minutes. Between standardisation and the time savings, we decided to adopt Stabicad was a no-brainer.”
Boosts productivity and financial return
With Stabicad’s adoption ramping up, Crookes Walker is already seeing the software prove its value. For example, Sam points out that when it comes to certain tasks, such as creating plans and sheets, Stabicad will create them in bulk with the correct view templates automatically applied. As a result, Stabicad has cut the time to complete such tasks by 25–50%.
“Stabicad is helping us get more work out of a day, and that quickly has a financial impact. By getting more jobs completed faster and more efficiently, our bottom line goes up, and we start to see a return on investment very quickly.”
The quality of work life for Crookes Walker engineers has also improved. Instead of searching manufacturer websites and third-party databases for relevant MEP content, rich MEP content for Revit families and manufacturers’ products is available directly in Stabicad. Moreover, engineers have a consistent, reliable tool within the 3D model to produce mechanical calculations that conform to local norms. For example, they can run a calculation over an entire system (ventilation, pipework, etc.) from within the model, assess the results, make changes, and recalculate with a single click. Crunching numbers on spreadsheets is now a thing of the past.
Results in a nutshell
- Reduces time to complete some MEP engineering tasks by up to 50%
- Increases MEP engineering productivity, helping to accelerate return on investment
- Improves quality of work life for MEP engineers by eliminating repetitive tasks
- Ensures clients receive accurate, constructible models in a consistent format
- Strengthens Crookes Walker’s competitive advantage
Continue reading the full story here, or if you would like to learn more about Stabicad, visit the Trimble website or request a demo.
About Stabicad
Stabicad for Revit is a fully-integrated BIM solution for mechanical, electrical and MEP design, enabling engineers and contractors to dramatically increase their design efficiency while creating usable mechanical and electrical outputs.
The powerful integrated mechanical calculations are verified by CIBSE’s pioneering Software Verification Assessment – a UK first, meaning you can have confidence in the accuracy and efficacy of your calculation outcomes.
