Crookes Walker save up to 50% of time on MEP engineering tasks using Stabicad for Revit
Crookes Walker Consulting prides itself on delivering building design and engineering services that are innovative, efficient and sustainable. That means never settling for the status quo and instead continually evolving with new ways to add client value.
In fact, part of the firm’s strategy is to regularly invest in the latest software, so its clients benefit from the very best engineering capabilities possible.
As Sam Williams, Crookes Walker’s CAD/BIM manager, says: “One of the primary reasons we adopted Trimble’s Stabicad solution was to help us provide a higher quality of service to our clients.”
He is quick to add: “Plus, Stabicad makes our lives easier.”
Streamlining MEP design in Revit
To Sam, making life easier for the MEP design and engineering teams he supports is all about streamlining workflows, minimising rework and saving time. To meet those objectives, he focused on establishing standardised processes 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 savings
Having researched the 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 that adopting Stabicad was a no-brainer.”
In rolling out Stabicad, Sam worked with the Trimble team to assess how different engineers across Crookes Walker would use the software. For example, mechanical engineers have one set of needs, while electrical engineers have another.
This information helped guide the entire onboarding process, including deploying the software, setting up appropriate templates, and training the engineers in using Stabicad – all provided as a value-added service by Trimble.
“Having that extra hands-on assistance from Trimble’s onboarding team was invaluable,” Sam notes. “It saved us a lot of time trying to figure out everything on our own. We were able to quickly start using the drafting capabilities, establish working groups and begin integrating Stabicad into our workflows, so everyone is starting from the same base information. We now have that consistency we were looking for, so clients always know what they’re getting, and it’s in the correct format for them.”
Stabicad boosts productivity and financial return
With Stabicad adoption ramping up, Crookes Walker is already seeing the software prove its value. For example, the Nodesolver tool instantly solves the challenge of connecting complex nodes by automatically suggesting feasible solutions. And with Stabicad’s Openings Functionality, engineers can easily detect and resolve clashes between multiple services.
Sam remarks: “A key benefit we’ve seen with Stabicad is when we have two services crossing each other, the software automatically steps in with a workable solution. Whereas with Revit, simple tasks like that can take hours out of the day. Stabicad gives us all that time back. It’s brilliant.”
In fact, 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,” Sam says.
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.
“Stabicad makes it a lot easier for engineers to do their job without spending a lot of time and energy on non-productive tasks,” Sam says. “Everyone works from the same standardised templates, the results are accurate and in a consistent format, and it’s easy to make changes and update the model without redoing everything from scratch.”
Stabicad builds client confidence and competitive advantage
Improving MEP engineering efficiency with Stabicad brings additional value to Crookes Walker and its clients. For example, the software helps save energy and cost by allowing engineers to optimise their MEP designs and avoid oversizing systems.
Sam notes: “More precise and accurate calculations lead to more efficient MEP designs, which helps reduce the building’s carbon footprint and improve sustainability.”
Streamlining MEP engineering workflows with Stabicad also enables Crookes Walker to deliver completed models more quickly than in the past, allowing clients to proceed with construction sooner. Moreover, clients can be confident that the MEP systems will perform as designed because Stabicad’s mechanical calculations are verified by CIBSE.
Sam concludes: “The results we get from Stabicad give our clients more confidence in working with Crookes Walker. Clients see we’re using tools at the forefront of technology to serve them better. Ultimately, that’s an industry differentiator that gives us a real competitive advantage.”
For more information, click here.
Lauren Stower
Marketing Manager
Trimble MEP
Tel: +44(0)1908 608833
*Please note: This is a commercial profile.
