Production Pulse Newsletter 2021_vol2_iss1

The Production Pulse Newsletter highlights information, projects and initiatives underway by Associated Engineering's Production Services Group (Document Production, Drawing Production, GIS, and BIM)

PRODUCTION PULSE

NEWSLETTER VOLUME 2: ISSUE 1

MARCH 2021

Digital Signatures for ALL Staff — Pg. 4

Elimination of Colour Paper Stock for Construction Contracts —Pg. 7

VisiSpecs Implementation Calling all Project Managers —Pg. 5

How To Write a Great Proposal — Pg. 20

Cover Story:

The Origins of St. Patrick ’ s Day - Pg. 3

PRODUCTION PULSE

NEWSLETTER VOLUME 2: ISSUE 1 – MARCH 2021

IN THIS ISSUE:

Production Management

03

Origins of St. Patrick ’ s Day

04

Digital Signatures for All Staff`

06

Technical Development Council Updates

07

Elimination of Coloured Paper for Construction Contracts

Document Production

Struggling with MicrosoftWord Tables?

08

AE File Transfer Agreement—Where is it?

ImprovingWorkflows with ESRI ’ sMobile Apps

09

GIS Project Highlight: Saskatoon Bridge Shared Use Path

Drawing Production

10

Drawing Production 2020 Audit Results

Chief Editor:

11

Bill Moore—Technical Services Production Manager

Blocks Not Inserting from Tool Palettes—Solutions Here!

12

Dazzling Jewels— AutoCAD Tips, Tricks and Techniques

Technical Advisor:

Chad Franklin—Corporate CAD Coordinator

Building Information Modeling

13

Project Highlight: Aurora Coast Cannabis Innovation Centre

Technical Advisor:

Chad Strecker—Corporate BIM Coordinator

14

Plant 3D: The Importance of Regular Maintenance

Technical Editor:

15

Civil 3D: Using BIM for Conceptual Design Reports andMeetings

Tracy Halat—Senior Administrative Assistant

16

Civil 3D: Using the Data Shortcuts Editor

If you have suggestions for the Production Pulse, please contact one of the teammembers above to share

17

Revit: CTC BIM Project Suite—Quick Select Tool

Dynamo for Revit: Start - up Instructions

19

Reality Capture: Autodesk ReCapMobile Replaced

Proposal Production

20

How ToWrite a Great Proposal?

PRODUCTION PULSE

NEWSLETTER VOLUME 2: ISSUE 1 – MARCH 2021

Origins of St. Patrick ’ s Day Around the ninth or 10th century, people in Ireland have been observing the Roman Catholic feast day of St. Patrick on March 17. The first St. Patrick ’ s Day parade took place not in Ireland but in America. Records show that a St. Patrick ’ s Day parade was held on March 17, 1601 in a Spanish colony in what is now St. Augustine, Florida. The parade, and a St. Patrick ’ s Day celebration held a year earlier, were organized by the Spanish Colony's Irish vicar Ricardo Artur. More than a century later, homesick Irish soldiers serving in the British military marched in New York City on March 17, 1772 to honor the Irish patron saint. Production Services

If you have any Technical Services Production Management questions, please contact:

Bill Moore

Chad Franklin

Chad Strecker

Technical Services ProductionManager

Corporate CAD Coordinator

Corporate BIM Coordinator

PRODUCTION PULSE

NEWSLETTER VOLUME 2: ISSUE 1 – MARCH 2021

Digital Signatures For All Staff

3 Digital Signature Options to Support All Staff

All staff now have access to a Digital Signature AE Certificate that creates a relationship between our AE Master Certificate and the User's ID. Using the AECertificate identifies who the signer is within the AE organization (unlike using a personal certificate).

Production Services

The AE Certificate allows us to:

Secure a document from changes,

Identify who signs.

The AE Certificate is tied to our AEMaster Certificate and your Active Directory (AD) user account, which means that data is visible, which provides the ability to identify who signed a document.

Instructions to setup YOUR Digital Signature Today! (using PDF Xchange) : HERE

Bill Moore

For questions related to Digital Signatures contact:

Technical Services ProductionManager

What is a Digital Signature? Digital Signatures are like electronic “ fingerprints. ” In the form of a coded message, the digital signature securely associates a signer with a document in a recorded transaction. Digital Signatures, like handwritten signatures, are unique to each signer.

Digital Signature solution providers (such as Notarius) follow a specific protocol, called PKI. PKI requires the provider to use a mathematical algorithm to generate two long numbers, called keys:

One key is public.

One key is private.

When a signatory electronically signs a document, the signature is created using the signatory ’ s private key, which is always securely kept by the signatory. The mathematical algorithm acts as a cipher, creating data matching the signed document, called a hash, and encrypting that data. The resulting encrypted data is the digital signature. The signature is also marked with the time that the document was signed. If the document changes after signing, the digital signature is invalidated.

PRODUCTION PULSE

NEWSLETTER VOLUME 2: ISSUE 1 – MARCH 2021

We are ready to implement VisiSpecs - VisiWord! with VisiSpecs - VisiWord Streamline Your Project Specifications

Attention Project Managers!

Do you want to:

Reduce errors & omissions

Eliminate manual QA/TOC checking

Transition to DIV 49

Have your project use VisiSpecs!

Improve quality

Save time!

For more information: Click HERE

PRODUCTION PULSE

NEWSLETTER VOLUME 2: ISSUE 1 – MARCH 2021

Technical Development Council Updates

The Technical Development Council (TDC) is represented by the following 12 individuals:

Steve Croxford Production Services

Bill Moore

Carma Holmes

Dean Shiskowski

Don Kennedy

Duane Strayer

Edith Asselin

Elia Edwards

Jeff Horan

John Van Der Eerden

Owen James

Paul Hague

In 2020, we opened 14 new TDC tasks and completed 5. Some examples of tasks completed are:

• Task 129 – Structural Inspectors Handbook - This task standardized the resources for our structural inspectors (ie. checklists, forms, calculators etc). • Task 138 – Net Zero Metric Development – A “ Building Information Label ” (BIL) has been developed. We can now begin to track the energy, carbon and water embodied quantities and usages of our buildings. Phase II of this project was opened as a new Task 174. • Task 152 - Cloud - based computing platform for climate analysis and other needs - This task was finalized with a report that provides guidance on how to use and charge for this service when a project requires intense computing needs. We exceeded the budget allocated for the year to undertake this work for the first time. In previous years, the funds that were not able to be spent on TDC tasks was reported on as a missed opportunity, since these tasks help us to improve our technical resources and to work more efficiently. If demand exceeds the annual budget allocated to the TDC, the Council may prioritize future ideas based on some weighted criteria such as:

If you have any ideas to improve our systems, processes, efficiencies, and tools, we encourage you to discuss these with your DIG and one of the above - mentioned Council members.

Number of people impacted

Improves Quality

Improves Efficiency

Advances Knowledge

If you have any questions pertaining to the Technical Development Council (TDC), please contact: Steve Croxford, Professional Services Production Manager

PRODUCTION PULSE

NEWSLETTER VOLUME 2: ISSUE 1 – MARCH 2021

Elimination of Coloured Paper Stock for Construction Contracts

Our current SpecificationWriters Guide (2003) is being updated to align with new processes that will be needed to leverage our specification production software (VisiSpecs). One major change to the guide is the removal of the requirement to use coloured paper stock for printing certain documents in the front end of the Project Manual. Previously, Section 6 of the Guide required items like the Bid Form, Addenda, Table of contents etc. to be printed on yellow/pink/ blue/buff/green paper stock in order to differentiate between Sections. This added time and effort to produce multiple copies of this document. We have contacted the Construction Associations in each of the Provinces we operate in to understand current best practices with respect to Project Manuals. As these documents are now predominantly being issued and distributed in digital form only, there is no need or advantage in discerning one section from another. Production Services

Effective immediately: Project Manuals (Construction Contracts) and addenda are not required to be printed on coloured paper stock, and there is no future need for offices to replenish these paper supplies.

For questions, please contact: Steve Croxford, Professional Services ProductionManager

As we transition from AEthena 1.0 to a new AEthena 2.0 platform, we are faced with some search challenges. Our sites & content is spread across both the old platform and the new platform— creating a search problem: Sharepoint is unable to search across these platforms.

For users, this means searching on AEthena will not surface content hosted on the new platform.. To resolve this issue (until AEthena 2.0 is launched), a page was created on AEthena to help staff find content hosted on the Production Services website. On this page, we created keywords to help direct staff to our new website. Give it a try!

PRODUCTION PULSE

NEWSLETTER VOLUME 2: ISSUE 1 – MARCH 2021

Struggling with MicrosoftWord Tables?

Bill Moore

Lor-

Learn useful tips & tricks from our AE Tables Video (via Pinnacle):

BEFORE

AFTER

Document Production

AE File Transfer Agreement—Where is it?

Do you know where to find the Distribution of Electronic Files form? 1. OpenMicrosoft Word 2. Select the AEMenu button on the AE Templates Ribbon 3. In the Templates Dialog box, select AE Contract Document Administration from the drop down menu

4. Select: 026 Distribution of Electronic Files

This formmust be used whenever a third party requests our electronic files. (i.e. CAD drawings, 3D models, etc.).

Prior to distributing any files to a 3rd Party you must have :

Project Manager approval

Signed Distribution of Electronic Files

If you have any questions pertaining to the content within this article, please contact:

Claire Arnault

Lorna Taylor

Esther Vennard

Executive Assistant, Corporate Services

Division Administrator

Branch Administrator

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NEWSLETTER VOLUME 1: ISSUE 2 – DECEMBER 2020 TER VOLUME 2: I SUE 1 – MARCH 2021

ImprovingWorkflows with ESRI ’ s Mobile Apps

Featured: Collector and Survey 123

Compare:

• Both ESRI apps have an intuitive interface.

• Maps can be created for online or offline use.

• Survey data can be collected using IOS or Android devices.

• Collector is a map centric app. Geographic data is

collected on a map, with the capability of documenting attributes of each feature. Survey123 ’ s data collection style is form centric. While you can still capture geographic information, the information is being collected as a questionnaire.

Geographic Information Systems

• Collector requires field users to have an ArcGIS account. While Survey123 can be accessed anonymously, making it useful for crowd - sourcing scenarios.

The City of Saskatoon commissioned Associated Engineering to complete an audit of cycling and pedestrian facilities on and approaching 40 overpass and underpass structures from the perspective of pedestrians and cyclists. With the use of Survey123 , field staff completed over 500 surveys that later provided engineers with the information required to help make qualitative risk assessments, resulting in a relative risk ranking of the 40 locations. These rankings helped prioritize the implementation of recommendations. Improvements included the addition of intersection crossing treatments, shared - use path signs and Active Transportation guide signs, and addressing the root cause of identified safety issues. • Survey templates or “ smart forms ” are created in advance. These smart forms embed advanced logic and validation rules that can show or hide questions according to the previous answer. Cycling and Pedestrian Facilities Audit GIS Project Highlight: Saskatoon Bridge Shared Use Path • The app can be customized to provide field users with the ability to embed images and audio within each survey. • Survey data is submitted into ArcGIS for post - processing. From there, GIS professionals can view, analyze, create reports, and display data in a way that is visually appealing and easy to interpret. • Questions can be presented in a text, date, numeric, single or multi - choice format.

If you have any questions pertaining to this project or other GIS interests, please contact:

Kent Richardson

Dominique Toth

Courtney Aschenbrenner

GIS Technologist / DIGChair

GIS Technician / DIGCo - Chair

GIS Analyst

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NEWSLETTER VOLUME 1: ISSUE 2 – DECEMBER 2020 TER VOLUME 2: I SUE 1 – MARCH 2021

Drawing Production 2020 Audit Results

Conformance to our Drawing Production Standards can directly influence project schedule and budget, as well as quality and ease of collaboration. In order to measure conformance to our published drawing production standards, Production Services established the Drawing Production Audit program (2015), with more than 400 projects audited to date. Year over year performance statistics highlight our continuous improvement since the introduction of the audit program. 20 discrete aspects of our drawing production process are consistently measured against randomly selected project within each region each quarter. These results are used to inform targeted training/ Learning Engagements and/or awareness campaigns designed to support successful drawing production practices. Additional information regarding the Drawing Production Audits Program can be found: HERE

Drawing Production

Results of the 2020 Drawing Production Audits:

Excellent = 90 - 100% | Partial 61 - 89% | Poor scored less than or equal to 60% (Graph above represents a total of 60 Drawing Project Audits across 5 Regions)

If you have any questions pertaining to our Drawing Production Audit Program, please contact: Chad Franklin, Corporate CADCoordinator

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NEWSLETTER VOLUME 1: ISSUE 2 – DECEMBER 2020 TER VOLUME 2: I SUE 1 – MARCH 2021

Blocks Not Inserting from Tool Palettes—Solutions Here!

AutoCAD (and AutoCAD - based) 2020 Issue

If you are experiencing an issue where certain blocks will not insert into a drawing from our tool palettes, please read below!

The Problem: When using AutoCAD 2020 (or AutoCAD - based software such as Civil 3D or Plant 3D) some of our standard blocks will not insert from our tool palettes. Nothing happens except a ‘ beep ’ from the computer—no error messages. The Reason: At some point in time, the effected blocks were modified using Civil 3D software. When a drawing is saved using Civil 3D (instead of vanilla AutoCAD), or if a new block is created using a template that was previously saved by Civil 3D, proxy objects are added to the drawing file. Installing 2020 Object Enablers does not resolve the problem, and in fact seems to be the root cause. Drawing Production

Our need to support AutoCAD 2017 and 2020 DWG fiormats (note: aDWG format change occurred in 2018) means we cannot simply save all our existing Tool Palette content as 2020 DWG format; doing so would prevent this content fromworking in AutoCAD 2017. Fortunately, not all blocks have been previously saved with Civil 3D, however, ones that have will all experience the issue noted above.

Blocks WILL INSERT CORRECTLY when using:

• AutoCAD without Civil 3D Object Enablers, or • Civil 3D software, or • AutoCAD ’ s Block Insertion Palette, or • AutoCAD ’ s CLASSICINSERT command.

Blocks WILL NOT INSERT CORRECTLY when using:

• AutoCAD with Civil 3D Object Enablers installed.

If you have any questions pertaining to the content within this article, please contact: Chad Franklin, Corporate CADCoordinator

PRODUCTION PULSE I PULSE

NEWSLETTER VOLUME 1: ISSUE 2 – DECEMBER 2020 TER VOLUME 2: I SUE 1 – MARCH 2021

Dazzling Jewels—AutoCAD Tips, Tricks and Techniques

Autodesk University Class

Sit down, buckle up, and keep your hands on your keyboard as Donnie “ The CAD Geek ” Gladfelter takes you through a dazzling collection of drafting techniques guaranteed to improve your productivity—one click at a time. From simple to advanced, you ’ re sure to discover newways to remove tedium and boost your ability to meet project deadlines.

Drawing Production

AWARD WINNER: TOP ON - DEMAND SESSION

• Learn how to maximize your use of AutoCAD by stretching the limits of common commands.

• Discover how newly added features can supercharge your use of AutoCAD!

• Advance your use of AutoCAD with simple techniques proven to improve productivity.

• Annotation, Drawing Sheet Management, Customization and more!...

Class Recording: HERE

Class Slide Deck: HERE

Class Handout: HERE

If you have any questions pertaining to the content within this article, please contact: Chad Franklin, Corporate CADCoordinator

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Project Highlight: Aurora Coast Cannabis Innovation Centre

The Aurora Coast Cannabis Innovation Centre is a research and development facility located in Comox, British Columbia. The centre is a high - security, Health Canada - licensed laboratory facility focused on cannabis breeding and genetics. The first phase of the project consisted of a one - storey heavy timber header house and a one - storey glass and steel greenhouse. The header house included offices, lab space, meeting rooms as well as equipment rooms to support the greenhouse functions. The greenhouse consisted of seven individual compartments to facilitate various breeding programs and disease resistance trials. At the start of the design process, the design team and the owner decided to prefabricate the two buildings off - site in a controlled environment to improve the quality of work, Building InformationModeling

reduce on - site waste, and accelerate the project schedule. The architect (local) initially defined the geometry of the building, our mechanical and electrical teams defined the spatial requirements for the building services, and our structural team confirmed the sizes of the structural panels and members. The building was modeled with Autodesk Revit to Level of Development (LOD) 350 to facilitate detailed coordination and clash detection. Autodesk Navisworks was used for the model coordination.

Greenhouse IFC Model from Supplier overlaid with the design Revit model.

Header House IFC Model from Supplier overlaid with the design Revit model.

During the design process, the suppliers for the header house and the greenhouse provided design input. The header house supplier was located in Germany and the greenhouse supplier was located in the Netherlands. Each supplier developed their fabrication models to a minimum Level of Development (LOD) 400. Since the suppliers were not using Revit software, the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) format was used to exchange models. IFC is an Open BIM format, developed by buildingSMART International. Both AE and the Architect imported the supplier ’ s IFC models into the design team ’ s respective Revit models to check openings and coordinate service penetrations through the structural wall and roof panels. Wherever conflicts existed, the suppliers adjusted their models to address.

Additional images: HERE

Esaly Wu

Eunice Fang

For additional information, please contact:

Structural Engineer

Building Structural Technologist

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NEWSLETTER VOLUME 1: ISSUE 2 – DECEMBER 2020 TER VOLUME 2: I SUE 1 – MARCH 2021

Plant 3D: The Importance of Regular Maintenance

Those of you that own a vehicle can appreciate the importance of regular maintenance and the impact of that maintenance on the life of the vehicle. Plant 3D projects are similar— in that occasional crashes due to errors in its database or loss of internet connection can occur. However, with regularly scheduled maintenance and Plant 3D projects can be kept healthy and reliable. The Plant 3D Technical Advisory Council (TAC) developed the following documents to guide you through weekly maintenance activities to prevent issues, as well as what to do to recover corrupted Plant 3D projects.

Plant 3D Project Maintenance

Building InformationModeling

Regular scheduled maintenance is the best way to keep your Plant 3D project running properly.

To keep our projects running efficiently, follow this 7 step process:

1. Clean your project

2. Repair orphaned fasteners

3. Run a project audit

4. Compress project data

5. Run an AutoCAD audit

6. Turn off AutoCAD recovery

7. Clean out temporary files

CLICK HERE to view the detailed 7 step process.

We recommend you run these steps weekly to maintain your project health.

Repairing a Corrupt Project Encountering Plant 3D errors and warnings can be disturbing, however when you open your project and witness corrupted geometry, it ’ s even worse! If your Plant 3D model is corrupted, it ’ s important to follow the proper steps to recover the model. Good News! The Plant 3D TAC has developed a workflow for Repairing Corrupt Project. Before attempting to fix the project yourself, read through the workflow (in the link below) to easily guide you through recovering your broken project and get it back up and running.

To view the workflow: Click Here

If you have any questions pertaining to the content within this article, please contact: Stuart Miller, Plant 3DChampion

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NEWSLETTER VOLUME 1: ISSUE 2 – DECEMBER 2020 TER VOLUME 2: I SUE 1 – MARCH 2021

Civil 3D: Using BIM for Conceptual Design Reports and Meetings

Two City of Calgary projects:

McKenzie Sanitary Siphon , and

• 10 th Street Community Drainage Improvements

recently leveraged BIM software to effectively generate 3D views depicting project pipe routes and structures. The 3D views assisted our client with visualizing existing/proposed pipe routes and structures prior to beginning the detailed design phase. The models were developed using Autodesk Civil 3D (Alvin Chan) and Autodesk Revit (Victor Yin) in order to produce the 3D views. Each project included multiple alignment options with different configurations for the tie - in structures. We did this to assist the client with visualizing several 3D model options, rather than creating numerous plan - profile design drawings. Once the preferred design option was identified, the 3Dmodel(s) were further developed and used for to produce detail design drawings. Building InformationModeling

Using BIM software provided the following advantages:

• Development of 3D model views with minimal effort;

• Saved project and minimized rework, by postponing drawing production efforts until the design decisions were finalized; and

• Assisted our client and designers gain a holistic understanding of the project.

Views were developed using the following C3D settings:

Set the Viewport to an “ Isometric View ”

Set the Shade Plot to “ Conceptual ”

• Created annotation in paper space as required.

If you have any questions pertaining to the content within this article, please contact: Alvin Chan, Alberta South Civil 3D Technical Advisory Council Member

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NEWSLETTER VOLUME 1: ISSUE 2 – DECEMBER 2020 TER VOLUME 2: I SUE 1 – MARCH 2021

Civil 3D: Using the Data Shortcuts Editor

Civil 3D Productivity Tip

The Data Shortcuts Editor is a stand - alone application that is available with the install of Civil 3D that can be used to efficiently and accurately edit multiple data shortcuts. Scenarios where Civil 3D users would require the use of the Data Shortcut Editor to relink or replace existing data shortcuts could include changes to the Civil 3D objects:

Name

File location

Source file

For more information on this Civil 3D Productivity Tip, HERE.

Building InformationModeling

If you have any questions pertaining to the content within this article, please contact: Alvin Chan, Alberta South Civil 3D Technical Advisory Council Member

Getting to Know the Niagara on the Lake Office

41 staff representing the following groups/disciplines:

Bridges and Structures

Civil Infrastructure

Municipal Infrastructure

Transportation (MTO)

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NEWSLETTER VOLUME 1: ISSUE 2 – DECEMBER 2020 TER VOLUME 2: I SUE 1 – MARCH 2021

Revit: CTC BIMProject Suite—Quick Select Tool

Introduction: Quick Select Tool enables the selection of specific elements through filtering by specific categories or parameter values. The elements that match the filter criteria can either be added to, removed from or replace the currently selected elements. In some cases, it may be beneficial to run through the Quick Select interface more than once to refine selection results.

The Quick Select interface will appear:

Click on the “ Quick Select ” button which is under Free Tools:

Building InformationModeling

Selection Elements: The first step in using Quick Select is to decide how to apply the filter. Quick Select has the ability to build a new selection, add to an existing selection, remove items from an existing selection, or replace the current selection altogether. The three options in the “ Apply Filter To ” dropdown are listed below and determine which elements will be considered in the selection set:

• Project – All elements in the current Revit project

• Active View – Only elements in the current Revit view

• Current Selection – Only elements in the current selection

In the example (on the right) a new selection will be built using the “ Project ” option. The next step is to decide how to build the selection filter. Quick Select has the ability to utilize an existing ViewFilter or to build a filter by Category.

Continued...

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NEWSLETTER VOLUME 1: ISSUE 2 – DECEMBER 2020 TER VOLUME 2: I SUE 1 – MARCH 2021

Continued...

In the following example, the Category option is used and the “ Air Terminal ” Category has been selected.

At this point, clicking “ Update Selection Set ” would add all the Air Terminals in the project to the selection set, however the filter can be further refined using the parameter filters. In this example, the “ Airflow ” parameter will be used to only add Air Terminals with a certain Parameter Value.

Building InformationModeling

Once the Quick Selected settings have been configured click the “ Update selection set ” button to add the elements that fall under the Category to the list.

The “ Selection Set ” windowwill be updated to reflect the results of the selection. In this case, the Air Terminals with Airflow Value 300 L/s are selected in the entire Project. The Air Terminal category has been expanded to show the different families and howmany instances of each exist. The tree view of the selection set can be used to further refine the selection, see below.

Philosophy of Use: It may be desirable to refine a selection with more granularity than can be achieved by a single filter in Quick Select interface or by using Select All Instances in a Viewor in a Project . If additional filtering is needed, adjust the filter as many times as needed, each time applying the changes to the selection set until the desired elements are selected . Watch Video HERE.

If you have any questions pertaining to the content within this article, please contact: Helen Leblanc, Alberta North Regional BIMManager

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NEWSLETTER VOLUME 1: ISSUE 2 – DECEMBER 2020 TER VOLUME 2: I SUE 1 – MARCH 2021

Dynamo for Revit: Start - up Instructions

Dynamo is an extension for visual programming that can help automate tedious tasks in Revit and Civil 3D. The Dynamo production page now features an article outlining the steps needed to ensure users have the proper set - up for a positive experience when running AE vetted scripts usingDynamo in Revit.

Dynamo is normally installed with Revit, but the version is not consistent among Revit versions. This means that while a script may run successfully in Revit 2020, it may fail on Revit 2018. To resolve this, there is a customized download available through Software Center, which harmonizes the Dynamo version for Revit 2018 - 2020. In addition, it configures Dynamo to have all the proper “ packages ” or extensions available, so that T - drive Dynamo scripts run consistently on user ’ s machines.

Building InformationModeling

Reality Capture: Autodesk ReCap Mobile Replaced

The Reality Capture Technical Advisory Council (TAC) is excited to introduce Leica Cyclone for BLK360. These applications greatly enhance the functionality of AE ’ s BLK360 both in the field and in the office...

• Cyclone Field 360 controls the BLK360 to ensure scan collection is complete.

• Cyclone Register for BLK360 provides enhanced registration tools and viewing capabilities.

Introducing Cyclone Field 360 Serves as a controller for the BLK360 and gives enhanced registration tools and viewing capabilities to help ensure the scan collection is complete.

• Finalizes the registration of point clouds with multi - link registration.

Tools for point cloud cleanup.

• Analytics such as thermal image measurement.

PRODUCTION PULSE

NEWSLETTER VOLUME 2: ISSUE 1 – MARCH 2021

How ToWrite a Great Proposal?

• How quickly can the evaluator find what they need to prove RFP compliance?Whenever possible, match your Table of Content to the evaluation criteria. Note: If you are not compliant with every requirement, your proposal may not even get evaluated (when there are lots of proposals submitted, the easiest way to get out of reading them all is to disqualify as many as possible based on non - compliance). • Write to hit all the points of the evaluation criteria (and preferably spend more time on criteria that are worth more). Inversely, no matter how important you think something is, if it ’ s not matched to the evaluation criteria, it usually won ’ t earn you any points. • Use the terminology in the client evaluation criteria as closely as possible. Reuse client keywords throughout your proposal. Note: If your proposal is merely compliant then you will be competing solely on price and/or vulnerable to someone with a better proposal. • Be specific not generic; e.g. If you talk about risk management, talk about specific risks to the project. If you have access to past reports, explain howwhat you have learned will impact your work plan. • Talk to them about what matters the most (e.g. schedule, innovation, etc.) and why we are better suited to help them and how. What they really want may or may not actually be found in the RFP. If you don ’ t have previous intel, call the client to try to find out more. The worst that can happen is that they won ’ t want to talk (their response can be an indicator). • Check if you appear self - involved (i.e. If every sentence starts with your company ’ s name, there ’ s a good chance that you have written about yourself and not about what matters to the evaluator). • It is not enough to just state your qualifications or write your methodology; you need to explain what matters about that and how the customer will benefit. • Think about how you will present the information before writing (tables, graphics, etc.). • Is it merely compliant? Any serious competitors will also be compliant.

Obviously Compliant

Proposal Production

Easy to Score and Read

Tells a Story

It ’ s About the Client

• Write and read every sentence with the SoWhat? Who cares? filter in mind.

• Avoid platitudes: Don ’ t waste space writing things that anyone can say (e.g. we have a great team).

SO WHAT?

• Avoid unsubstantiated claims. If you say “ unique ”, you also must PROVE IT (is it number of projects, truly unique specialty that we bring, etc.) and always say why it matters and how it will help fix the client ’ s problem (e.g. our extensive knowledge of X will allow us to quickly advance schedule by skipping steps x and y).

(Who cares?)

Source: http://proplibrary.com

Proposal DIG contacts:

Maureen Church

Oksana Bratok

Proposal DIG Chair

Proposal DIG Co - Chair

Bill Moore, Technical Services Production Manager

Chad Franklin, Corporate CAD Coordinator

Chad Strecker, Corporate BIM Coordinator

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