Bim Facility AG

Organisations on the growth trajectory will have to make pit stops to revamp their assets, be it physical or digital. While digitalisation is addressing the digital revamp, it is also helping in rebuilding physical assets to meet the organisation’s growing needs. Enter digital twins. Like the name, a digital twin is a digital replica of a physical asset, but creating a near perfect twin has been a dream for organisations. Some companies promise to create digital twins with accurate measurements, but only a few have come closer to delivering it. One such company is BIM Facility AG, which develops and maintains digital twins of its clients’ infrastructure connected to other client systems like Facility Management System or SAP, among others.

A subsidiary of Geoterra Group, an engineering and surveying company, BIM Facility is an asset mapping company that provides quality data to clients, helping them build an accurate MEP model. The company collects data from existing assets, buildings and infrastructures to infuse trust in the data for better decision making, thereby improving asset value and saving operational costs for its clients. “We have a lot of scanners, drones, and experience in measuring and producing good quality models with the right data in it,” says Matthias Wasem, Managing Partner, BIM Facility.

“We can scan, measure, do the models out of the brownfield to have good data that the client can connect with the model systems.” This crucial yet actual data is then made available at the fingertips, which will further help plan the change.

Suppose a factory owner wants to rebuild or develop parts of their assets to increase revenue. The question is whether the original plan made years ago can be trusted and how soon the factory can start production to realise the desired growth in revenue. The more important question is whether the rebuilding or development is viable or not. BIM Facility AG will approach such a potential client with a consulting mindset at the initial levels by talking with the higher management and understanding their needs and strategies to attain the objective. Information such as the biggest pain points and monetary losses will be gathered, based on which a proposal for a digital twin shall be furnished. A business case of the digital twin is presented to the client to help them trust the data thus generated.

Thereafter, the digital twin is created, and clients can start to witness ROI during each phase, right from planning to construction and maintenance. One such client was one of the biggest banks in Switzerland that wished to reconstruct its massive headquarters. To do so, the bank needed the actual dimensions of the office. The old building plans were not trustworthy, so the bank asked the construction company to prepare individual plans by MEP departments and then compare to find the inaccuracy. However, when the variations among plans were uncertain, the bank called BIM Facility for its services. The company provided an extended BIM model for everybody, and their model fared well with all the other models, and variation was from 10 centimetres to 1 meter. The twin created by the company represented the correct geometry, giving room for the bank to plan better. Regular data capturing enhances the model where if the bank plans to demolish a section or upgrade as per the new ESG norms or follow sustainable standards, they will have all the necessary information.