i am trying to put together a proposal to convince upper management the value of doing all projects in 3D. i have been looking on the web for articles and have not had much success.
i am having a hard time putting my ideas down in writing and am also looking for some data that shows savings on both dollars and time.
also the short term and long term benefits of 3D.
any help would be greatly appreciated.
Look into your project archives for those which required field modifications or had cost problems due to clashing objects, change in operations plans ("no way an operator is going to squeeze through that opening!"), or somebody really &*#$'d up a purchase order (heard of one where several hundred meters of SS pipe arrived on site where it wasn't called for). Clash detection and data generation can save a lot of money through planning and estimating where traditional 2D work won't catch it until its built.
Something else to consider is doing a pair of presentations for upper management - you know, the people who are more management than technically knowledgeable. First, take the tradtional 2D deliverables (GA's, isometrics, P&IDs) and layout the project for them until they understand what is going out to the field. Well, at least try to - they may have trouble mentally converting a stack of 50 +/- plan/elevation drawings. Then, fire up Navisworks and walk them through the 3D model so they can actually *see* whats there.
Don't forget to cover the downside or downplay the disadvantages of 3D software as well - software costs more, requires more support, users must be aware of what they are doing/additional training requirements, version/upgrade/compatibility issues. Balanced analysis is almost always better received than strictly positive reviews.
As stated above.
Clients also LOVE to see the 3d drawings. being able to walk people through with an avatar is wonderful.
I like to think/say we don't build anything in 2d, why draw in 2d. It is the way things will go, software still has a long ways to go, but it's doing a decient job.