Spec Finish

www.thefis.org 15 Feature to exchange and make use of information) and a lack of standardisation means that contractors are often left reinventing solutions to fit in with different digital visions and strategies adopted by clients, architects or main contractors. This clearly demonstrates the need for an informed supply chain to support effective and genuine collaboration. Language behind the technology FIS created the Digital Spine to explain the language behind the technology that is evolving. It will support the FIS community so that we can all work as a supply chain to offer integrated solutions to clients. FIS wanted to contextualise tools against the core areas of business operation where they have the potential to support change. Stage One focused on two key questions: 1. ‘What is it?’ and 2. ‘How is it used?’ But this is an ever evolving tool and we are now working on Stage Two to extend definitions, add new technologies and enrich with examples of specific tools that are being used and supporting case studies. The ambitious Stage Three will map connectivity and look at interoperability, it will also try to support a more standardised approach. We can’t do this alone and we are grateful to all the members who have supported the development to this point, and encourage all users to send us questions and note omissions to support development from this point onwards. We are now to be part of the BIM Alliance, which supports the very necessary wider conversation. Mark Norton, Group BIMDirector, ISG and Chair of the FIS Digital ConstructionWorking Group, said: “The Digital Spine has been kept simple and aligns to genuine problems without getting unnecessarily caught up in the technology, and the tool will evolve as new innovation emerges. We’ll look at where the biggest impact is and how we can ensure the FIS community is pulling together, aware of opportunity, alert to the challenges and influences the way that some of these tools are emerging to support standardisation.” The digital spine is here www.thefis.org/ knowledge-hub/digital-toolkit/digital-spine Software supporting standardisation Barry Chapman is Director of Chalkstring, a UK provider of construction cost management software for specialist subcontractors. We asked him to tell us how he sees digital technology helping to connect the industry, support standardisation, improve productivity and collaboration and hopefully, eliminate misinterpretation of client’s, architects or main contractors demands or instructions. He said: “From my 20+ years of helping construction contractors adopt digital technology, it’s clear that the associated benefits can be enormous. Just ask any structural steelwork fabricator about digital transformation and they will wax lyrical about their physical 3D BIMmodels, where a single, central set of intelligent data drives much greater productivity, enhances collaboration with the design team, and results in fewer costly issues onsite. “Of course, the same core efficiency benefits exist for any construction trade looking to embrace digital tools. Take interior fitout contractors for example, where a fragmentedmix of Excel worksheets and manual processes have traditionally been used tomanage projects of increasing complexity, subject to continual change andmany other challenges. Using such a disjointed array of uncontrolled data silos leads to highly inefficient working, risk of human error, and a lack of real-time project insight. “By comparison an integrated project cost management system, such as Chalkstring, solves many key industry pain points. Having a single accessible set of project financial information on the cloud means that anybody connected to the project can instantly access live data remotely and collaborate more effectively as a result, as the impact of every variation cascades immediately across the project and real- time data is shared effortlessly. “Automation of tedious and repetitive processes, such as creating supplier purchase orders or applications for payment, greatly improves business productivity and eliminates risk of manual errors. And by embedding digital technologies, business owners can be confident that defined workflows are followed, and standardised documents are used consistently across all projects, leading to a far more streamlined, predictable and profitable business.” www.chalkstring.com Back office efficiency A critical part of any business (in any sector) is invoicing and collecting payments. It is a specialist job requiring accuracy and tenacity and without an efficient system, the business collapses. No ifs, no buts. Angus McAlpine, is Head of Partnerships at Payapps, cloud-based construction software that allows quick and easy approval of standardised payment applications created by a supply chain. He reminded us that when we consider digitalisation of construction, we often think of efficiency benefits onsite, and overlook how technology can benefit the vital back office function. He said: “Finance is one back office function that can be made significantly Five trends will shape construction and capital projects