About Autodesk Construction Cloud deployments worldwide | Case Studies
Founded in 1935, Khansaheb is one of the leading construction and facilities management companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Throughout its 85-year journey, the company has played a vital role in the development of the UAE and has delivered a number of the country’s most iconic projects.
Outdated document management methods resulted in operational inefficiencies and wasted man-hours. With the implementation of Autodesk Build in Autodesk Construction Cloud™, Khansaheb has reduced the time spent on procured management by 60%.
Operational inefficiencies with traditional reporting methods
With its heritage and longevity, Khansaheb has taken a traditional approach to construction processes, keen to embrace the benefits of digitisation for the business and customers. In 2018, Eoin Nield joined as the company’s first BIM manager, supporting the transition from traditional CAD design to integrated delivery methods. The company relied heavily on traditional [paper-based] processes for site management, which made it difficult to ensure everyone was working on the right document at the right time.
The issue management process became the first opportunity for streamlining; site managers spent much of their time trying to get subcontractors on the phone in the field for updates. Eoin and the management team were keen to establish a shared data environment to connect the business and support the jobsite processes. In June 2020, the Khansaheb team introduced Autodesk Build to connect teams, workflows and data with a unified ecosystem.
“We wanted the reliability of a unified platform – and the confidence that our information is in one place.”
– Eoin Nield, BIM Manager
Facilitating seamless coordination and communication
Khansaheb decided to work with Accienta – an Autodesk partner – to support the Autodesk Build implementation. “It was invaluable to have an independent person to review our workflows and lead the initial discussions; the specialists could re-evaluate the flows without bias,” explains Eoin. Khansaheb ran an initial six-month proof-of-concept programme to implement the solution. Whilst the team introduced the software on a challenging construction project with a tight deadline, working with partner Autodesk helped accelerate the process – even amidst the restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Khansaheb Champions team also helped the rapid onboarding of Autodesk Build and encouraged colleagues to realise the benefits. Autodesk Build helps connect design, engineering and site teams across the company and supports communication with subcontractors on site. Everyone can access the information they need when they need it and have confidence that data is accurate and on time. The issue management module has been particularly valuable to Khansaheb.
“It’s beneficial for tracking workflows,” explains Eoin. “We found it very useful in addressing subcontractor and supply chain queries to resolve issues faster.”
The team has greater confidence that further action will be taken. “Once assigned to the person in charge, we make sure the inspection has reached the right person,” notes one of Khansaheb’s champions. “The document controllers are not required to make splimentary efforts to find out the status of actions.”
Save time and eliminate stress by analysing information you trust
For Eoin, the biggest benefit of introducing Autodesk Build is reliability.
“Having a unified platform means we can trust that everyone has access to up-to-date information. We reduce stress – being able to all focus on our real priorities.”
The right person now manages the right information. The solution has also delivered significant time savings. Eoin estimates that his team has reduced the time spent on administration by 60%. Engineers spend less time chasing issues; previously, 10-15% of an engineer’s time was spent contacting subcontractors for updates. With Autodesk Build, it’s possible to assign responsibility and due dates for individual fixes.
Very interestingly, the introduction of Autodesk Build has helped change people’s attitudes towards technology.
“People are much more receptive to other technologies, such as using laser scanning on site. The highlight was seeing the energy, acceptance and enthusiasm from the team on site,” says Eoin.
The Khansaheb team is excited at the prospect of continually improving access to the data shared by team members spread across the region for multiple projects.
Autodesk partner training matters
Deployment experience in construction projects at different levels of complexity, in multiple countries, the use of high-performance tools and a team of engineers skilled in every step from design to tracking construction behaviour over time matters. As an Autodesk Gold Partner, Graphein differentiates itself from other partners through the huge portfolio of projects successfully completed, quickly and with maximum accuracy and efficiency, the analysis, consulting and training skills they can offer to each business partner.