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BIM 360 Field Integration Now Available

When members of our team started Vela Systems in 2005, there were very few applications useful to field workers in construction.  Now, we might have the opposite problem; contractors I talk to often complain about “app fatigue.” With such a range of software and hardware available, it’s exhausting for teams to weed out which tools are best for what they actually need -- never mind trying to stay on the cutting edge.

Photo and video management is a challenge across all sectors, but it hits the AEC industry especially hard. According to McKinsey’s 2016 report “Imagining construction’s digital future,” construction is one of the slowest industries to adapt technology. The result? “Due to lack of digitization, information is delayed and may not be universal... [team members] often work from different versions of reality,” hurting productivity and returns. And efforts to go digital are often still held back by a lack of “data freedom,” an idea championed by leading industry consultants like Nathan Wood, who argues that teams need data that can adapt across systems and platforms in order to work efficiently.

At Newmetrix, our “integration-first” approach tries to answer this need for flexibility. The app is designed to meet your data where it’s already at, and create value from there; no new field processes or equipment, no training, and no more “app fatigue”. And we’re happy to announce our latest release includes a brand-new integration with Autodesk’s BIM 360 Field (formerly a Vela Systems product - full circle!)

Smartvid.io safety monitoring

Here’s a quick rundown of how it works:

  • BIM 360 Field users can sign up for a Newmetrix trial here. Once you’re in, set up an integration at the project level by entering your BIM 360 Field login and choosing what content to integrate with. And that’s it -- it takes less than 90 seconds to set up!
  • Your BIM 360 Field photos automatically flow into Newmetrix and become searchable via image recognition, thanks to our internal engine “Vinnie”.
  • All synced photos are organized into weekly views and can be shared with others in your organization, both individually and as groups of pictures.

So who needs this? Automatic visual analysis has both immediate practical uses, and the potential to improve a wide range of workflows. Our users include teams in safety, operations, marketing, and IT. Have you ever had to pore over your BIM 360 Field library, looking for a picture needed for a claim? How could automatic detection of safety hazards in site photos help elevate your company’s risk management?

We think one of our new users explains it best:

We’re excited to be able to automatically pull out photos from BIM 360 Field and use Newmetrix’s tagging to streamline how we find and use field imagery. From safety, to marketing, to operations, we have a lot of interest in field photos across the company.”  

--Joshua Lannen, QA/QC Manager, BOND Brothers

Sign up for the BIM 360 Field integration to reduce symptoms of app fatigue, and find the data you need in the content you already have. And watch the blog for more integrations coming VERY soon!

Start your BIM 360 Field Trial >



Written by Josh Kanner

Josh Kanner has been involved in enterprise-focused software startups since 2000 with a focus in the AEC (architecture, engineering and construction) industry since 2005.

Most recently he was co-founder of Vela Systems, a pioneer in the use of web and tablet workflows for construction and capital projects. There he led the company’s product, marketing, and business development functions. Vela Systems grew from bootstrapped beginnings to include over 50% of the ENR Top Contractors as customers and deployments all over the globe. The company was successfully acquired by Autodesk in 2012 and has been rebranded as BIM 360 Field.

Prior to founding Vela Systems, Josh was responsible for product management and strategy at Emptoris (now part of IBM), a web-based strategic sourcing software company with customers including Motorola, GlaxoSmithKline, Bank of America, and American Express.

Kanner graduated from Brown University and earned an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. He still gets excited to put on a hard hat and walk a job.

View more posts by Josh Kanner.

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