BIM 360 Docs

[welchy78]

I'm looking for a platform to share information from our models, shop drawings, construction documents, and other various project related info with our field personnel. Most of our Foreman have laptops and Ipad. We have been using a combination of Dropbox and Bluebeam Studio to share files. It's worked out okay so far but I would really like one source for them to access the files. BIM 360 Docs seems pretty interesting and may offer what we are looking for. Has anyone been using it and what do you think? I'm also starting my first Fabrication project in Revit and it looks like it is made more for the Revit user. Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks

[Doug Smith]

I am a bit surprised that there are no responses yet to your question. We are also looking into DOCS as the "one stop shop" for all project related data. We have been working with AUTODESK for a while to get a one stop shop for all information, that everyone on a project could access for their task specific needs. AUTODESK owned, through acquisition, many of the pieces to make this work. It also makes allot of sense that we stick with a single vendor for all of our design software, hoping that this direct connection would open new paths for data transfer. Less moving parts.
We are still not using DOCS as there are a few holes that we want filled before we dive in.
When/If they get our requests incorporated, we will have a fantastic tool to bring everyone together, on the same page, for all project related information.

[Admin]

It certainly looks impressive and you can always take the free (although limited) trial version for the duration of a single project.

https://bim360.autodesk.com/bim-360-docs

In the past I have experienced project management packages that have always been managed by the main contractor and it was a requirement that all parties involved in the contract (architect, structural engineer, designer, sub-contractors, etc.) made use of it, ensuring the latest information was visible to all involved.

If you use this solely for in-house project management it would, of course, require that somebody ensured that all relevant documentation received from other sources (revised design, architect's plans, etc.) be incorporated into your works and uploaded to the docs.
People can only work to the latest information if they have access to it so it becomes an important (and on a large project time consuming) role keeping documentation current.

[Josh Granger]

We use BlueBeam. We upload our drawings to their cloud, and the field workers access them with iPads. It has great linking and batching capabilities and seems to work very well.

[welchy78]

Doug - We had a quick web meeting showing the functionality of BIM Docs yesterday. I'm wondering what the issues are that you are waiting for Autodesk to implement. We didn't like that you can't view files offline on a PC; you could only do it with the app. Not everyone in our office is going to have access to Docs. It would be nice if you could sync it to a PC.

[dbanker]

We currently use BIM 360 Docs and really like it. There is also a BIM 360 integrator that allows you to sync files to the BIM 360 site from your PC: BIM 360 Desktop Connector. We're now looking into BIM 360 Glue and Build (formerly Field) to see if that is another tool in our toolbox to use along with Docs. I recommend Docs.

Something to think about: Autodesk just agreed to purchase PlanGrid so that may be worth holding out to see what happens with that. PlanGrid and Procore were options for us but we went with Docs.

[Kenny123]

Bringing this subject up again.  Is anyone out there using BIM 360 successfully??? I want to get our PM’s, Shop, Field, and Detailing all on one cloud platform to share information.  I’m in the process of setting up a test project, but figured I’d ask here for any positive and negatives of BIM 360.......

[cadbyken]

Last place I was at, the use of 360 was had been used at several branches.  I thought it was a good platform but preferred the markup tools in Bluebeam due to ease of use.  Also, not a fan of having all my eggs in the AutoDesk basket.

They are making continual improvements though but again, not as robust as Bluebeam.

[Darren Young]

If you're using BIM360 Design (formerly C4R), it just makes sense...publishing can be scheduled and your documents are already in there.

That being said, PlanGrid is Autodesk's official vehicle for field distribution. There's obviously overlap in the products and they'll be slowly merging together over time I suspect. For example, you can manage RFI's in PlanGrid as well as BIM360. So what to choose?

Ideally you pick the best one based on your needs...Autodesk even has a tool not for syncing the data between BIM360 and Plangrid.

While I'm no fan of a lot of Autodesk's antics, I'm not worried about all my eggs in one basket so to speak. The more you standardize and consolidate your tech stack the better IMO. All our eggs are in the Microsoft basket and we're much better for it. Autodesk has some catching up to do but they're on a similar path....just going to fleece you for $$ as they do it. But so does everyone else...like Procor.

[Kenny123]

Having everyone in BIM 360 and not being in separate software silos is a win win in my book.  Our detailers post the model and the field, PM's, and shop have access to everything. No servers, VPN's, difficult folder structures, just the information they want.  Also having quick access to RFI's instead of an excel sheet and a bunch of emails to go through should cut out a lot of time.   

We have Plangrid now, but I'm trying to eliminate extra steps and syncing of software programs.

I will be using BIM 360 Design (Docs and Worksharing) and BIM 360 Build (Project Management for RFI's). 

Going to do a test project over the next few weeks to see how it goes.

[Darren Young]

PlanGrid is going to be Autodesk's "GoTo" for field. There's certainly overlap and you could likely pick one or the other but each has their strengths and weaknesses.

Autodesk does leverage a 3rd party to do an integration between BIM360 and Plangrid. In fact, their whole "construction Cloud" is just a fancy marketing name for all the crap they bought that doesn't communicate after years of the "BIM360/Forge Single Source of Truth" messages. This integration app is really how they're tying it all together.

[cnash]

I know I'm digging up an old thread here....
But I am evaluating different solutions now. We recently got Procore but it has yet to be fully implemented and now I am exploring Autodesk Build.
Anyone have any feedback on what they are using in this arena?