Convergence in Construction: What’s next for Autodesk Construction Cloud

Autodesk University 2020 launched on November 17th with multiple product announcements, vision statements, hundreds of robust pieces of learning content, and much more. But one theme, in particular, was very clear throughout the conference - Autodesk wants to help you Reimagine Possible and gain that competitive edge. There is no time like the present to invest in the Autodesk tools that will get you there because COVID-19's impact has changed the way we work forever. The shift to a more digital, connected, and virtual future is calling on you to unleash innovations that deliver new benefits, experiences, and value.

But how exactly are we going to create the New Possible? By ushering in the Era of Convergence. Convergence is the next stage of digitization, leading to the digital blending of previously separate technologies, processes, and digital and physical assets; the reshaping of industry structures and markets; and entirely new combinations of products, services, and experiences.

To help show you the true value of Convergence, we are posting a blog series on Convergence in your Industry. Start off by reading Convergence with Forge as our cloud platform underpins much of what can be done for each industry. Then below you will find pieces of Construction on-demand AU content that teach you more about this phenomenon and show how you and your industry can capitalize on Convergence as an opportunity for innovation and growth.

Construction and Convergence

Forge for Construction

Connected Construction is a revolution that is using Convergence to take our "new normal" of remote working and cloud collaboration into hyperdrive. In the Forge for Construction program at Autodesk University, Allison Scott, Director of Construction Thought Leadership, and Ron Locklin, Director of Global Business Strategy and Marketing for Forge, discuss how Forge is helping businesses adapt and make giant leaps forward in solving industry challenges that have been as hard to topple as the buildings you build. You hear from BamCore about how they have changed the uncoordinated, unautomated, old school way of building into an industrialized construction workflow. The benefits proceeded to overflow as they tell us how from design to manufacturing to construction, the Forge platform connects every part of a once siloed workflow and facilitates better collaboration, faster installation, clash reduction, and mass customization, among other benefits. HoloBuilder shares their story of bringing the job site to life with a virtual tool that allows you to easily capture, view, and control project progress with 360-degree photos from anywhere. This results in remote site access, payment and invoice verification, solid as-built documentation for closeout, better team collaboration, and more. AECOM addresses their challenges of quality and coordination on their projects by using technology and Forge to actually construct the project twice – once virtually and the second physically. This allows them to solve issues before they arise in the field (which are more costly to resolve).

Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Keynote

In the AEC Keynote, Nicolas Mangon, Vice President AEC Strategy & Marketing at Autodesk, said “Digital transformation has gone from a nice-to-have to a must-have across every phase of design and construction." And Autodesk certainly has big plans to capitalize on the new ways of making that enable this digital transformation to be accelerated. To name a few of the keynote highlights:

Nicolas Mangon, Vice President AEC Strategy & Marketing at Autodesk, highlighted the acquisition of Spacemaker.
Leona Frank, Senior Industry Marketing Manager for Infrastructure at Autodesk, introduced Autodesk BIM Collaborate.
Vanessa Bertollini, Sr. Industry Marketing Manager – AEC Thought Leadership at Autodesk, introduced Autodesk Tandem, bringing digital twin to BIM.
Jim Lynch, Vice President & General Manager, Autodesk Construction Solutions at Autodesk, announced three new products for Autodesk Construction Cloud built on a unified platform and common data environment – Autodesk Build, Autodesk Quantify, and Autodesk BIM Collaborate.
Amy Marks, Head of Industrialized Construction Strategy and Evangelism at Autodesk, shared more about Autodesk’s strategy and vision for industrialized construction.
Digitized workflows enabled the teams building the Bangalore Airport to go to remote site management overnight when the lockdown started.
Federating access to project data and models enabled Norconsult to reduce the production of drawings by 97%.
BIM-based processes in DfMA enabled Bryden Wood to lower embodied carbon by 19% and reduce labor by 35%.

To read more about the top construction news and how all the announcements from the AEC Keynote highlights Convergence, check out this blog.

What's Next with Autodesk Construction Cloud

In the video What's Next with Autodesk Construction Cloud, Sameer Merchant, Associate VP of Product Development, states, "The new possible is seamless collaboration, powerful tools that are simple to use, easy to configure, and loved by teams. The new possible is connected workflows, a single source of project truth where data does not get lost between different workflows beginning in design and reaching all the way into operations and maintenance. The new possible is predictive insights, insights that drive better decisions within each project, and across the portfolio." Tune in to hear him, Steve Manning, and Ilai Rotbaein, Senior Directors, Product Development, and Alexa Rhoades, Group Product Manager, expand on how the new suite of products joining Autodesk Construction Cloud (Autodesk Build, Quantify, Docs, and BIM Collaborate), other product offerings, and partnerships help to bring the era of Convergence to life. You'll also hear testimony from customers Herrero Builders and Dome Construction.

Be sure to watch the above Autodesk University 2020 programs to get a well-rounded idea of just how impactful Convergence can be to you, your team, and your industry. And check out the other blogs in this series to find inspiration from other industries: