Caught this interesting presentation by Jon Mirstchin talking about using Excel in conjunction with a IFC reader to author COBie spreadsheets. Towards the end, he starts to talk about taking the IFC system information from a duct run and doing some calculation to generate a running 'installation sequence' number that would be tagged onto the duct elements. I can see this being a very big productivity booster on site... especially when the associated durations for each task can be calculated on the fly and different alternatives tested. ConstructSim is already geared to a 'Workface planning' workflow where the user volume selects a bunch of MEP elements to produce a BOM for ordering. The natural progression would be to use PlantWise or BRCM's autorouter tools to drill down to the next level and determine the optimum installation sequence of each MEP element. PlantWise is especially interesting as it is based on a rules-based engine that already has all that vicinity logic figured out. As usual, Bentley has all the tools with part of the solution available... In any case, one of the nice things that PlantWise must have are some tools that can quickly calculate distances / relationships between elements. It would be great if this can be called as Named Expressions in Mstn's Tables. Simplified workflow: 1. Extract IFC or vertical's duct run part number. 2. Sort for type of fittings: duct segments, junctions, damper, terminals, insulation, hangers etc. 3. Assign installation sequence numbers based on some simplified rules using PlantWise's rules-based tools. 4. Save sequence numbers to Mstn's Tables. 5. Use Mstn Item Types highlighting etc tools to allow user to 'walk through' the proposed sequencing for editing. Extra credit workflow: 1. Extract whole MEP installation (ducts, pipes, cable trays etc) part numbers 2. Sort for type of fittings 3. Sort for spatial relationships to structure (what is nearest to structural soffit etc) using PlantWise tools. 4. Sort for spatial relationships between MEP runs (installation access requirements-heavy equipment need more access, water pipes above electrical OK?, what needs more frequent access? etc etc) 5. Test some alternative arrangements using KBE rules (PlantWise) or generative algorithms (GC-Darwin) incorporating duration (MineCycle-style?) 6. Assign installation sequence numbers based on some simplified rules. 7. Save best three sequences as options as an Gant chart for animation using Mstn, ConstructSim or even new boy Synchro. 8. After the user is finished 'walking through' the sequencing and editing / fine tuning, generate and write the sequencing numbers to the individual elements. This would be a great 'Companion' tool for all those Bentley apps that deal with MEP design: OpenBuildings Designer, OpenPlant Modeler, PlantWise, AutoPlant/Pipe, BRCM, Promise, Substation, OpenUtilities and even the civils verticals like SUDA/SUE and WaterCAD etc? I don't think that there is anything on the market that does this... and it would be a clearly demonstrable productivity booster worth paying for. It might even provide an entry point for Bentley products to be used to 'fix' models produced by others.
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