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Webinar: BIM in 2017 for Manufacturers
Manufacturer specific 3D content is becoming increasingly important in the BIM process. This provides both an opportunity and a challenge for manufacturers. Do you have a BIM roadmap for 2017?

During our webinar on Thursday, January 26th, we have discussed how manufacturers can reach MEP engineers by providing quality BIM content. Charles Lekx and Maarten Sonneveld of MEPcontent discussed the role of content in the BIM process in 2017. Watch the recording of the webinar.

With the increasing market demand for accurate 3D-content, BIM is a hot topic at Caleffi. The challenge for this year was: how to provide MEP engineers in whole Europe with accurate content for BIM projects? Caleffi chose MEPcontent as its platform for offering BIM content of its products.

“We were looking for a partner who knows the demands of our customers in BIM” says Walter Bertona, Manager Digital Marketing & Communication at Caleffi. “MEPcontent has, as part of Stabiplan, years of experience in the MEP industry. They know exactly what a MEP engineer needs in terms of content. The choice for MEPcontent was an easy one”.

Strategic BIM partner
Walter Bertona: “MEPcontent proves itself as a strategic partner in BIM. Quality and usability is key to our customers, the MEPcontent team delivered what it promised: outstanding content, easy to use.”

In the past months, content for multiple product groups of the Italian manufacturer has been published on MEPcontent. “The EMCS (Extended MEPcontent Standard) was decisive in our choice for MEPcontent as the go-to platform for our content” says Bertona. “We want to be sure that our customers work with 100% correct data. By making our products EMCS proof, we can guarantee this".

Marnix Leune, Business Process Manager for MEPcontent, guided the content creation process. “Because the EMCS aligns with different BIM norms and standards such as IFC, COBie, VDI 3805 and ETIM, the quality of the content is ensured” says Leune. “By adding information such as article numbers, GTIN, URL and other specific product data, engineers work with products that allow designing and calculating in BIM projects. By enriching the content with trade data, it easy to use this data later on in the design flow”.

Measure is treasure
The success of the BIM content is shown in the statistics. “Looking at the download statistics we see an increasing number of downloads every month. The content is being downloaded all over the world, even in Cambodia”, says Bertona. “We use the statistics as input for our marketing and sales activities. With statistics we can measure the success of a product introduction, but also see if some products need extra marketing efforts”. With this, MEPcontent adds direct value to the international sales and marketing strategy for Caleffi. “We are optimistic looking at the growing number of downloads of our content from the portal. BIM is high on our agenda also in 2017, so we will further extend our BIM content range in the coming year”.

About Caleffi
Manufacturer of high-quality components for heating, plumbing, air conditioning, heat metering and renewables systems, for domestic and industrial plants. The headquarters of Caleffi is in Italy, the manufacturer serves more than 70 countries from 15 sales offices.

Engineers and modellers can now easily design heat systems using new Mitsubishi Electric content.

Revit and IFC files have been published for the entire Ecodan series. Content for this series, consisting out of booth indoor and outdoor units can be downloaded from MEPcontent.com.

About the Mitsubishi Electric Ecodan series
Both energy-saving and safe for the environment, the Mitsubishi Electric ECODAN incorporates a highly efficient heat pump system that captures “the heat in the air”, a renewable energy resource. Equipped with advanced inverter control, meticulous temperature control assures comfortable heating, and its space-saving “All-in-one” indoor unit is easy to install. These energysaving, high comfort and simple installation characteristics have drawn the ECODAN heating system into the spotlight centre stage.

Virtual Reality (VR) appeals to the imagination. Obviously, you can fantasize away about the opportunities it brings. The technology is about to break through both in entertainment and business.

Mixed reality
We are recently introduced with another variant: Mixed Reality. Microsoft launched the Hololens: goggles that aim to blend real world with virtual images, holograms. These allow you experiencing virtual reality right on your desk in your living room, in the office or outside.

But how can the world of construction and technical installation use this technology? We have recently demonstrated a number of possible applications during the SUM (Stabicad User Meeting, watch the video of the demo in Dutch). Just to see with each other where this technology can go and what applications are viable.

Understanding the model
The first application is displaying a 3D model of a plant room. The room's hologram can be put in any physical place wherever you want. For instance, on the floor or on a table. Completely in 3D and scalable in size. This provides great insight into the pipework in relation to the frame construction of the plant room and other technical components. This demonstration shows only geometry, but you can imagine this model to be more intelligent, in terms of providing, for example, product information, feedback, status and planning information. This could simply be a part of construction works meeting where the designs of various disciplines are discussed.

Smart 3D objects
The second application is placing a technical installation product as a hologram in a real room. The Hololens opens the MEPcontent browser and downloads a 3D model of a Remeha cascade setup from MEPcontent.com. This setup can, for example, be placed in a plant room. Here every centimeter counts, so coordination is of great importance. An advantage is that the Hololens supports 'hosting'. You can place the heating system against a wall or, in the case of a floor installation, on the floor. The product models on MEPcontent are exact, which means that you can see actual dimensions of the layout and that all connections are displayed exactly in the right place. This allows you to see if the setup fits in the room or check if it can be connected correctly in advance.

During the maintenance stage
Finally, this technology can also provide a solution to a technical installation product in action, such as a boiler or a pump physically present in the building. The service engineer can look at the boiler with the Hololens and immediately see real-time data on working hours, scheduled maintenance and any errors. The engineer can carry out maintenance or remove jams with the use of clear visual instructions provided by the manufacturer. In addition, the Hololens also has a camera on board. In case you need a second pair of eyes as a service engineer, pressing a button allows your colleague or manufacturer to have a look and help you get started.

Science fiction or near future? Time will tell. The first promising steps in the technology have been already taken. We are inspired and closely follow further developments. Together with the industry.

Johan Schlingmann,
Manager Product Management at Stabiplan

BIM engineers can now download free Revit families for Trox AK, FK-EU, FKR-EU and FKRS-EU (fire protection) valves.

About Trox
Trox is a leading designer and manufacturer of HVAC and building services solutions. With over 50 years experience in the industry, our outstanding design expertise keeps us at the forefront of product innovation.

With the recently published Air-Fit 300 and Air-Fit 600 ceiling-induction units, a large part of the HC Barcol-Air product range is now available as BIM content on MEPcontent.com. The manufacturer is “BIM ready”. Good BIM content, enriched with intelligent trade information, is essential to the international manufacturer of air distribution components and adjustment control systems.

More than 10,000 products
"There is an upward trend in the demand for our content," says Lars Wiersma, Technical Director and Export Manager for Barcol-Air. "Users want content that, in terms of dimension and size, corresponds 100% with the product so that a project is completed that actually works in reality." Barcol-Air meets this need. Of the nearly 15,000 products in the range of air distribution components, almost 90% have now been converted to Revit families. Currently, this content has the most relevant data such as technical specifications, item numbers and deep links to the website. This ensures that the content is light and easy to implement in BIM projects. By adding a GTIN, it is possible to connect each specific product to databases of external parties, e.g. 2BA. This enables users to instantly view trade information such as pricing and inventory.

Smart content
Wiersma sees the bringing together of different data sources into content as the future for BIM content. "Enriching content by adding relevant data will ensure that all stakeholders in a construction project can easily retrieve data for specific products. You can click a product in the model, which immediately displays data on maintenance, spare parts and prices. This enables speed and efficiency advantages to be achieved in the entire chain, from design to delivery and maintenance."

Barcol-Air wants to make its content even smarter by adding calculation and selection data in the future. For example, virtual simulations can be carried out with the addition of data such as quantities of air, noise levels and pressure. "If we can carry out simulations in Revit with intelligent 3D content, this will provide us with both time and money. We can then focus more on innovation to continue to improve our products."

Reliable standard
Barcol-Air collaborates with Stabiplan in creating the content. "Stabicad users have had access to our products for many years through the supply product line in Stabicad. Since we had our PLSs converted to Revit Families on MEPcontent.com, we now can provide BIM content to customers around the world. MEPcontent is a user-friendly platform that contributes to our international strategy because it is available in many countries and different languages. That our content is used all over the world is also reflected in the statistics," says Wiersma.

"The EMCS (Extended MEPcontent Standard) was decisive in choosing Stabiplan as a content partner. There was no good standard in the market for BIM content to meet yet. Stabiplan made a good step with introducing the standard. We can guarantee users of the quality of our content since the EMCS meets other norms and standards. We find that this really helps in the acceptance and use of content."

About Barcol-Air B.V.
Barcol-Air has years of experience in the design, development and implementation of an optimal thermal indoor climate for creating a work environment where people enjoy their work and thus deliver maximum performance. For this purpose, Barcol-Air provides a comprehensive range of high quality air distribution components and adjustment control systems.
Since October 2015, Barcol-Air is part of SIG Air Handling Nederland.

MEPcontent will be present as a exhibitor on the 1st BIM World in Munich on 29th and 30th November 2016. The BIM World MUNICH will be THE platform in Germany and the German speaking countries for all engaged sector players. The two day conference with exhibition area will demonstrate the benefits and implementation of the digital processes, present essential software, technologies and best practices in BIM and outline the upcoming challenges for working with BIM (Building Information Modeling). Meet our BIM experts and discover the best tools for BIM in building technology: StabiCAD and MEPcontent.

Learn more about the benefits of our solutions with integrated calculation and specific manufacturer information for the MEP industry. Visit us at our booth 66 and learn more about the added value of StabiCAD and MEPcontent.com. Will we meet you there?

In order to serve design engineers all over the world with Mitsubishi Electric products, MEPcontent have produced BIM files for the entire Mr Slim and M Series range of Air conditioners. These ranges are published on MEPcontent and are available to download right now.

The small-to medium-sized split-type room air conditioners offers the convenience of being compact yet powerful; a combination ensuring excellent performance and easy installation. MEPcontent users can now download these products as Revit families, IFC or 3D-DWG files. The 3D content is compact and light and therefore easy to use. Equipped with intelligent connection points, article information and deeplinks, users in the entire BIM cycle take advantage of the content.

About Mitsubishi Electric Mr Slim and M Series Air conditioners
The Mr Slim line-up includes a selection of eight indoor units and a series of four outdoor units available in Power Inverter, Standard Inverter, Inverter and Zubadan. With Mr Slim it allows to easily construct a system that best matches the room air conditioning needs. The M series offers a multiple line-ups, each with various outstanding features. All the M Series models are inverter-driven with both wall mounted and floor-standing models to select from.

Available from today at MEPcontent.com: generic magnetic valve. By popular demand, the 3D dwg and Revit family are downloadable for use in BIM projects.

Next to the Premium Line booster systems, the complete Utility Line for DP-Pumps is now available as BIM object on MEPcontent. With this extension, BIM engineers now have all objects and data available to easily design pressure boosting systems in MEP projects.

The boosting systems are real powerhouses: good for a capacity of up to 840 m³ / h (6 x 125 m³ / h pumps) and a head of 250 meters (PN25). “The content for the Utility Line is designed to be as light as possible without compromising on data or functionality. This allows users to quickly work with the products in a BIM project” says Ruud van Leeuwen, Manager Business Development at DP pumps. The content is available for free on MEPcontent and usable in almost all Revit / CAD software.

About DP-Pumps
DP-Pumps is market leader in the Netherlands, with over 50% market share in pressure boosting systems. The entire process of consulting, development and production takes place in a state-of-the-art plant in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands. With as many as 50 technicians in fully equipped service vehicles we are ready to fix failures 24/7.

At the request of multiple users generic sanitary content is published on MEPcontent.

A shower system, tap and bottle trap can easily be downloaded from the platform.