AEC TECH NEWS: Autodesk introduces BIM 360 Plan

San Rafael, Calif. — Autodesk BIM 360 Plan, a new web service and mobile app, aims to help eliminate many scheduling bottlenecks and productivity pitfalls by providing production planning software that incorporates Lean Construction practices with an easy-to-use, highly visual interface. 

BIM 360 Plan helps contractors build reliable work plans through cloud and mobile collaboration. Image courtesy of Autodesk.

“As the construction industry explores and adopts new approaches to project delivery, Lean Construction is emerging as the best practice for project execution,” said Jim Lynch, Vice President, Building and Collaboration Product Line Group, Autodesk.  “BIM 360 Plan can help customers conduct these lean practices more efficiently”.

According to Autodesk, BIM 360 Plan helps a wide range of team players — from superintendents and crew foremen, to project engineers — to quickly and easily create and update their production plans and then get back to the job at hand.

The BIM 360 Plan interface allows users to view/create work plans in either list, Gantt, or swim lane modes.  Image courtesy of Autodesk.

Web and mobile access puts BIM 360 Plan wherever work gets done, from the trailer to the field. This “anywhere, anytime” access provides real-time visibility into production planning commitments, timelines, and hand-offs.

Each BIM 360 Plan subscription includes access to the companion iPad app, which allows users to login and download designated project plans for use on the go.  Image courtesy of Autodesk.

Not only does this replace the manual process of entering data into spreadsheets to create weekly schedule updates, it eliminates the time and effort required to distribute the information to project stakeholders.

BIM 360 Plan also enables continuous improvement by tracking and reporting on key performance metrics. Users can drill down to see metrics for a specific phase, location or trade partner on the project.  The idea is that BIM 360 Plan will bring lessons learned into the master schedule process to better define the schedule itself.

BIM 360 Plan automatically tracks the projects Planned Percent Complete (PPC) percentage (total number of tasks divided by the tasks that have been marketed “complete”).  Image courtesy of Autodesk.

Autodesk BIM 360 Plan is currently available via an Enterprise or Project Based subscription and available in English only.