We had a smaller group this month ~18 people. The dinner from Super Mex was provided by our sponsors. Dessert was donuts - sorry I missed the brand. Thank you Microdesk, US CAD, & Keller Pacific.
Introductions were short with only a couple of new people. Welcome to the group. Once again, A. Jay Holland, Chair of SCRUG led the discussion and introduced Brent Ramos from Assemble.
Here is the summary of what Assemble does:
- It makes your Revit model accessible by people without the full software.
- They can view the model, sort the items, examine the parameters, group objects, save views, change display colors of objects, make limited changes to parameters that will be saved in Assemble, changes can be exported and pushed into Revit
- Versioning: Assemble assigns version numbers to each upload, can do comparisons, show and list what has changed.
- 100% Cloud based.
Brent had a user, Connor Burke, a senior estimator/project manager from McCarthy, explain how they are using the website/software in the design/build and IDP part of their business.
- McCarthy tested many software packages and web services before choosing Assemble.
- They add data to the model, like pricing, RFIs,
- "If the model is built correctly, it cuts estimating time from two weeks to two days."
- They use it for coordination, QTO, QC, daily trending of changes to the model,
- The saved views become a template for future projects.
- It is a different work flow from Navisworks.
- Models can be assembled in Revit then exported as a single model to Assemble or Assemble can combine the exported models. McCarty prefers the first method.
The market for Assemble is General Contractors, Building Managers, and Building Owners. For design teams it seems like another layer of work and yet it can be a communication tool. Designers can see what the contractors see, they can use it for quality reviews and tracking of comments in an online solution.
