SAOTA, a South African-based architecture company, recently adopted Autodesk’s BIM Collaborate Pro software. The adoption of BIM Collaborate Pro has enabled SAOTA to reduce its project timelines, costs, and errors, as well as expand its business on an international scale.

The adoption of BIM Collaborate Pro is almost seamless as it is cloud based. Since the adoption, SAOTA has reaped the cost and time-saving benefits of BIM Collaborate Pro, enabling the company to better serve its customers. This software facilitates seamless workflows for the entire project team from designers to reviewers and decision makers, enabling them to effortlessly edit, view, detect clashes and communicate efficiently.

Collaboration of the project team drives improvements to the surface design on a virtual platform before construction takes place. This has helped SAOTA reduce waiting periods by speeding up workflows as any user can work anytime, from any device, anywhere in Revit or Civil 3D. In turn, this has reduced project turnaround times, enabling faster delivery to clients. Working remotely has never been easier since design models stay in-sync without data corruption even when there are poor network connections.

Although it may seem as if there is room for error since many users can work on the same document in their field, BIM Collaborate Pro eliminates this by featuring customisable safety tools for the benefit of the user. “With BIM Collaborate Pro, SAOTA was able to construct their own security across 18 levels of privacy. This included control over who could create, download, view, edit, privately comment on documents, and more. Additionally, SAOTA could keep track of edits with auto-trail and had access to version control for the restoration of documents accidentally deleted by any collaborated user,” says Harmony Mapundu, Industry Specialist, WorldsView.

Design specialists understand the value in having multiple design tools and options to facilitate more creative and accurate designs. “The modelling process tool in BIM Collaborate Pro is a key solution for SAOTA to switch between designs to grasp each vision at the click of a button. This has enabled SAOTA to explore various design options and make clear and informed decisions on how to best serve and satisfy clients’ needs through the developed visions on the platform,” comments Mark Bullivant, Director, SAOTA. Additionally, the software’s linking and grouping tool helps SAOTA save time and money, enabling architects to duplicate changes across designs. “If we had to carry out our projects on a different CAD tool, additional months would be added to the project timelines, but BIM Collaborate Pro enables us to finish the same amount of work within weeks”, says Bullivant.

A distinctive value proposition of SAOTA is the way in which they collaborate and present their projects through a 3D-interactive visualisation. BIM Collaborate Pro has enhanced this, as it co-ordinates and collaborates Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) functions on a single platform.

“BIM Collaborate Pro has enhanced the entire trajectory of the organisation. We have embraced these new technologies to align with our ambition to adapt to ever-changing environments. Staying ahead has enabled us to remain relevant amongst leading organisations in the industry,” explains Bullivant.

BIM Collaborate Pro is available through WorldsView, the Value Added Distributor of Autodesk in Africa.