Delivering Digital Business Case for Change & Predicted ROI. Saving £4.5m

LEE RAMSEY: Hello and welcome to our presentation where we're going to be covering the delivering the digital business case for change and predicted ROI. Saving 4.5 million pounds. My name is Lee Ramsey. I'm the Digital Construction Director for Morgan Sindall Construction. I've delivered over 84 BIM projects since 2018 with a value of 1.4 billion. And I've got a vast knowledge of experience in design management, digital construction, and building safety.

AMIE IBBOTSON: High my name is Amie Ibbotson. I'm a Senior Digital Construction Manager at Morgan Sindall, and I manage the implementation of Autodesk products within the business. But nine years of experience working in digital construction and ran the first initial trial. Currently, I'm helping shape the business implementation of digital products.

LEE RAMSEY: But just a little bit of background about Morgan Sindall. Morgan Sindall is part of Morgan Sindall Group. We're a top three contractor in the UK turning over 3 pounds billion solely in the UK. We're employed 6,600 employees. How we deliver is around three core areas, our responsible business plan, intelligence solutions, and perfect delivery.

Intelligent solutions is about bringing our digital capabilities and platform design to modern methods of construction creating innovative and unique places for our customers. So today, if you could put yourself yourselves in our shoes going back a number of years ago, five years ago, imagine asking your board for one of the largest investments in digital operating as a leading UK contractor in an industry known for slow digital uptake.

As part of this presentation, we're going to explain the methodology to achieve an investment based on fact driven approach with concrete evidence to achieve this big large investment from your board. To add this, it was during a time with uncertainty due to external factors. So we're going to go from 2 projects to 20 projects to 40 projects with an investment at 1.18 million over four years.

We've set out a bit of a timeline. Set out the key steps over this five year period and how we exceeded the anticipated scale of deployment. Through each, following a very robust thought through and considered driven in thought through process. One of the key starting points was our policy. Before we even started looking at technology, we created a policy setting strategic commitments endorsed by our operational board and to find what is digital construction and what it can offer.

And we aligned our BIM 360 business case to aid the sign off of pilot projects as our board had already given the backing to the targeted outcomes of BIM 360. From our agreed digital policy, we created a digital construction strategy with incremental steps over years. One key thing to note we focused on process first then the training of our people. And then lastly, the deployment and implementation of technology.

So one of the key steps in our journey was attending Autodesk University five year ago. We heard from other companies and how they were utilizing BIM 360. We picked up a vast amount of information from which helped shaped our technology roadmap, and understand Autodesk's vision plus strategic development for BIM 360. What helped us was that my MD attended Autodesk University many years ago and could see the value of the event.

So after returning from Autodesk University, we shared the information and key takeaways from with other functional leaders our MD and financial director after considering the full suite of BIM 360 capabilities, we decided to break the ice with BIM 360 Design and coordinate. Once we had these, we were one of the first companies in the UK to deploy this.

We considered the BIM 360 was a good place to start with its unique approach and the technologies, but a technology gap in that space. In addition, we had some in-house technologies in place doing similar things to BIM 360 Build. The next step for us was creating a robust and well considered business case for the deployment of BIM 360 Design and Coordinate. It included scoping an implementation plan. In addition, we consider the cost of deployment over three years if we proceed and got the approval.

We reviewed the feedback from our competitors, and utilizing the feedback from peers, we help form and validated. The other contract was seen advantage using the technology stack in over 50% of our competitors were using BIM 360. As part of this business case, we considered the drivers benefits opportunities risks and blockers.

What was great was the drivers and benefits and opportunities were aligned to our digital construction policy in concert and we considered the risks and blockers to overcome as part of the pilot projects. In this business case, we considered both internal and external drivers that would support the use of the technology.

From that business case, we then created a really comprehensive pilot scope and documentation and implementation plan. We went through a significant amount of depth in the project scoping and implementation plan. This helped us document our thinking, communicating the new way of working with other stakeholders, and what needed to be done before starting the trial, and create a clear line what will and not be and what will and will not be impacted by this trial.

At this point, we want to crystallize the objectives into four pillars. One being increasing productivity, other being reducing risk. The next being maximizing efficiency and delivering best practice through digital tools. As part of this plan, we considered the impact of different functions against the technology stack. This helped us to think about the implications for our staff, what training will need to be required. And this helps prioritize engagement with these functions.

Then we considered the technology both in the digital and built asset across the functions. For our success criteria, we link them back to the four core objectives. We looked at what was qualitative feedback and we looked at how we would measure these success criterias during pilot projects.

Later in the presentation, we will cover how we use the previous research and metrics to calculate the return on investment. Our advice would be utilize existing KPIs in your organization and leading indicators. For example, with our business, we previously identified the cost of detecting clashes or clashes was less earlier on the project. And as you were going through the project, they increased. We found typically there was 86 clashes after the lead designer had carried out their work with an average cost of 8,500 pounds.

We also looked at what the qualitative aspects were. These are structured roundabout areas where we could get more feedback, statements from staff, design teams, supply chain. One thing we've learned is that senior directors are interested in global metrics where staff and middle management prefer tangible examples from projects.

AMIE IBBOTSON: We then looked at configuring our workflows. And by this, we had a series of workshops with Autodesk where we came up with this diagram, a way of showing our design teams how to use the platform. In this image, we showed them how them using their authoring Revit software they're able to package and share. And then the structural team was then able to review and consume what the architectural team had shared and vice versa.

We also configured the training as part of this process and standardized the way that we were going to roll out the training to the teams. Once we've done that, we looked at commencing the trial. We trialed initially two projects, two medium sized projects. So for this, we handed out three design collaborate licenses. And the reason being is so that we could have a smooth transition with that implementation.

We also staggered the implementation of the different functions. So using Design, Coordinate, and Docs. And for Docs, we use this for models only. We then set up regular clinic calls, meaning that we were checking in with the teams, making sure that they had the support that they needed. From taking on Coordination, we're able to remove the use of Navisworks. And doing this meant that we could reduce the information manager's scope. We then also found that we would look at reporting the findings of doing these things.

Once we've done the trial, we looked at gathering trial feedback, and benefits, and savings. So we looked at the use case of these different functions. So how could it help what could we do? And then we also looked at who did it apply to. So out of our teams, both internally and externally, which functions were going to affect them?

And from this we created two types of questions, quantitative and qualitative. These are examples of some of the quantitative questions. Creating quantitative questions meant that we were able to pull out percentages, figures out of the question questionnaires that we were going to ask them. For the qualitative questions, we're able to gain a perspective of what are the main quality benefits from implementing this platform.

Once we receive the feedback, we then color coded it to look at lessons learned positive feedback areas for improvement. As you can see from the diagram here, this took a lengthy amount of time. And it was a little bit more difficult to analyze the feedback because it was quite overwhelming how much information we'd received.

And then once we color-coded them, we looked at what did we get from the benefits and savings for both the designers and our design managers. So here you can see that dead time was significantly reduced and 20% saving was improved with the time. And from that removal of Navisworks, we went from having a three week process to a three hour process. So we got some real tangible benefits and savings.

Some of the statements that we received from our teams were fantastic. So here you can see that they found that the tools enabled them to influence their design teams and design right first time. And even one of our design managers said that they dread going back to a project without using BIM 360.

LEE RAMSEY: So what does that mean? So we've done two pilot projects, we've gained this feedback, where do we go next? Well we made a case to go from 2 projects to 20 projects. And that was after that year long trial on two projects. We made a recommendation to have 20 projects on BIM 360 Design and Coordinate in year one. And the proposal was for a three year deal with Autodesk. The business case was based on the wealth of feedback that was generated from the two pilot projects.

We found significant savings with this new way of working. When articulating this through the use of this executive summary talking about the new ways of working with the technology which then we quantified on the following slides. We looked at what were the benefits for Morgan Sindall, us. We captured the benefits. We would want to run through three main elements on these pillars.

We reduce the information management fee. This in itself offset the cost of BIM 360 and provided a net saving of 4,000 pounds per project. From our pilot projects, we identified a potential 20% saving in time in a pre-construction period. Furthermore, we managed to save 264,000 pounds in the terms of the contract providing Navisworks for our legacy projects.

We realized that it isn't just the benefits for Morgan Sindall that are important. Recaptured the savings for our design team and supply chain. We use this data to encourage our design team to invest in BIM 360 and demonstrated the savings far outweighs the investment. We were looking for them to bring their own license and utilize the technology saving downtime, sinking, uploading. The benefits far outweigh the investment.

AMIE IBBOTSON: So we improved our workflows of training based on the feedback that we received from our survey. And from this we're able to structure the training that we'd roll out. We're able to create a spoke training modules which were video based so they could be referred back to by teams that either missed the training by the teams to refresh themselves.

Here you can see on the screen that we structured this from initially showing people how to use the document management area, to then going into the Coordinate and Design areas for the design teams. And then last week we implemented this with the site team and showing them how to use the mobile apps.

Additional to structuring the training, we also structured the live support. You can see with the bottom timeline that we looked at what meetings would we have with the teams and how frequent would those be across a project. We found that typically training cost 11,000 per project. And this was a real benefit to having this structured.

Survey feedback and return on investment from 20 projects. So I mentioned before that the initial feedback that we'd received from the survey was slightly overwhelming. So the next step that we found was to restructure the way that we were doing that. So initially we started with Excel sheets. And we moved over to making those into Microsoft forms.

And from this, we're able to then pull out quantities and have standard charts that hold all of those results together, which really helped us gain structured feedback. So who did we send the surveys to? So we send them to 58 project members. And we had six different types of forms from architecture, design teams, supply chain, design managers, project managers, and quantity surveyors.

This meant that when we got the feedback received from them that we could structure them around their roles and see how was it actually affecting different parts of the team. And from this, we looked at six key areas. So user details, how this affected the feedback. Product usage. So were there any patterns and what type of licenses were they using? Training. Have they had training? And if they hadn't, how did this affect? What they were presenting?

Collaboration. How did this affect the collaboration of the team? Application of technology. How this was applied and the benefits across the business. And savings and efficiencies. So how did this help the project and ultimately the business. These were some of the results that we received from all of the teams. And what you can see here is overall charts of the results. And then in the bottom green portion there is the effect on our internal teams.

The scoring ranking from 1 to strongly disagree and 5 to strongly agree. The first results that we have there is what were their capabilities using the platform. So we looked at what were their capabilities prior to training and what were their capabilities after. You can see here that 3/4 of the team found that after the training, they were proficient in using the platform.

The second chart in the middle we looked at what was considered with the technology. How did it affect the collaboration and interaction between the different stakeholders and members of the team? You can see here that over 80% of the team found that it was a benefit, and it really helped increase that collaboration and communication between both internal members and external members.

And then finally on the left, we looked at how did this impact on risk, and how did it stop the mitigation and of risks and issues happening? And here again we got some really good results where risk was significantly reduced and issues mitigated. So one of the six points that we looked at was also how did this affect visibility and understanding. And the teams really responded to this in a positive way that they found that it really increased the visibility and understanding of the project information.

And you can see from the results there that particularly our project managers so the site teams and our design managers, the pre-con teams, found that they either agreed or strongly agreed that this was something that really helped people understand the information. We also considered how the technology helped viewing with the 3D model. And again, we got some really good findings that the team found that reviewing in 3D really helped them and especially on site for the percentage there of over 80% strong and either agreed or strongly agreed that it helped them having that 3D design accessible.

Then lastly, we looked at how had it affected the hours on a project. So here we looked at the design team particularly said that it had helped them with their uploading and downloading process that they were able to gain eight hours back on a project in a typical month, which reduces a lot of dead time.

So secondly, we looked at percentage increase in errors that were reviewed we found that there was a saving of over 12 hours and being able to find those errors. And lastly, in terms of hours per month, they found that there was a saving during design and stopping that rework and abortive work that happens in traditional processes.

So from this information what we then did was we color coded what was positive, what was neutral, what improved, what areas of improvement. And you can see here that we were able to organize the information to either look at themes or raise items with Autodesk. Another consideration that we made was the amount of usage on a project. So we looked at how often were people using the project.

And here is a table of the top 10 users. So we looked at how often were they logging in. Once they were in the platform, how often and what type of task were they doing, how many clicks were they making. And we also looked at this against the survey and to see if there was any impact on how they answered the questions.

So headline statistics from the trial. We found that 85% of BIM 360 users confirmed improvement in collaboration. 91% of BIM 360 users confirmed improvement in visibility. And 71% users confirmed the technology had improved the design productivity and efficiency. So we're getting some really good feedback.

And then we went back to those six points that we looked at the beginning and had we achieved those points that we were trying to under those key areas. So had the training and influence the understanding of them using the platform, and how would this looked at the survey results. Savings and efficiencies. I think we can agree that we found with those statistics. And the user details how does looking at the different roles affect the results.

And application of the technology. So what impact had it had on risk management and mitigation?

LEE RAMSEY: So with use of that information and all that evidence that Amie's went through, that enables us to look at where do we go next. Now we exceeded expectations. We set off with expecting that we're going to do 20 projects in year one. But we realized very quickly we were going to exceed that and we would need to consider a business case for more licenses and more growth.

So we looked at expanding the trial from the two projects to the 20 and realized we're going to need to have 40 projects running concurrently at the same time, making 60 projects in total. As part of the report, we looked at the validation of the targeted information management savings the very beginning. As part of the two projects, we validated that within pounds, not thousands of pounds but within pounds.

Therefore, we really exceeded our commitments we validated what we set out at the beginning. And that enabled us to get a very smooth transition in our business case. To enable us to look at how many licenses going from 20 projects to 40 projects running concurrently, we looked at our current projects that were being built and designed, and looked at how we could look at the license utilization when you were running another 20 projects concurrently, but then another lot of projects going through years 3 and 4.

In addition, we analyze the current license utilization, how many licenses were being brought by supply chain and design team members. We bring your own license. To accelerate the implementation, we offer try before you buy for a short term loan on our project Furthermore, the short term loan enables to kick off projects as soon as possible to prevent delays due to purchase and licenses.

As we gain more experience with the 20 projects realized, we could bring some of the implementation of BIM 360. This brought the clinicals that we've been carrying out to really support the projects and their learning and taking this in-house and helping us reduce our external costs due to this gained this in-depth information and knowledge that we've gained.

So as part of the 20 projects and through all the survey information that Amie's explained previously and those granular stats building up into overall percentages and benefit statements, we identified that there was 86,000 pounds saved per project. When you look at the information management fee we validate that we save 450,000 pounds on 18 projects which validated the previous commitments in our two pilot projects.

Furthermore, from this table very useful in conversations with our design team and supply chain because it gives tangible savings and benefits to offset BIM 360 incentive investment. And what I would say is that as we become more knowledgeable, how to create return based and surveys, we could then aggregate the information much easier much more quantifiable and without the amount of work that was required looking through Excel sheets trying to get data that you couldn't combine and align.

So there are extensive demonstrable evidence. We managed to secure additional funding in year two of 520,000 pounds. That's only one year after the 657,000 pound investment. We could clearly demonstrate saving of 4.5 million over four years without the other benefits and savings identified. These costs were one bit of learning that we found out these costs were recharged an overhead to our projects, as many projects say, the cost of technology and not the value.

Therefore, in terms of the project teams they seen it free and not a project cost, meaning cost was not a blocker for the achieving scale and deployment. So where are we now.

AMIE IBBOTSON: So we started up two projects and now we're at 67 and they're growing at speed. You can see that we have 33 projects on BIM 360. And now we're transitioning to using on all new projects with 34 currently on our system. We've gone from 1,400 users to nearly doubling that with over 2,000 users now using the platform both internally and externally.

So from starting with BIM 360, we've looked at how can we streamline our workflows and make our processes more efficient. We created guidance for our teams to show them this is how we had workflows within BIM 360, and this is how we've now transitioned to more efficient processes using ACC. So we're now looking at the next step, and we're looking at trialing the next part.

So rather than using dots for just models, we're looking at trialing it as a main platform. And also trying out those build aspects, gaining those benefits on site.

LEE RAMSEY: We hope you found this session useful and informative. And you can take some of these tools, knowledge, and techniques to help your transformational journey in the digital arena.