‘Timber engineering manufacturers need to use BIM’ – that was the message given to Wolf Systems by architects, engineers and specifiers at Ecobuild 2015.
At the event, the company demonstrated its Horizon BIM software, which is the UK’s only timber frame tool built on Autodesk’s leading Revit Architecture platform, and conducted a Survey to assess the importance of BIM to the timber engineering industry.
Of those who took part in the survey, 72 per cent anticipated using BIM on a project in the next 12 months, while 79 per cent believed that seeing more timber engineering manufacturers adopt BIM would benefit their businesses. Most participants stated that collaboration was the most important aspect of BIM, while Revit is the most widely used BIM platform with 31 per cent using the tool. Finally, 57 per cent believed that BIM would be essential to how their businesses worked within five years.
Speaking about Ecobuild, Karl Foster, sales and marketing director of Wolf Systems, said, “With a dedicated BIM zone, Ecobuild gave us the perfect opportunity to speak to architects, engineers and specifiers and find out their views on BIM. Most of the respondents genuinely believe BIM will be an essential part of their business within a few years and they are actively looking for their suppliers of timber engineering products to be using BIM. However, most felt that knowledge would be the major barrier to adoption, so the industry certainly needs to address this through training.”
As well as conducting the survey, Wolf Systems demonstrated its Horizon software on a large-screen TV, showing how easily Horizon allows timber frame designers can quickly and easily manipulate physical building details such as wall panels, floors and roof trusses. This is then automatically updated throughout the entire model, so amendments only need to be made once.
Wolf Systems is part of the Wolf Group, a family business with more than 45 years’ experience in timber engineering that employs around 3,000 staff across 21 European countries. The company manufactures and supplies nailplates, metal webs and software for the design of roof trusses, metal web joists and timber frame wall panels. This is supported by bespoke design services, training and outstanding customer support.
