Netherland-based BIMcollab has long been known for their BIM issue management platform. Late last month, the company announced the addition of two new features, which they say “transforms'' their offering from a BIM issue management platform into “an ecosystem in which its enhanced online BIM coordination solutions are extended with a proven Digital Twin platform.” More specifically, they’ve released a new BIMcollab Twin offering, while also extending into a full, online BIM coordination platform: BIMcollab Nexus.
The development of the company’s new BIMcollab Twin solution dates back to an acquisition by BIMcollab made earlier in the year, when they bought another Dutch company, BIMlink. The company’s digital twin offering was used by some large building owners in the Netherlands, meaning the newly branded BIMcollab Twin has been tested in real-world environments. At the time of the acquisition, BIMcollab said that the acquisition would strengthen KUBUS’ (owner and developer of BIMcollab) portfolio “significantly.”
“The combination of KUBUS’ BIM execution platform BIMcollab (including IDS, model validation and Issue management) with BIMlink’s CDE,” they said at the time, “provides a unique and powerful integrated platform that drives model-based collaboration for the entire lifecycle of a building, from design and construction to maintenance and facility management.”
The ISO 19650 compliant platform offers document and asset management capabilities around a model, including workflow automation to store, manage, and share any building or civil engineering data for all project phases. BIMcollab notes that owners like universities, hospitals, and National Police are already using the tool dating back to its time under BIMlink, with a total of five million square meters of building space being managed by BIMcollab.
BIMcollab also announced their new BIMcollab Nexus platform, mentioned above. Much of this news revolves around a new specific tool from the company, WebViewer. They note that this particular release took “a few years of research and development,” and is built on streaming technology which the company claims can open and visualize any size of federated model on a webpage in seconds. WebViewer is not designed solely for BIMcollab Nexus, either, instead being able to integrate with any of the company’s products.
In a statement, Gerben Bouthoorn, product owner of BIMcollab’s Model Viewing Technology, said, “We reached our goal to develop the BIMcollab WebViewer as a user-friendly, accessible, and efficient online viewer, prioritizing fast loading speeds for extremely large projects without compromising the ease of use.
Finally, closing out the new product line is BIMcollab Zoom, which is the line’s model checker. This offering provides “rule-based model checking, information takeoffs, and intelligent clash-management.”
“With these powerful and unique releases, we enhance any BIM process for the creation and use of Digital Twins. By providing fast, innovative, and user-friendly solutions that integrate with all popular BIM tools, we shape the construction industry,” said Erik Pijnenburg, CEO of BIMcollab in a statement.
