The race to create the world’s most accurate catering equipment data base and the capability of three of the UK’s top suppliers to provide BIM compatible blocks for designers, specifiers and equipment suppliers has taken a huge step foward. The announcement that Lincat, Precision Refrigeration and Metcalfe have all reached agreement with Specifi Global, to create BIM compliant product libraries, is a further demonstration of the growing importance of this process.
The deal thought to be over three years, will see the creation of BIM compatible blocks for all products in each of the brands portfolios. Future proofing their abilities to compete for, secure and manage public and private sector projects that require BIM. All CAD blocks will be available within the Specifi programme and will also be available to supply businesses via CESABiM and FCEMBIM.
Progressive members
Commenting on the news Keith Warren says: “Coming off the back of the CESA 2016 conference, this is a very positive move by three progressive members. As we heard from the UK head of BIM, this process is now a requirement and not an option on a growing number of projects. Effective compliancy for suppliers will be helped significantly by manufacturers who understand that BIM is the future.
“We are delighted to be working with our partner Specifi Global following its purchase of Schematic Limited. Our work will add significantly to the resources and expertise available to our 180+ members. As a global business we are also working with Specifi to deliver EFCEMBIM (the European library). This will benefit members who require their products to be hosted on both CESABIM and EFCEMBIM simultaneously. The development and evolution of BIM information and services for our CESA members is stronger as a result of our partnership, we encourage other members to follow this lead.”
Nick Williams of Precision Refrigeration says: “there were a number of reasons behind my decision to enter into the agreement with Specifi. Firstly, based on customer feedback, we needed our existing library to be created in Revit format rather than in the IFC format we already had. Secondly, I really liked Specifi’s model of them acting as our outsourced department, to continually maintain and update our data. It is one thing to prepare the data in the first place, but we are constantly adapting, improving and adding to our product range, so the data requires constant updates to give our customers access to the correct and latest information. Specifi enables us to do this effectively and provides the added benefit of our data being available on their software programme, making it easier for dealers to specify and quote our equipment.”
Lincat MD Nick McDonald says: “As we move forward, our existing work with and aspiration to grow our level of business from UK consultants and scheme dealers is increasing in importance and priority.. We have always understood the need for our customers to be able to access comprehensive and accurate product information. The introduction and growing importance of BIM in the delivery of public and private sector projects, means we now need to provide our customers with compatible data 24/7. Our agreement with Specifi will see the creation of a complete repository of BIM compliant CAD blocks, containing all the required elements to future proof our data. Multi-platform availability of this information including the Specifi DESIGN and QUOTE software packages, CESABIM, EFCEMBIM, plus our own website, will mean customers can accurately and confidently specify, or quote our equipment wherever and whenever they wish.”
A constant stream of requests for BIM blocks was a driver in the decision by Neil Richards of Metcalfe Catering to work with Specifi. “With regards to Specify, we felt that it is something we needed to be involved with, in order to provide our customers with as much information about our products as we can. We are always asked by customers for BIM models of our products to make it easy for them to include in projects they are working on. It therefore makes perfect sense for us to work with Specify to help us supply these essential blocks, as well as a wealth of other up to date technical information and prices”.
Stuart Campbell VP of sales at Specifi added, “this is a great start to 2017 and we’re obviously delighted to be working with three of the UK’s key brands, to create and manage their product libraries. By subscribing to our content creation subscription service, our work will enable everyone in the business supply chain to work smarter and more efficiently. From specification through to project management and completion the Specifi system pulls everything together seamlessly. In partnership with CESA and EFCEM we will in time create the worlds most complete and accurate product data bases. These dynamic repositories featuring BIM compliant data will be the key to doing business globally. It is our hope that all manufacturers will recognise the importance and need to have the correctly formatted blocks and we’re in a unique position to help. Any manufacturer wishing to discuss BIM content creation, can talk to us on the CESA stand at the forthcoming Great Hospitality exhibition in Birmingham”.
For further information please contact:
Stuart Campbell, vice president sales international, Specify: s.campbell@specifiglobal.com
