Strategies for Change – Our BIM Journey

Mark Costello, Director of BIM & Technical Services at RPS is an industry leader in BIM (Building Information Modelling). He was recently invited to speak at Autodesk University in London on 'Strategies for Change – Our BIM Journey' outlining the successful industry/academia collaboration taking place between RPS and Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT).

Today technology plays a huge part in change management but it cannot do it by itself, collaborative company-wide initiatives need to be implemented in order to succeed. RPS has a history of utilising the latest technological advances to further our success and competitiveness.

Technology and Change

The implementation of BIM has been a driving force in RPS’ success over recent years. In the extremely competitive market in which we work it is imperative that we acquire new skills in order to survive.  In a rapidly changing industry with government mandates fast approaching, we didn't wait. We recognised the need for a significant step change in our approach to learning and training in order to win new work. We needed to implement a company-wide commitment to change organisational structure, corporate culture, and IT systems. BIM and digital technologies needed to be the new way of working and it was perceived to be too great a change.

Obstacles to change

Technological changes are a constant threat, and embracing new technologies ahead of the competition requires adaptability. Technology can be a driver for change and having everyone on the same page is of vital importance. When we recognised the need to develop a strategy to progress BIM in our company, we invested in technology and staff continuing professional development (CPD) that would allow us to deliver in this new environment. At the time no flexible BIM programme was available to meet our business needs, the solution was an industry-academia collaboration that improved our staff skills that was required for this step change. We worked with GMIT to develop structures and resources to assist our staff and allow us to deliver our projects through BIM. We developed a BIM programme with GMIT in specifically designed and relevant modules to support evolving BIM technologies (Federated Models / AR & VR Technologies / Point Cloud Data / Common Data Environments) in a parallel BIM design process. Delivery of this course commenced on a pilot basis in September 2013 and it has culminated in the multi-award winning (industry/academia collaboration) and formally accredited Higher Diploma in Engineering in BIM (Level 8).

Future of Technology in RPS

Adapting BIM has been a huge success for RPS and has enabled us to win and deliver exciting new projects and in new markets internationally:

• The M8/M73/M74 Motorway Improvements Project in Scotland which won the Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland (ACEI) Design excellence award in 2018 
• Children’s Cardiac Catheterisation Unit & Orthopaedic Theatre which won the Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland (ACEI) Design excellence award in 2017
• Gold Coast Airport, Australia
• MLC Centre Sydney, Australia

Contact: Mark Costello