News & Insights
Mercury’s Digital Information Evolution: Leading the Future of Project Delivery
At Mercury our teams embrace digital construction tools to ensure our valued clients get premium results on every project.
In a recent milestone, our Digital Transformation team led two innovative projects to bolster our increasing digital approach to project delivery. This included standardising Mercury’s CDE (Common Data Environment) as BIM360 – a cloud-based, collaborative platform from Autodesk, where information and digital tools are located and easily accessible to all Mercury employees and subcontractors. The team also led the implementation of the ISO19650 Information Management standard, which ensures consistent information management practices are in place across the lifecycle of our projects. This article delves into Mercury’s strategic approach, from recognising the need for a standardised CDE to devising and implementing innovative solutions.
Mercury showcased a presentation outlining the work on these projects, led by Group Document Controller, Natasha Renwick Curran and BIM Manager, Shannon Brown at the Autodesk University Conference 2023, where the presentation was selected from over 3,000 applications. Titled “Optimizing Project Delivery: Mercury Engineering’s Journey from BIM 360 Next Gen to Autodesk Construction Cloud”, it received a 2023 AU Top Rated Award.
Approaching the issue
In recent years, the need for a standardised CDE within Mercury became apparent to ensure our teams from across various business units had access to the best digital construction methods to enhance collaboration and consistency, as well as streamlining the coordination of project information to improve efficiency and workflows. The overarching goal was to have the same locations for managing and storing information on each project, so our people had access to the right information in the right place at the right time.
BIM360 as a platform comprises the best selection of digital construction tools to meet the evolving needs of our teams, from modelling, clash detection and insight, to design and document management, enabling collaboration and coordination throughout the lifecycle of a construction project. The platform also prioritises data management for all stakeholders and helps Mercury to ensure ISO19650 compliancy. However, mandating a Common Data Environment involves a companywide approach to guarantee cooperation and meet the wide range of business needs.
Devising a solution
Adopting BIM360 as a CDE involved an in-depth evaluation of its prior use across each business unit, which had utilised the platform for different needs and in different ways. This was an important step to better understand which functions best served Mercury’s workforce.
A survey was issued to Mercury’s on-site employees in relation to our current document management processes. The importance of introducing a standardised approach including a suite of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and training for employees to follow these new approaches became clear. The Digital Edge team firstly set up a CDE template, including inherited permissions and roles, before devising a full suite of SOPs for BIM360 specifically, to provide guidance for those using the platform.
Simultaneously, implementing the ISO19650 standard involved a team taking part in an accredited training course with BRE Group before devising a Mercury specific ISO19650 training programme. The course marked an important opportunity for Mercury employees to better understand the new approach to Information Management. An ISO19650 specific suite of documents was also established, with new Information Management practices deployed and tested on one site before being rolled out across business units. This included an improved folder structure, new document approval processes, workflows, and naming conventions.
Leading edge outcomes
As a CDE, BIM360 has helped to create a more efficient and collaborative platform for all project members to share, review and publish data, and has led to improved consistency for procedures and workflows. This has increased efficiency for employees when changing between projects, overall contributing to enhanced results and client satisfaction ensuring Mercury remains ahead with a competitive edge, improving documentation management, quality and safety, project insights, coordination, and clash detection.
The launch of our standardised CDE and introduction of the ISO19650 Standard has yielded positive results, helping ensure consistency in our digital approach and making several positive changes to our information management practices, guaranteeing we deliver with a solid approach for our clients. Looking ahead, Mercury aims to continue working with our valued partner Autodesk and eventually implement its latest construction technology update, Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC).
Mercury commits to pushing industry boundaries and embrace digital construction methods to enhance our work and deliver with certainty. We are committed to providing leading edge construction solutions ensuring our clients only get the very best.
DIGITAL EDGE – A BEYOND50 PILLAR
Digital Edge aims to ensure that our frontline people have the right technology to enable them to deliver real value to our clients, pushing digital construction to the edge. Read more about innovation in Mercury here.
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