Revit is an industry leading Building Information Modeling (BIM) software for designing, coordinating, and documenting building projects. If your teams are not using a dedicated content management system, Revit’s versatility still allows your team to finish projects the way they always have, through shared network drives using content created and shared with collaborators or downloaded from a manufacturer or other website. One of the problems with sharing content this way is that colleagues may end up labeling contributed files with titles others may not recognize.
There is a better way to utilize Revit for effective content management.
What Does an Effective Content Management System Look Like?
As a speaker at the 2022 BIM Coordinators Summit and author of the article “Principles of Effective Revit Content Management,” Gary Sprague describes his vision of an effective content management system. He provides eight steps engineering and architectural team leaders can follow to utilize Revit most effectively as a content management system.
Mr. Sprague describes what an effectual system can do. Importantly, it allows colleagues to quickly locate the right content for their projects, which is essential, to maximize content value because the same content is used in multiple projects. Users save time because they are not recreating the same content for different projects. The system should be economical and easy on budgets and time. It should also bring about ongoing improvement, helping users identify ways they can streamline and share better content. And lastly, users must feel confident that the content management system will continue in lockstep with evolving Information Technology (IT).
Tips For Building an Effective Content Management System
Mr. Sprague recommends investing in a dedicated tool to help implement all functions as you build an effective content management system. The content management tool you choose to work with Revit should fulfill necessary tasks and be easy to use. If your team members find the system or dedicated tool too complicated, they will avoid learning or using it.
You may reason that you should have a comprehensive library before you worry about implementing a content management system using a dedicated tool to hook users up to that content. However, a content library grows over time, and if you wait to introduce it, your associates will revert to their old ways. Your content management system will assist you in growing a library, and even with scant content, users will save time.
Most content management systems for Revit offer ways to gather content your colleagues worked with on shared network drives before implementing the system. As you build your main library, you will need to know what content colleagues are using the most, in which projects, and how and why that content is being modified. Mr. Sprague suggests segregating non-standard content from the central library because it could be mistaken for general use when it is specific to a project. Some examples of non-standard content are:
- Content for a specific project
- A particular client’s content
- Content that is not complete but is being developed
- Third-party content
Your content management system should make non-standard content readily available while keeping it out of the general library. Regardless of whether it is standard or non-standard, an effective content management system allows users to find the content they want using clearly-named files and parameters. Instead of trying to intuit keywords to find folders, a dedicated content management tool makes content searchable and accessible to everyone using their preferred search methods.
Save Time and Money by Utilizing Effective Content Management for Revit
The benefits of streamlining the building process by locating and modifying content quickly, sharing details as projects develop, and allowing team members to coordinate in real time add up to money and time saved. Springboard your network-sharing system by utilizing effective content management for your Revit projects. Contact our team to learn more about incorporating our software and tools to boost your ROI.
