In this two-part blog series, we’ll explore the evolution of construction progress tracking and show how advancements in building information modeling (BIM), 3D spatial digital twins, and AI have made the process easier, faster, more precise, and much more scalable.

Why the workflow needed an upgrade

Progress tracking is the process of validating the actual work completed on a job site. For many years, it was performed by project managers and superintendents who compiled data from multiple sources, like site inspections and contractor reports, analyzed the data manually, and generated a series of tracking reports. 
This workflow has several benefits. It tracks progress and produces documentation of completed tasks, a high-level picture of financial health, and advanced warnings for potential problems or delays. 
Unfortunately, this progress-tracking workflow was analog, manual, and slow. This meant that reporting often lagged far behind actual progress. Project stakeholders found it difficult to see the actual state of the project, severely limiting their ability to communicate, find problems, predict delays or budget problems, and make the right decisions quickly.
This workflow has already started to change thanks to advancements in building information modeling (BIM), 3D spatial digital twins, and artificial intelligence (AI), which are helping to bring progress tracking into the future. 
Today, we will talk about BIM and 3D spatial digital twins. Our next blog post will cover AI and what comes next.

Transforming tracking with BIM

BIM has been a crucial innovation in the digital transformation of the job site. 

Just as computer-aided drafting (CAD) digitized the design process by moving it from paper to the computer screen, BIM further digitizes the design by adding parameters to the model. BIM methodology enables us to encode each line in the design with data reflecting the real object. With BIM, lines can be grouped into objects like walls in 3D, named, and given values for material, cost, time of installation, and whatever other data might be necessary.
BIM enables any AEC project to produce much more sophisticated and effective automated progress tracking, effectively replacing traditional reporting. Here’s how:

Direct stakeholder feedback

BIM software enables stakeholders across trades and departments to update a central model as work progresses. That means the model always reflects the latest state of the project. 
This makes progress reporting much faster for project managers. Where traditional reporting methods required them to spend significant time gathering data from various sources, now they can open up the BIM model and find the information they need.

Software integration

BIM software can connect your project’s BIM model to virtually any other software application used on the project. When you make changes in the BIM software, they can be reflected automatically in any connected application, like your team’s design tool. 
This is a two-way street: Data can also move from the design tool back to the BIM model. That connectivity is important because it means the project manager isn’t the only stakeholder with the latest progress data right where they need it.

Remote access

Almost every BIM application uses cloud technology for data storage, versioning, and processing. This allows stakeholders to access the BIM and track the project’s progress from anywhere. 

Data filtering

BIM models enable you to choose which data you want to see at any given point. For example, if you want to check on the progress of structural steel elements, you can quickly filter the BIM data to display only structural steel. That dramatically reduces the time you’ll spend poring over a 3D model.

Cost reporting

By combining direct stakeholder feedback with filtering, BIM enables effective cost reporting. 
As materials are added or changed, stakeholders can update the model to reflect the real-world costs on site. Within the BIM software, project managers can sort and filter the data to view aggregated cost information and analyze the project's current financial status.

Schedule integration

As we explored, BIM software can connect with other design software used by any trade. But it can also connect to project management tools like scheduling applications. 
That means projects can integrate a BIM model with a detailed schedule, enabling them to represent construction sequences and timelines visually. You can open the progress tracking software that is connected to your updated BIM model, select a date at some point in the future, and see how far the project should have progressed by that date.

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Transforming tracking with 3D spatial digital twins

Today, most AEC projects also use tools like drones, handheld lidar scanners, and tripod-based lidar scanners, and some are even using robotic dogs to capture reality and generate a digital representation of the site, otherwise known as a 3D spatial digital twin.

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Just as BIM enabled AEC projects to digitize the model, reality capture technologies have enabled projects to digitize the site's real-world condition at any point in time. This enables even more sophisticated progress tracking than BIM could provide on its own.
The benefits of 3D spatial digital twins for progress tracking include:

Quality control

A number of construction software solutions make it simple to overlay the 3D spatial digital twin and the BIM. This 1:1 visual comparison allows construction stakeholders to inspect the real progress on site and even identify discrepancies between the design intent and the actual construction.

“Real-time” tracking and monitoring

Many reality capture tools, like 360° cameras, provide a rapid and cost-efficient workflow. This enables projects to capture 3D spatial digital twins as often as needed, essentially performing “real-time” project tracking. 
In the context of construction, this tracking is called “real-time” because it documents conditions on-site multiple times before construction moves onto the next stage. This is a much more granular view of progress than traditional reporting allows.
Progress monitoring can also be called “real-time” due to the remote access enabled by today’s BIM tools. Just as reality capture tools can quickly deliver a 3D spatial digital twin, remote access lets stakeholders view the progress data immediately.

Automation and filtering

Some of today's reality capture tools enable QC and real-time comparisons. Unfortunately, in most cases, the project manager or other stakeholders still need to analyze the data manually to find actionable information. 
Advanced reality capture applications like CupixWorks can automate parts of this process. 
Here’s how it works: After you capture the site with 360° video, CupixWorks generates a 3D model, often referred to as a “Dollhouse”, with x,y, and z coordinates. Since every element in the BIM also has x,y,z coordinates, the software can do more than overlay the two data sets — it can map them to one another.
This enables stakeholders to filter the 3D spatial digital twin using BIM parameters. They can drill down to a specific work area in the digital twin or view work performed by a particular vendor. In short, they can filter the 3D spatial digital twin to display only what is essential to them.

Real-time schedule analysis

When you can compare a 3D spatial digital twin against the BIM — manually or using an advanced tool that automates the process like CupixWorks SiteInsights — you can check real-world progress against the schedule. 
For example, maybe you know that the concrete on the second level should have been poured yesterday. Pull up yesterday’s 3D spatial digital twin in CupixWorks. Then, filter the data to display only the second floor and the concrete. 
Compare the filtered twin against the BIM model for that day. If you find areas where the concrete has not been poured, you know that this work is behind schedule. If you find several areas where the concrete has not been poured, you know this area is at high risk of causing delays along the project’s critical path.

Real-time cost analysis

When you can compare the reality capture against the BIM to verify where the project is on schedule (and where it isn’t), you can also gain deeper insights into real costs. This can help you determine how much you’ve paid already for elements like doors or windows or which areas are causing costly delays.
With an advanced tool like CupixWorks, you can group elements that you’d like to track based on their element IDs or cost line items. This allows you to monitor costs for specific kinds of doors, ceilings, windows, and other elements. 
So you can look at the overall perspective of the site’s finances, sliced in whichever way you want.

Dashboards and reporting

CupixWorks SiteInsights also enables stakeholders to build dashboards that present data in chart and visual formats. For example, you might want to track progress divided by subcontractor or system. Just tailor the dashboard to display numbers, bars, charts, graphs, and whatever visualizations will help you monitor the project. 
For teams that don’t have access to the dashboard, you can generate a quick and intuitive report. This ensures easy communication during team meetings.

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What comes next?

BIM and 3D spatial digital twins have transformed progress tracking. These advancements enable stakeholders to add progress information from the field and managers to view that information from anywhere with an internet connection. They make it possible to track progress in real-time, slice up data to view what’s essential, build out custom dashboards, and even perform cost and schedule analysis.
However, BIM and 3D spatial digital twins are not the latest tools for AEC progress tracking. In the next blog post, we’ll talk about the next revolution: artificial intelligence.