Project Frog, a leading technology and building systems provider, today announced an alliance with Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) to develop a transformational cloud-based platform to standardize and simplify data flow between the architecture studio, the factory and the jobsite. The agreement, which will strengthen the industrialized construction movement, is made possible through an investment from the Autodesk Forge Fund. The funding from Autodesk will accelerate the efforts of both companies to create a connected ecosystem linking architectural design to industrial fabrication.
“The reality of the building industry today is it’s facing unprecedented demand and scarcity of skilled labor,” said Drew Buechley, CEO of Project Frog. “In this climate, prefabrication is essential to delivering new buildings quickly and economically, while still offering a high degree of customization, competitive pricing and a quick turnaround. The only way to accomplish this is to use technology to simplify the process of moving a project from design to manufacturing, and then to the jobsite. What we are building with Autodesk is expected to be a truly revolutionary solution, enabling architecture, engineering and construction professionals to reap efficiency gains in the production of custom prefabricated buildings.”
Autodesk and Project Frog Collaboration
The Autodesk and Project Frog collaboration will create a common data environment to streamline design and engineering processes, and optimize architectural design for manufacturing. The end-to-end system will ensure every project stakeholder has access to the most recent data, eliminating the need for manual updates, and reducing the typical churn associated with coordinating across professional disciplines.
This design-to-fabrication ecosystem will leverage Autodesk’s industry-leading cloud platform and Building Information Modeling (BIM) leadership to integrate disparate workflows – enabling architects and structural engineers to mechanical, electrical, plumbing (MEP) professionals, fabricators and contractors – to quickly and collaboratively develop and document projects.
“Autodesk’s Forge Fund investment in Project Frog is expected to put into place a more seamless industrialized construction workflow connecting design to fabrication,” said Nicolas Mangon, Vice President, Autodesk AEC Business Strategy and Marketing. “The building industry is beginning to look a lot more like manufacturing than traditional construction, and this investment offers significant opportunity to improve productivity, resulting in decreased risk and increased profit margins for construction teams and projects.”
Autodesk Forge is a connected developer cloud platform which enables customers to create customized, scalable solutions for engineering, construction and manufacturing challenges. As a continuation of their development efforts and a member of the Forge community, Project Frog leverages cloud technologies to push tighter integration between their own internally developed web tools and core Autodesk applications (particularly around Revit and Fusion). More information about Project Frog’s integration with Forge can be found here.
The Changing Construction Environment
A convergence of factors is driving change in the way buildings are designed and delivered. For decades, productivity in the construction industry has remained flat relative to manufacturing, where steady incremental gains are highlighted by the rapid pace of industrial and technological innovation and adoption. Meanwhile, chronic and widespread shortages in the availability of skilled labor, exacerbated by an aging workforce and declining availability of new workers, are increasing project costs and delays.
Building Information Modeling (BIM), spearheaded by Autodesk Revit has, over the last 15 years, helped streamline the way architects and engineers collaborate on projects. However, there still remain portions of the market using a more siloed collaboration approach. While some new technologies have helped to automate the manual process of data transfer, currently no solutions exist to automate design or integrate design and engineering data, further slowing the design process. The new Autodesk-Project Frog integration will remove many time-intensive processes, eliminate errors, and keep projects on time and on budget.
Related Stories
University Buildings | Jul 21, 2015
Maker spaces: Designing places to test, break, and rebuild
Gensler's Kenneth Fisher and Keller Roughton highlight recent maker space projects at MIT and the University of Nebraska that provide just the right mix of equipment, tools, spaces, and disciplines to spark innovation.
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 20, 2015
New stylus brings digital sketching to the next level
Without buttons, users can change the weight of the stylus’ stroke.
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 16, 2015
BIM for O+M: New app streamlines project documentation handover process
The Building Ops app enables owners to begin operations on the first day with a turnkey maintenance and asset management solution, according to its maker, Autodesk.
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 15, 2015
Google launches open-source beacon platform: Eddystone
Though beacons usually broadcast information publicly, Eddystone has the option to communicate privately as well, which greatly expands the applications for the technology.
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 14, 2015
New city-modeling software quantifies the movement of urban dwellers
UNA for Rhino 3D helps determine the impact that urban design can have on where pedestrians go.
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 14, 2015
Nation’s first 'drone park' breaks ground in North Dakota
This is one of six testing sites around the country that are developing flight standards and evaluating the utility of drones for different tasks.
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 6, 2015
BIM/VDC training is more than learning the features
Training can be a taxing experience for both the class and the instructor. CASE's Nathan Miller offers four ways to make training more relevant to practitioners.
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 6, 2015
Researchers increase GPS precision to centimeter-accurate
A new startup is working with Samsung to develop a snap-on accessory for centimeter-accurate global positioning.
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 6, 2015
New documentary shows Legos as touchstones of creativity
The film's narrator, actor Jason Bateman, says it’s a story “about a simple toy and how its unique properties ushered in a new era of creativity for a whole generation.”
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 1, 2015
World’s first fully 3D-printed office to be produced in Dubai
A 20-foot-tall printer will be needed for the project, spewing out construction material consisting of special reinforced concrete, fiber reinforced plastic, and glass fiber reinforced gypsum.
