Increase sales with 3D product configurators in the Revit plugin

What is a BIM configurator?

The BIM configurator is a tool that helps the architect to select the right manufacturer's products during the creation of a building project. Most often it works as a plugin (add-on) for a design program such as Autodesk Revit, and it is connected to the online product catalog.

Thanks to this, the designer when drawing the installation in the project:

• is confident that he selects only the correct elements,
• immediately sees the manufacturer's products on the interface,
• gets ready-made statements of materials and calculations.

In other words, instead of reviewing catalogs or asking a salesperson, a Revit user can create a complete installation based on a manufacturer's products in real time in just a few minutes.

Should the designer know the product systems?

Typically, the manufacturer does not sell one pipe or one connector. It sells a product system — a whole set of elements that must fit together: pipes, elbows, tees, fasteners, roof drains, valves, wall panels, etc.

For the designer, the problem is that it is easy to make a mistake when combining elements, and the configuration itself takes a lot of time. He does not need to know all product systems or technical details.

What does this result in? Architects either ask the manufacturer for help, or choose those products that they already know. This means that many sales opportunities run away before the products are even in the project. Thanks to configurators, we make it easier for architects to work - they do not need to know the technical details in order to correctly and quickly create a project.

Why do manufacturers and designers need BIM plugins?

Every project is a race against time. An architect or installer doesn't pay for materials — he sells his time. That's why speed and convenience matter to him. Manually adjusting elements, tedious creation of bills of materials or checking compliance with standards is a waste of hours for him.

As we wrote above, the architect does not have time to explore the technical details of hundreds of products by searching the database or in the online catalog of the manufacturer. If he doesn't know your offer, he will probably reach for what he has used before. This means that the chance of him introducing solutions from your portfolio decreases. So how do you get your system to be chosen more often? The simplest thing is to offer designers their own BIM plugin with a system configurator.

The BIM configurator comprehensively solves the above problems. This innovative solution automates the selection of products, monitors the compliance of the system with technical requirements, and finally generates ready-made lists. For the designer, this is a saving of time and the certainty that he will not make a mistake. For the manufacturer — a greater chance that his system will go into the project.

How does the Revit plugin help you design? Real examples

Below you will find descriptions of implementations for our customers for whom we have created Revit plugins with product system configurators:

Revit software for plumbing manufacturers — Uponor

Designers who worked with the manufacturer's systems previously had a problem with the manual selection of fittings and installation elements. This caused frequent errors and delays. After we deploy the configurator, the Revit plugin automatically fills in the missing elements and keeps an eye on their compatibility with the system. The result? Thanks to the add-on in Revit, designers can now create projects several times shorter, and the manufacturer's products are selected more often and without the risk of making a mistake.

Read the full case study of the implementation of the plugin for our client: https://www.bimstreamer.com/en/case-studies/bim-platform-and-revit-plugin-for-uponor

Revit plugin implementation for electrical installation manufacturer — OBO Bettermann

Architects of cable systems often risked using elements that were not compatible with each other — which ended up with design errors and complaints. The Revit plugin prepared by us for OBO allows designers to use only such combinations that are technically possible and compatible with the manufacturer's offer. The result: fewer errors, faster design and greater confidence that OBO products will be included in the project.

Read the full case study: https://www.bimstreamer.com/en/case-studies/bim-platform-and-revit-plugin-for-obo

Additional functionalities of BIM plugins

In addition to automatic product selection, the configurators in Revit plugins, of course, perform the function of graphical 3D visualizers. The user of the software has a dynamic preview of the changes and easily compares the variants already at the concept stage. But system visualization is one of the most basic functionalities of BIM plugins. They can also be extended to more advanced automations, such as:

• Generating Bill of Materials — the software allows designers to get a complete list of products in pdf or excel file with one click. In addition, the deployable connection to the online catalog ensures constant product updates, so that the BOM will always contain up-to-date BIM files. On the other hand, if the plugin is integrated into the CRM, such a list can immediately go to the merchant as a sales lead. This means that the sales department knows about the investment at the moment when the project is still on the designer's desk.
  
• Calculation modules — plugins can take into account applicable standards and automatically check the correctness of the design. An example? With roof drains, the script immediately counts whether the number of gutters and pipe diameters are suitable. Thanks to automation, the designer does not need to know the detailed adjustments, and the manufacturer is sure that his products were used correctly.
  
• Optimization of costs and logistics — the plugin can tell you how to combine packages, pipe lengths or panels to reduce waste and costs. It is a solution that at the same time facilitates the work of architects and increases the sales of the manufacturer.
  

The benefits of automation in Autodesk Revit

As BIMStreamer, we create and implement dedicated plugins for Revit, which combine the manufacturer's offer with the daily work of designers. Thanks to this, our customers' products are always “at hand”, and their selection and use are supported by automatic rules in accordance with the standards. The effect? Real impact on sales and quality of projects.

Here are the three most commonly achieved benefits for our customers:

• More frequent product placement — designers choose solutions that they have at hand and that make their daily work easier.
  
• Fewer errors and complaints — the plugin monitors the compliance of the system with the standards and eliminates the risk of bad selection.
• Generating Sales Leads — any statement of materials can become a signal to the trader that a large investment has appeared in the project.

In summary, the BIM plugin is more than just an automatic visualization

BIM configurators offer many more benefits — it is not only support for designers, but also real sales leverage for manufacturers. Thanks to them, systems are adjusted correctly, designers save time, and you receive leads even before the project is completed.

If you want to generate sales leads using your own BIM configurator — contact us. We'll show you how to do it faster and more efficiently using BIMStreamer.