In the next few blog posts I will be sharing my Top 5 Reasons why construction contractors should take advantage of Matterport technology - right now.
First, some background on me. In 2018 I was working as a BIM Coordinator for Mann Mechanical, a well respected mechanical contractor in the Atlanta, GA area that specializes in pre-fabricating and installing pipe for plumbing and mechanical systems. I was juggling multiple projects that required high levels of coordination. I learned a few things in the process. In order to coordinate, pre-fabricate, and install construction projects in an efficient way, data transfer from the model to the field and from the field to the model has to be seamless. Inefficiencies arise when you have multiple versions of data stored in separate locations being accessed by separate teams. Inefficiencies arise from human error when data is not communicated accurately. Inefficiencies arise when multiple site visits are required because necessary information was missed on previous visits.
It is always better to catch the error in the office than it is to catch the error in the field.
One day, while sitting in my office at Mann, I was scrolling down my facebook feed and I noticed a facebook ad for this new piece of equipment called the Matterport Pro2. The ad blew me away. I felt like my BIM prayers had been answered. I purchased one and began using it on the BIM projects that I managed. PGP Design Group was born. Mann began to outsource reality capture work to my company. Some may see that as a conflict of interest but there was a high level of trust between myself and my supervisor. He understood that I was passionate about advancing the virtual design and construction industry. Also, the going rate for scanning a typical mechanical room with traditional laser scanners was about $3,000 per day and I was offering to do similar work at a rate of $1,000 per day or less depending on the size of the job. I recruited 2 employees willing to scan anything at anytime which freed me up to focus on my BIM coordination efforts. There were some hiccups, which typically happens when integrating new technologies in your workflow, however, both myself and my supervisor understood the potential of this new technology and vowed to find a way to leverage it in our companies. I was layed off by Mann Mechanical about a year after I started. Shortly after, I was hired by Victaulic Manufacturing Company as a VDC coordinator. When I walked into the Victaulic headquarters as a new employee with a scheduled Revit training session led by the infamous "Revit Ralph" I felt like I finally made it to the major leagues. Victaulic really taught me the value of including reality capture in VDC workflows. Through an experience shared by another VDC coordinator at Victaulic, I learned that the companies that employed reality capture typically do so at the begining or the end of a project. These companies very rarely employed progressive scanning which would have solved the issue face by my colleague. I learned a lot since my introduction to Matterport and the creation of my company in 2018.