How commercial interior firms can deliver 10X faster with Snaptrude & Revit

What's in this blog?

• Why firms struggle with turnaround despite BIM
• How Snaptrude + Revit saves hundreds of project hours
• How to try the Revit+Snaptrude integration

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Why firms struggle with turnaround despite BIM

Commercial interior design is vital to a business looking to stand out from the competition. However, the rising demand and changing expectations in the field bring several challenges to firms working on interior projects. Some of them include the need for rapid turnover, maintaining client communication round the clock, managing change orders, and controlling project costs/time.

BIM tools like Revit have become indispensable and help firms tackle some of these challenges. But they still do not solve them effectively. If you're a commercial interior firm using Revit, you'll agree that all the other tools that help win clients don't integrate well with Revit. E.g., AutoCAD, Sketchup, Rhino, Bluebeam Revu, and more.

To understand how crucial interoperability and collaboration are in a workflow, look at the image below where we've mapped the basic activities undertaken in an Architecture firm during design development. We've listed the most popular software used in each activity, assuming the firm is 'BIM enabled.' Essentially, we're trying to understand how well the software works together in a typical BIM workflow, i.e., how easy it is to transfer information from one tool to another without rework. You'll immediately notice that most products are non-collaborative, even when Architectural teams are always more than one person. They are also non-interoperable restricting users from transmitting information to other software seamlessly.

How Snaptrude + Revit saves hundreds of project hours

Because of disconnected workflow, commercial interior firms struggle to communicate information and collaborate with clients effectively. Teams often end up redoing sheets and models with every change order. Most firms still share details through 2D drawings, emails, and presentations, even in a Revit workflow. While these are good, a 3-dimensional BIM model is much more helpful in communicating design because it's a virtual replica of the project and has all the data the client needs. But firms cannot leverage the information-rich Revit models due to their complexity.

Here is where Snaptrude's bi-directional link with Revit is a game changer. It allows anyone to collaborate, make changes, comment, or access project data on Snaptrude and sync it back to Revit with no data loss. It's like using a "3D version of Bluebeam" with Revit integration.

Project stakeholders can leverage the bi-directional link in two ways:
(i) Import Revit models into Snaptrude for collaborative design review, make changes in 3D and append changes to the Revit model with a simple click of a button
(ii) Collaboratively design conceptual models on Snaptrude and seamlessly export to Revit for detailing and documentation

Snaptrude is much more accessible and user-friendly than Revit, Autodesk Viewer, or BIM 360, allowing firms to collaborate with clients over 3D BIM instead of 2D drawings and data sheets. Meetings can be conducted remotely on Snaptrude using the brainstorm mode, allowing teams to capture comments, iterate over options, and access building data. This essentially replaces emails, WhatsApp, Slack, and other platforms while centralizing communication.

Because the model on Snaptrude is BIM, it has all the relevant data. For example, if your clients want to explore design changes, you can quickly do it on Snaptrude and see how it affects cost/quantity/areas or compliance. Hence, decisions are taken then and there. Once the client approves the changes, the model can be synced back to your Revit file for further documentation.

Take a look at what BIM workflows can look like now, with Revit & Snaptrude working together. Architectural workflows that are cluttered with disconnected tools can now save over 40% of time and software costs by using Snaptrude with Revit. The two products together, drastically improves collaboration, communication, productivity and efficiency in projects. 

How to try the Revit + Snaptrude integration

If you're a commercial interior firm interested in exploring the Revit-Snaptrude link, please book a demo. We'd love to listen to your challenges and offer our input.

For free and pro users of Snaptrude, this feature will soon be available to use. Make sure to sign up to Snaptrude to receive timely updates!