Hervé VAUTIER lets us in on his Isotip Joncoux experience during his transition to BIM.
BIM&CO: Could you tell us in a few words about your job and Isotip-Joncoux?
Hervé Vautier: I’m Hervé Vautier, Technical Director of Isotip-Joncoux, a business specialised in the fabrication of fume ducts belonging to Joncoux Group. My responsibilities within this structure are extensive, I participate mainly in technical management on three production sites in France, one situated in Charleville-Mézières, another in Le Mans and another in Rennes.
BIM&CO: Why did you decide to go down the BIM road?
Hervé Vautier: I would say that we got a feel for what we needed to do by listening to our clients. And then, it was simply a question of BIM becoming obligatory in France, which increased our awareness.
We’ve looked into this and have discovered the possibility of an additional prescription in BIM, in domains we hadn’t previously explored such as collective housing or office buildings. As we had a specific product, Apollo 3CEp, which lent itself quite well to this type of work and to BIM, we took the decision to digitise this range as a priority.
BIM&CO: As a manufacturer, what issues have you encountered during your transition to BIM?
Hervé Vautier: The main difficulty has been understanding a new field like BIM in order to make an assessment of it.
We firstly had to familiarise ourselves with what BIM was, so we formed a marketing/technical project group. We were trained by the Scientific and Technical Centre of Construction (CSTB) in 2017.
We then had to define what our targets were, as well as our means of implementation: were we going to choose to work in an autonomous manner, collaborate with a third party, or 100% subcontracting?
After having completed our tour around France of user needs in terms of BIM with our clients, we decided to work on a 100% subcontracting basis. We formed a working group with three partner design departments which showed us good and bad practices in terms of subject, and their daily client needs.
BIM&CO: What made you choose BIM&CO for the publication of your catalogue?
Hervé Vautier: Though BIM&CO is a recent structure, we were surprised by the amount of people who recommended it during our tour of France. The technical nature of BIM&CO and its understanding of complex products is widely recognised. The financial aspect was likewise considered and, on this point, BIM&CO keeps its feet firmly on the ground, without compromising on quality
BIM&CO: How has integration gone (pre-sales, sales, project, modelling, discussion, tests, private groups, team training)?
Hervé Vautier: Your account manager Damien Escolan won all the votes during the consultation phases. As we had been told, your team understood very well the technical nature of our products. For that matter, your understanding was better than that of your competitors who had already released items from brands rivalling ours.
We therefore issued a complete bill of specifications and after that, it was primarily BIM&CO that directed us, with a working group comprising our Quality Manager, a technician from your company and myself.
Aside from this structure, the collection of necessary data for BIM&CO was greatly facilitated.
We progressed step by step, reviewed three propositions in a meeting held remotely which allowed for discussion and validation of the Revit models. On the ArchiCAD side, we worked with BIMServices (the ArchiCAD partner of BIM&CO) in the same way.
Even if deadlines have been let slide relative to the original timings, we are satisfied because our targets have already been met and are ready to be used. There’s no more to it than that!
BIM&CO: What have you learnt or taken from all of this?
Hervé Vautier: I’m used to atypical projects, and to my great satisfaction this one hasn’t been the most difficult. It remains to be certified with our partners.