PHOENIX — Autodesk, Inc., announced that building product manufacturers including Reilly Windows & Doors and Mestek, Inc., are successfully using the Autodesk solution for Digital Prototyping to collaborate with the building information modeling (BIM) process and architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms. By providing “BIM-ready” product models that can be directly incorporated into the building design and construction process, product manufacturers can help AEC firms make better design decisions around constructability, fit, aesthetics, performance, and cost, while increasing their own ability to win new business.
 
With the growing adoption of BIM in the building industry, AEC firms are increasingly requiring 3D, BIM-ready models from manufacturers as part of the acceptance criteria. Autodesk Inventor software gives building product manufacturers the ability to create digital prototypes of their products and then publish simplified 3D representations with intelligent connectors and product information as BIM objects. These 3D representations can be consumed by the Autodesk Revit suite of products, which are purpose-built BIM applications designed for architects, engineers, and construction professionals. BIM-ready models can also carry important information about a product’s green characteristics, providing early insight into potential LEED certification.
 
Reilly, which designs, fabricates, and installs custom windows and doors, relies on a Digital Prototyping workflow based on Autodesk Inventor software to design, visualize, and simulate its products digitally and to deliver models of its products to architects who use Autodesk Revit Architecture software.
 
“Delivering 3D models to architects is a huge value, particularly because most architects can’t spend time creating realistic models of windows and doors,” said Michael John Iwanyczko, director of marketing at Reilly. “We’re offering them highly detailed 3D models that they can incorporate into their architectural designs — it’s another level of service that sets us apart.”
 
Mestek, Inc., is a family of more than 30 specialty manufacturers providing heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) products. The company recently started using digital prototypes created in Inventor software to develop BIM objects and currently has a published library of more than 300 objects that can be downloaded directly into Revit models.