Since starting the business, the construction industry has changed, and while many would say it has been slow to adopt digital process, the pandemic of the last few years has somewhat sped up the move to digital for many.  Alongside this an increasing focus on sustainability, digital cities and the ongoing discussion around ‘golden thread’ legislation as the fall-out from the Grenfell disaster of 2017, has meant the need to create, keep and audit accurate digital records of buildings has never been greater. This backdrop provides some of the core reasoning behind Fexillon launching their next generation Asset Management Platform.    

The core problem faced by many of Fexillon’s clients is the lack of support for sharing information across project teams during the construction or extensive refurbishment of a building. Architects, contractors, and sub-contractors all have very different agendas when it comes to the data held in a digital replication of the built environment.  

The biggest hurdle in developing a digital plan of works and asset management software that spans design through to handover and maintenance is tackling this lack of communication and the overall reluctance to embrace BIM.  

“ When we started working with Steve and the team the first thing they really taught us was that BIM as a standalone concept isn’t really that useful for an end client – it’s the data within the BIM model that provides the basis for creating collaborative, visually descriptive tools that are useful for clients and partners.”  

Working in partnership with xbim, Fexillon integrated their own platform with Flex, xbim’s enterprise level, cloud-based BIM platform.  Flex builds on the foundations of the industry tested and recognized xbim Toolkit – developed by founding members of xbim more than 10 years ago.  Key to the success of xbim and their product offer is their believe and understanding of OpenBIM – seasoned experts in the complexity of BIM Standards, the team understand the power in extracting BIM data from proprietary software and unlocking it’s interoperability potentials using the IFC standard.  It’s this process that then allows Flex partner to show this BIM data through their own user applications.  From here they can allow users to access the information throughout the project, assuring information standards are met, with the ultimate aim that the data can be used to fulfil both the operational needs of the asset and also provide business insights as part of a fully integrated Digital Twin. 

For Fexillon this functionality, alongside partnerships with Microsoft and GS1 have allowed for the creation of a Digital Plan of Works platform that gives everyone on the project the ability to connect and collaborate from the beginning, following the data throughout the stages into operational use, creating the golden thread of information that will increasingly be required on construction projects.  

“Allowing for communication through the platform for clients and collaborative users, sharing reviews and feedback potentially even call outs for remediation on models is a huge part of the new Fexillon platform. Introducing and expanding on this communication functionality is going to be powerful in terms of what we’re going to add to the product as we go forward.” 

In terms of the future of the Fexillon platform, the relationship with xbim is ongoing and the team have plenty more they’d like to add so watch this space!  

“Being involved with Andy and the team at this point is exciting because I think that they’re on a very strong path with the platform and we’re excited to be partnered with them on that.  The possibilities with the flex platform and its integration with our platform are so varied from looking at sustainability, workflows to simplify and speed up client processes, embodied carbon calculations and so much more.”