Previously, the author wrote an article titled Introduction to BIM 4D Simulation Software: Vico Office. That article sparked great interest, with many readers eager to learn more about BIM simulation tools. Today, the author will introduce another BIM simulation software: Synchro by Bentley. Let’s dive into the Introduction to Synchro, a BIM 4D Simulation Software.
1. Synchro Pro
Synchro Pro enhances safety, quality, and cost management throughout the entire project lifecycle. Unlike traditional project simulation, Synchro Pro offers teams a centralized visual platform to build, analyze, edit, report, and manage projects, ensuring everyone works with the most current data.
Key features include:
- Create BIM models and use the “Automatic Matching” feature to update 4D construction plans within minutes based on your schedule.
- Reduce scheduling discrepancies by visually identifying activities, work zones, and equipment; view worksheets by construction vendors.
- Manage resources to lower cost variances, track plan versus installation quantities, monitor Economic Value Added (EVA) for projects and contractors, and analyze critical paths.
- Use 4D models as the central hub for planning and decision-making during review meetings, facilitating communication and collaboration with all stakeholders.
- Perform dynamic spatial coordination analysis to assess safety risks before work begins, identifying potential overlaps, crane hazards, delays, and more.
2. Synchro Workgroup Project (SWP)
SWP is a database server that connects Synchro data within the project environment. It enables multiple users to work on the same file simultaneously—not only through Synchro Pro but also via OpenViewer, Scheduler, Site (through Link API), HoloLens (via Link API), and other third-party apps. Users connect to the server to access the latest project data in real time. Access permissions for companies, roles, and users are managed through Synchro Pro.
3. Synchro Site
Synchro Site allows you to monitor progress using 4D models on iPads or HoloLens, saving time tracking project updates. It supports quality checks and accurate tracking of installation quantities, syncing progress back to the CPM schedule in Synchro Pro for quick plan vs. actual analysis.
Main functions include:
- Work Monitoring: View work and resources from any location, on-site or office, and update status to planned, started, or completed by isolating specific resources within the model.
- Resource Status: Synchro Pro and Site work together to break down all resources into individual work projects. Customize resource states for components like floors or windows, tracking progress or interruptions.
- Notes and Photos: If resource status needs further clarification, add notes or attach photos directly.
- Synchronization: After review and submission, work and resource statuses sync back to Synchro Pro, allowing authorized users to update actual timing, keeping the entire delivery team informed to maximize productivity.
- Direct Connection to Synchro Workgroup Project: Synchro Site retrieves and sets project data via SWP, enabling an additional layer of users to contribute real-time project updates.
4. Synchro Scheduler
Synchro Scheduler offers comprehensive scheduling capabilities:
- CPM Scheduling: Build schedules from scratch by adding task descriptions, durations, and logic. Synchro CPM calculates start/end dates and critical paths, supports multiple calendars, constraints, lags, and displays plans in work breakdown structures or activity codes.
- Interoperability: Import, export, and synchronize with popular scheduling software such as Oracle Primavera, Microsoft Project, Excel, PMA Netpoint, and Asta Powerproject. Create plans in Synchro and export to meet contract requirements or consolidate multiple contract plans into a master schedule.
- Productivity Scheduling: Task durations are automatically calculated based on assigned work productivity and quantities. Changes in quantity or predicted productivity immediately update task durations. Synchro’s CPM engine shows how labor changes impact the entire schedule, or vice versa, allowing you to set fixed durations and calculate required productivity.
- Resource Management and Optimization: Define human, material, equipment, and location resources and allocate them to tasks. Automatically compute work durations based on productivity rules. View Economic Value Added (EVA) at job or project level. Use resource utilization maps to identify over- or underused resources and continuously update plans.
- Standard Reporting: Generate Gantt charts, resource lists, and standard reports including resource utilization and EVA. Customize task or resource reports with color coding. Export data to Excel for further analysis.
5. Synchro Open Viewer
Synchro Open Viewer allows users to:
- View Complete Project Files: Open 4D projects created in Synchro Pro. Check plans via Gantt charts and 3D views. Play construction sequences from start to finish or jump to specific dates to see active tasks and highlighted 3D objects. Navigate models with 360° views and anticipate safety concerns.
- Conflict Detection Reports: Identify design and construction conflicts early, saving time and cost. Synchro generates detailed interference reports (3D PDFs or Excel) pinpointing conflict timing and location, helping prioritize resolutions. Users can mark drawings, save camera angles, project dates, and applied filters as viewpoints accessible by team members for easy navigation and collaboration.
- View, Save, and Share Reports: Generate Gantt charts and other standard reports, which can be exported as PDFs for sharing.
That concludes our Introduction to Synchro, a BIM 4D Simulation Software. I hope this overview proves helpful! In the future, when time allows, I will introduce other BIM software and platforms to provide a broader understanding and knowledge of BIM technologies.
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