Intro
Systems allows you to gain increased visibility in the planning, building and maintenance stages of a project. This is because a System in not a physical object, but an entity that connects two or more physical Components together such as Electrical, Heating, Plumbing, etc. This increased visibility into how these entities connect helps to reduce errors and anticipated potential complications before they happen. In short, the Systems Module enhances your team’s communication around projects while creating a record that can be utilized at all stages of the project.
This document will provide guidance about the quickest way to get started using Systems, explore some more in-depth options, and then review the potential next steps for you to work with the dRofus Customer Success team to enable Systems in your projects.
Why Systems?
Imagine that you walk into your local library. You have been to this library before, but now things are much different. Books are everywhere. There are stacks on some shelves, other books are in piles on the floor. These books are not in any specific order by topic, author name, or title.
So, what has made the library different? It is the organization and cataloguing of the books and resources in the library. This organization is the “invisible” variable that makes the library what it is. Being able to walk in and find a specific book by title or being able to browse for a book by topic is what makes a library a profound place to learn and gain understanding.
Now, let’s imagine a well-maintained library. The books are on the shelves and everything organized by a categorization system. This is exactly what Systems are in dRofus. Systems provides an “invisible” organization to a project that allows for everyone to know how and where to find what is important to them, when they need it. This analogy is what we want you to keep in mind as you learn more about the function and importance of Systems.
Definition:
Systems can at times be a complex topic with challenging ideas. To better support this, here are some key terms that define the essential concepts around Systems.
For each of the terms, we have highlighted each term in a 3D model of a ventilation unit.
System
A System is not a physical object, but an entity that connects two or more physical Components together.
In the example, the ventilation Components (duct, air diffusers, etc.) are highlighted, but the air handling unit is not because it is a System Component and not part of the System.
Component
A Component is an Occurrence of an Item that has been connected to a System.
Outside of the Systems Module, Item Occurrences in dRofus are typically associated with a Room. A Component does not need to be planned in a Room which allows dRofus to capture all objects in the model, not just the room-centric objects.
In the example model, an Occurrence of an Air Diffuser is highlighted as a single Component.
System Component
A System Component is a Component that owns and defines one or more Systems.
In the example model, the Air Handling unit is highlighted. This is connected to the Ventilation System as well as being powered by the Electrical System and supplied with water from the Plumbing System.
Item
Everything in the Systems Module is built around Items. An Item that has been placed in a project is known as an Occurrence. An Item can have several Occurrences, and multiple Occurrences can be placed in multiple Systems.
In BIM terms, an Item can be equated to a 'Type' and an Occurrence can be equated to an 'Instance'.
In the example model, each Occurrence of the Air Diffusers are highlighted as a single Item.
Classifications
National or international standard that describes codes that are human readable once you become familiar with the codes (Omniclass, Uniclass)
We recommend this and it should be used in dRofus. You can create a basic classification so that you can make it possible to separate between
Why implementing Systems in your organization?
We are going to show you an example of how you can populate your Systems data using Revit, IFC or Excel and the process of populating all your Systems data in dRofus.
Connecting dRofus and Revit using System Module
There are numerous advantages to establishing a connection between dRofus and Revit using the Systems Module. To illustrate, we will provide some helpful examples in the Planning, Building and phases of a dRofus Project.
Planning phase
In the planning phase, connecting Systems to Revit allows to automatically sync data. This means that any changes made in dRofus will automatically be reflected in Revit. The opposite will be true as well.
The result of this connection is your teams can more easily share information across disciplines. For example, enhanced communication with the Engineers on a project. Since most Engineers are already maintaining their data in Revit (or a similar software) it become easier to ensure increased information sharing with you team members who maintain their data in dRofus.
This allows for increased visibility around the selection and installation of an item, occurrence, and component, such as an air handling unit. Even though one team is responsible for delivering the object the team responsible for connecting it to the systems (electrical and ventilation) can see the required connections beforehand and anticipate the scope and any potential complication of installation.
Building phase
In the building phase, Contractors responsible for placing an item or occurrence that is connected to a System will not need to rely on the drawings. They will be able to use dRofus to have a clear and accurate representation of installation. Additionally, Systems provide the ability to actively monitor the building status of a project. This means that an object, that is connected to multiple systems can be monitored by all disciplines involved. As a result, you can monitor the progress of other people’s work without having to visit the site.
Maintenance phase
During the maintenance phase of a project the Facilities Management team will have everything in an instance of dRofus even before the project is complete. Of course, this will include all the log records from Revit and dRofus for all of the teams involved in the Planning and Building phases. This will assist in the ability to anticipate upcoming projects and work to scope and plan for them.
Connecting your data with Systems in dRofus
Once you have enabled the Systems Module, there are four key steps to start working with your data in dRofus and Revit. Remember, these are steps we ask you complete with the help of a dRofus Support Specialist.
Steps that need to be taken to set up a connection to Revit on Systems:
Link Families to Items
Link Spaces to Rooms
Choose what to be written in systems
Attribute configuration
Choose what categories to include in the import
For those or you that are not using the Revit add-on, the same import of systems and components from IFC or Excel.
Planning your data with System in dRofus
Video Four: Planning with your data with Systems in dRofus-Part One
Connecting your Systems to Revit, IFC or another planning tool is an excellent start, but if you want additional visibility and insights, we recommend start planning your data in dRofus.
Planning your data with Systems inside of your dRofus project allows you to have a better connection between different disciplines. For instance, between mechanical objects and electrical objects. Although this process has more steps, we are confident you will be pleased with the additional outputs.
Remember, this is a process we ask you to setup with the help of a dRofus Support Specialist. However, we would like to give you an example of the process in action to illustrate these connections.
Let’s go into the Systems Module.
Planning with your data with Systems in dRofus-Part Two
Using a ventilation unit as an example we will create a new component without importing.
Select the Item group that you want to add the System to.
In this case we will be selecting ’03 - HVAC & Plumbing’
Select the lowest level of the Item group
For this example, we will select ‘03 – Mechanical’
With the Item Group highlighted, Select New System Component
In the Window that appears you will be able to select an Item from the Item group using the dropdown menu
In the case we are selecting the item 0303.001 - M_Air Handling
Fill out the information in the window
Serial number, name and select the team responsible
This information can be edited later
Now, you have added an Air Handling unit.
Planning with your data with Systems in dRofus-Part Three
We now want to create our Electrical System to connect to the Mechanical System that we just created.
To connect the two Systems, go to the Electrical Item Group
In this case we will be selecting ’04 - Electrical’
Select the Service Panel Group.
For this example, we will select ‘07 – Service Panels’
With the Item Group highlighted, Select New System Component
In the Window that appears, select an Item from the Item group using the dropdown menu
We are selecting the item 0407.001 - Ward room panel
Fill out the information in the window
Serial number, name and select the team responsible
This information can be edited later
Now that we have our Panel created, we can create a circuit that will connect the Electrical and Mechanical Systems.
We can do this by connecting the Panel to the Air Handling unit in the other System
Planning with your data with Systems in dRofus-Part Four
This can be done by adding a component to the System as a member
Select Add Member and then search for the component you want to connect to
Select the Component and then select Create new System
We are going to call this ‘Ventilation Offices’
By completing these steps, you have connected multiple Systems for the Items that exist in your project.
In addition to this, you can complete this process using the Omni Class system. For those familiar with this categorization system, it makes a quick reference to see where items and occurrences are linked to. dRofus can deliver Omni Class numbers to the model, which is helpful if you want unique numbers on components.
The advantage to this approach is that that you can quickly build out your Systems with items and occurrences and they will already exist in your dRofus project. This means in an early phase, you can add items and they will be visible across the disciplines on the project.
Video Five: Potential Outputs with Systems in dRofus-Part One
Now that we have shown some of the options for connecting Systems, we wanted to review a potential output that illustrates the connections that the Systems Module is capable of.
By linking what is planned in Revit to the Systems in dRofus, we can utilize a 3D Model to view planned our System.
Let’s start by syncing our project with Revit. In this example we are going to select the Air Handling Unit that we used in our prior examples. Once the unit is selected, we can link into our project in dRofus. Select the Air Handling Unit in the window that appears.
Go to the dRofus Plug-in, and select Import Selected. In the pop-up window confirm your selection and select Import. After the import has completed, you can view the results in our dRofus project.
Potential Outputs with Systems in dRofus-Part Two
Let’s go back into the Systems Module. Before getting started you will need to connect to your IFC file to the dRofus project.
Once you have connected your IFC file, you can select the 3D model on the right-hand ribbon. This will open the model viewer pane. You can then select the item group, and you will see the linked items in the viewer.
You can now see the System is now highlighted in our 3D model view.
As with all panes in a dRofus project, you can unlock the 3D Model view and adjust.
As you can see, we now have a 360 view of the 3D model that allows us to highlight and select those items, components and occurrences that are connected to our System.
Beyond this visualization, this connection to the IFC file allows you to update data in your dRofus project and allows you to synchronize any updates into your IFC file. This means that your dRofus project is the single place that you can update and visualize your Revit, dRofus and IFC data.
We hope that this tool shows what is possible once you have connected all your project data in dRofus.
Review and Resources Page Text:
In this course we have reviewed the key terms that relate to the Systems Module, provide guidance about the quickest way to get started using Systems, and explored more in-depth options for your organization.
There is much more to learn about Systems. To gain more information about the technical elements of the Systems module, we recommend reviewing the dRofus Documentation. #LINK#
Next Steps Page Text:
If you are interested in taking the next steps in using Systems to help define and enhance your project, please contact Customers Success #LINK# and let me know you are interested in Systems.
We can then provide access to the Systems module in your instance of dRofus. We then ask that you plan on a training session dedicated to helping the project team start with dRofus Systems module. This session will be designed to develop and implement a solution using Systems that is tailor fit to meet the needs of your team.