Why I attended Dalux Summit 2022
And why you should too next year!
I had the opportunity to speak at the Dalux Summit in 2021 and sadly had to cancel due to illness, so I was really looking forward to attending this year's event. It was an honour to speak on the second day (more on that later). If you've read my earlier post I spoke about my reasons for attending Dalux Summit 2022. This blog post will talk about the event in general and why you should consider attending in 2023.
A warm welcome
The summit started for me on the Monday at the pre-launch networking event, which was very well attended - refreshments were excellent. This networking gave me the opportunity to meet some of the other attendees, mainly from the UK and Ireland as we all congregated together. It was highly valuable to speak to people from such businesses as Kier, Balfour Beatty, HS2, CPD Construction and John Sisk & Son and many more.
Dalux Roadmap and Developer Talks
The morning was focused on the Welcome and product Roadmap. Torben (CEO) provided some incredible stats on the business growth:
- 200-300 people in 1 year
- 55% growth rate
Bent (CFO) provided a lot of information on the development roadmap, the highlights for me / EHL being:
Model and Data Validation - both will provide high value to our processes
Being able to validate the model within Dalux rather than a 3rd party solution just makes the whole process simpler. Teaching people to do this for themselves will be the way forward for EHL
Data validation for a BIM data geek like myself was of extremely high interest, even more so as we develop our integrated data profile further within the business. I already have plans (in my head) on how we can use this between our internal departments as part of the handover process to ensure accuracy and validity of the data needed as part of the digital workflow. Once this is implemented, I will write a further piece with examples and outcomes.
As the above process works in the “Shared” area of the project within Dalux it also enables us to provide a thorough process flow in line with ISO 19650.
Compare 3D models to highlight changes in version history
You can already perform this task with drawings, but being able to also do this using the 3D models is highly advantageous to EHL based on the new digital process we recently implemented for our Fire Duct products and the removal of the need to create 2D sheets in Revit.
Changes to suit digital workflows based on the Status Code and Revision
Mainly a quality-of-life upgrade for those who conform to ISO 19650, but also being able to build this into the Dalux Field Digital Workflows (where needed) will help EHL.
One of the aspects of the current Dalux way of working is being able to place a QR code on the drawing so that you can quickly scan it to make sure it is the latest version. Of course this should be controlled by relevant processes already, but it's always great to have a checking function too. However, we couldn’t use this in its current form, as the QR code only appeared when the document was printed, which meant our digital version didn’t have this code and as such didn’t align visually with what had been issued - this was caught at our ISO audit.
But Dalux are going to improve this so that the QR code (and company stamp if you need such things) are now a part of the digital representation before printing occurs!
Another big one for EHL was development on the Dalux API and integration. This is vital for our interaction with our other digital solutions, gathering and using data for metrics and improvements etc.
Quantity Take-Off based on properties
Again, we have ways of doing this outside of Dalux currently, but being able to generate rudimentary quantities in the Locations module will make it easier for our users as it's within the same environment they currently work in.
Custom field reports
This was one of the more “need” development aspects that was shown. We have many reports that we generate and use within our business, especially those in Manufacturing, that being able to custom develop these to suit our needs will be a next step in our digital evolution.
And finally, Sitewalk development. We haven’t used Sitewalk though we are on the list of being able to lend the camera from the Dalux UK team. The ability to use this solution to gather information on sites will assist our teams on projects to use this information to track and monitor progress.
The afternoon of Day 1 and the whole of Day 2 was comprised of user presentations and Dalux specific developer talks on the individual modules. I attended more presentations on Day 1 as that was my focus for that day. It was interesting to listen and learn how other businesses are using Dalux, and what was of high interest was the focus these businesses have made on using aspects of the solution to a high level, rather than using all the models as is the case with EHL. This enabled me to gain insight into more detailed ways of using specifics that I can take back the business and help us with our overall ways of working.
Day 1 ended with a fantastic networking event in one of the local Irish Bars, where Dalux had the whole of the top floor allocated to their attendees and colleagues. It was a fun get together and the networking that occurred was more of the personal variety rather than business, which was also great, getting to know people outside of a work context is very important and highly enjoyable and rewarding.
Presenting Exyte Hargreaves' Digital Transformation
On Day 2 I attended the early presentations in room 1 and then did my own presentation, which, based on feedback and questions outside the hall afterwards, went well. As usual my slide on digital transformation using an elephant analogy was the one I was most asked about, not only in terms of it being a good idea, but also in terms of more detail on how that worked within the business and the hurdles we had to get over in implementing this digital way of working.
My focus on day 2 was either to attend the Dalux specific developer talks, or network with other attendees in the hall outside. I met too many people and businesses to list here, but they were from all over Europe and from many different business activities, and all were excellent discussions. As I travelled alone, I was often approached by other attendees who were also seeking to talk / meet up and the friendliness was great to see.
Why attend a Dalux event in the future?
So, why should you attend a Dalux event in the future? Either the summit or the local country events? For me it was meeting people (and I’m quite an introvert at such places). Learning from others experience was worth the ticket and costs in itself, the presentations and developer discussions where the icing on the cake.
I would actually say it's worth attending these events even if you are not a Dalux user, as the issues and discussions that occurred are of value to all working in the construction industry. Everyone is aware of, and has, the same issues, and being able to share the knowledge on how to overcome these is sometimes the best way to move your own business forward.
The only thing Dalux needed to improve on the summit itself was more time to move between the presentation classes, it was a bit of a mad rush on occasions. For EHL and I, what I would have improved would have been to have more members from the business attend, from different areas and different points of views, as there were too many presentations to attend individually, but also the opportunity to share and learn from other perspectives and questions.
Either myself, or one of my team, will be at the next event in the UK/Ireland - so if you are going to attend, please do take the time to come and say hello, and expand our networking discussions.
Pete Foster, Head of Digital - Innovation, Systems & Engineering
