Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the infrastructure engineering software company, Nov. 10 announced advancements to its construction management solution with enhancements to SYNCHRO 4D and the addition of SYNCHRO Cost and SYNCHRO Perform applications. The new advancements and portfolio expansion enable construction firms to transform how they plan, manage and execute their projects.

“SYNCHRO helps The Lane Construction Corporation have access to all our project-level data,” said Andy Kaiyala, former vice president of bid development at The Lane Construction Corporation. “Our field and corporate managers, along with the executives who lead them, now have timely access to critical business information through SYNCHRO. It is access to this information that helps improve forward-looking decision-making. Our industry has been far too reliant on backward-looking reports and analysis. It is time to start looking ahead and planning for success. SYNCHRO helps us make a plan that we can rely on.”

SYNCHRO 4D now offers advanced 4D/5D model authoring with leading-edge model-splitting tools to create constructible components, assignment of construction attributes to the model, mixed reality modeling, construction geometry placement, and web and mobile access to improve team collaboration, status updates and progress reporting from the field. The addition of SYNCHRO Cost helps project teams control budgets and track financial progress throughout the contract with support for multi-contract capture, payment application tracking and change order management, minimizing financial risk and maximizing project profits. SYNCHRO Perform enables construction performance management, including the ability to capture daily progress quantities, diaries, unplanned events, timesheets, tickets and estimated field costs to provide the shortest cycle time for project feedback and productivity insights.

Image courtesy of Bentley Systems

Construction firms are striving to deliver more complex projects, address resource gaps and supply chain disruptions, and manage data transparency issues while trying to win more work, manage risk and deliver profitability. SYNCHRO’s advancements in leveraging 4D/5D models with web access for team collaboration, performance management for progress tracking and reporting, and cost management to minimize risk and maximize profits will transform the way projects are planned and delivered – with digitized workflows to address these challenges.

Leading-edge construction firms are using 4D models to build and optimize schedules and communicate sequencing and staging in a virtual environment. Digital rehearsals are a core part of their planning process to ensure resources are optimized, reducing rework and increasing safety. With the enhancements to SYNCHRO 4D, the accessibility and value of the 4D model is extended to more project stakeholders. The new capabilities improve communication and coordination of optimized plans, enabling real-time collaboration and model-based field-collected data to ensure projects stay on track.

“Construction teams need to ensure that they are in control of both the schedule and costs of their projects,” said Rich Humphrey, vice president of construction at Bentley Systems. “The addition of SYNCHRO Cost and SYNCHRO Perform extends SYNCHRO’s industry leading 4D scheduling and project management solutions to include more capabilities to help contractors manage their costs and effectively connect the planning and tracking of costs and schedule. Time is money and we want project teams to save more of both with SYNCHRO.”

SYNCHRO Cost works with SYNCHRO 4D’s model-based quantity take-off, which includes model splitting to generate constructible components complete with work breakdown structure and cost codes so that estimators can quickly and accurately generate estimates. Moreover, SYNCHRO Cost can control contract changes and simplify payment applications, tracking line items and percentage complete against a schedule of values.

Image courtesy of Bentley Systems

SYNCHRO Cost leverages the performance data in SYNCHRO Perform so project teams can manage and leverage field performance data to gain an accurate picture of actual costs from the field to compare to planned costs and schedule, delivering a complete view of the project’s performance. These digital workflows better connect the office and job site with real-time information. Supplementing contracts and change orders with evidentiary documents and images can prove invaluable in avoiding contract disputes.

With daily, clear line-of-sight into the management of all site resources from staff, sub-contractors and equipment, SYNCHRO Perform fills the gaps between end-of-month financial reporting cycles. And, with project leadership potentially at a disadvantage when it comes to decision-making due to delays in progress capture and errors in data entry, SYNCHRO Perform provides a timely source of truth for all performance management data and metrics so that project leadership knows the health of every project. Construction-specific features capture daily progress quantities, diaries, unplanned events, timesheets, tickets and estimated costs from field personnel, providing leadership with the timely data they need to make informed decisions.

SYNCHRO supports the entire heavy civil construction project life cycle, empowering firms going digital with real-time insight into the performance, productivity and financial health of their projects to make more informed, data-driven decisions. Project teams stay connected and become collaborative with simple mobile and web interfaces for office-to-field workflows.