SSOE, Inc.
SSOE Uses Bentley Training to Meet Aggressive BIM Goals
SSOE constantly faces the challenge of differentiating itself in a variety of very competitive markets. The firm believes that utilizing BIM on every project by 2009 will be one factor that will help set it apart through more efficient processes, improved customer service, higher quality documents, improved media exposure, and highest total value. The Bentley Institute will be instrumental in allowing SSOE to achieve this aggressive goal, which it feels is a pillar of its future success.
SSOE, Inc. is an international design firm that ranks eighth among the United States' largest engineering and architecture firms (Building Design and Construction, 2007). The company has grown its revenue more than 25 percent for three consecutive years. SSOE has also been named one of nine Best AEC Firms to Work For (Building Design and Construction, 2007) and one of the fastest-growing U.S. architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting firms by ZweigWhite, Hot List 2007.
With 1,000 employees and multi-disciplined LEED™ accredited professionals employed in 18 offices around the world, the company has earned a solid reputation in facility design for the healthcare, retail, automotive, and science and technology markets, as well as process engineering for the alternative energy, biofuels, chemical, food and beverage, glass, and personal care industries. SSOE has completed projects in 48 states and 32 countries, and has achieved 60 years of excellence in engineering and architectural design.
Challenges
- SSOE set the goal of implementing every project using BIM by 2009. To meet its mandate, every employee in every discipline must be trained in BIM.
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- The number of employees has increased by nearly 50 percent in three years.
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- A busy staff in diverse geographic locations can make training difficult and costly to schedule and provide.
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- The firm’s internal R&D team had been doubling as trainers on an as-needed basis, but the significant increase in training to meet the BIM mandate threatened to overwhelm them.
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- The AE environment is increasingly competitive, not only in terms of winning work, but in recruiting and retaining top talent.
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Solution
- Bentley Institute provides a formalized vehicle for training and integrating the significant number of new employees.
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- Bentley facilitates SSOE’s geographic growth by allowing the firm to provide consistent training for all employees regardless of their location at a reasonable cost.
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- The firm also utilizes specialized training for R&D team members responsible for the internal advancement of SSOE’s processes and workflows.
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Results
- Flexible and frequent training helps to accommodate SSOE’s busy staff to ensure they are able to attend training that fits into their schedules and results in high attendance rates.
- Web-based learning has not only reduced SSOE’s investment in bringing staff in from around the country for centralized training, but has also improved profitability by taking its staff away from billable work for less time and improved general satisfaction with the course by providing it on the employees’ own terms.
- Account-specific training, using SSOE standards, makes it much easier for employees to translate training into their every day work.
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- The use of Bentley Institute training has allowed internal SSOE R&D resources to focus on its core business and the application of the technology to its workflow and processes rather than training.
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- Bentley Institute aides recruitment efforts by making SSOE’s training programs more attractive to potential employees and by widening the relevant applicant pool beyond those who may already be trained in its specific software needs (as well as allowing for a more constructive use of its extensive co-op resources).
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- SSOE has been able to quickly improve staff skill levels in the use of 3D and building information modeling, allowing the firm to meet ever shortening delivery deadlines, still improving the quality of the construction documents it delivers to clients. With a reduction in coordination errors, clients have seen shorter construction timeframes and fewer change orders.
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- By offering a major retail client a prototype store developed completely inside the computer, SSOE has fostered a whole new way of doing business with this client and helped them to save on current and future construction and modification costs. Beyond the hard dollars saved, this contribution to the client’s business process has positioned SSOE’s architects and engineers as experts.
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Fast Facts
Employees: 1,000+
Services:
| Advanced Technologies |
Engineering |
| Architecture |
Sustainable Solutions |