UK-based document and BIM process management software developer Opentree has been acquired by Graitec.
Teesside, UK-based Opentree, a provider of enterprise document management solutions, has been acquired – for an undisclosed amount – by France-based Graitec, an Autodesk reseller and developer of BIM, fabrication and design software (it has a UK office in Southampton). Opentree’s software portfolio includes a PAS 1192-compliant BIM workflow solution, Cabinet (May 2017 post), widely integrated with several providers of common data environments (CDEs), including Oracle Aconex, Business Collaborator, Viewpoint (October 2017 post) and Autodesk’s BIM360 Docs.
Cabinet supports the in-house “work-in-progress” phase of BIM authoring, prior to designs being shared with the client’s wider project team. UK BIM expert Mervyn Richards worked with the firm to ensure it supports the BS1192:2007 processes required at Level 2, with Cabinet helping compliance through automated file naming and seamless upload to the client’s CDE.
Practices and businesses with a further requirement to publish project data externally to a hosted environment are then often faced with the challenge of interfacing with multiple CDE vendors. Opentree’s Cabinet enables firms to manage internal documentation and model information locally throughout the project lifecycle and then publish to CDEs of their – or the principal contractors’ – choice, as and when a particular project dictates. A Software-as-a-Service version of Cabinet has been in development and this will continue.
Along with engineering client businesses such as Sellafield and TSP Engineering, UK AEC customers include UK contractor NM Group, offsite construction specialist Fusion Building Systems, and the Purcell design practice.
Graitec view
In the company’s announcement, Graitec president Francis Guillemard says:
“this acquisition will be pivotal in helping our customers with the day to day management of their project documentation from initial conception and tender, through to project delivery.”
Steve Houlder, Graitec COO says:
“The BIM market and the BIM for Manufacturing market is growing at a rapid rate in many countries. One of the major difficulties faced by our customers at all levels from housing development through to capital projects, is the management of data from project conception to the start of the collaboration phase, ensuring data consistency and adherence to standards being one of the most important topics. With Opentree we can address this growing issue for many of our customers, aligning Graitec and Autodesk technologies.”
In September 2018, Graitec launched its BIMUP programme, offering customers tailored implementation and training support in deploying BIM. Opentree’s Cabinet would seem to be a strong addition to this offering.
Opentree view
Opentree MD Andrew Frank says:
“By joining Opentree and Graitec, our customers will further benefit from being owned by a company with a long history in design and collaboration, who have the skills and expertise to push Opentree even further into the market of W.I.P. management, We see this a key strategy for all customers to manage this process better than they do today.”
Graitec says it will now offer data management and W.I.P. management to customers who have been trying to solve the problem. By helping them adhere to data standards, deliver consistency, conform to both BS1192 and the upcoming ISO19650 BIM standards, Graitec claims it will be at the forefront in helping customers manage their data and projects effectively enabling them to achieve time and cost savings, as well as improving internal and external data quality processes.
[Disclosure: Opentree has been a client of pwcom.co.uk Limited since July 2017. This post is not part of its work for the company.]
