Offsite and its challenges
The industry talks of concepts like Offsite, Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), Prefabrication and Industrialized Construction. All in service of solving constructions biggest challenges. If you want to explore these ideas on your project though, you typically must engage in it really early on, giving you the required time to understand the impacts they will have, both positive and negative. You may need to consider supplier capabilities, interfaces with other parts of the building or procurement paths that might differ from traditional.
You also need to articulate these decisions in the design process which can involve a lot of modelling, or laying out your ideas to the rest of the design team in an effort to get clarity on cost and time implications. With that in mind, we have some core issues;
Offsite products need to be found, reviewed and tested which can take time.
Current design tools are not fit for purpose and don’t respond to a productized approach.
The industry needs quick feedback and reduced risk to truly embrace new ways.
KOPE is our response.
KOPE enables the transition away from traditional construction by integrating Offsite processes and products, fundamentally changing how we design and construct the built the environment.
To do this, we felt the industry needed two key pieces of technology, connected to deliver a platform for all of Offsite construction. The first part would be a hub for builders, suppliers, and consultants to connect and collaborate. It would allow these key players to share information, learn from each other, and identify new opportunities. The second would be a configurator utilising all of this information in all-new ways.
KOPE Market is the first part of our platform. Here, you can explore suppliers who have products that could solve your design needs as well as get a deeper understanding for how these products work, what the industry needs to do more of and see those who are making strides towards that improved future.
It focuses on what the key drivers for decisions are, such as performance, key metrics and localised availability. Although, simple product listings are never going to truly change the dynamic for Offsite. Therefore, we spent considerable effort in organising the underlying data structures to prepare for a truly digital and connected future. While you explore KOPE Market, you will see key metrics that suppliers want to present but behind that is a huge array of information enabling what KOPE truly represents.
KOPE; products into projects
The second part of our platform instantly applies real-world products directly to design models, uniting the worlds of design and manufacturing for a more efficient and repeatable future in construction.
Now, what does that really mean. Well lets discuss how bringing Offsite into a project works currently.
If you are designing a project and want to see if non-traditional products might work for you, let’s say swapping out all your stud and lined partitions for a SIPs system, you are going to make some assumptions about how the walls will perform. You may try modelling a version of the SIP into your design file and you very likely will take a bit of time doing it. If you do this early enough, you can influence decisions and have an understanding of cost and programme implications. But if its later on, all that modelling, testing, reviewing time is going to limit how much you can explore options.
KOPE is doing this for you, instantly. We are not building static objects to be placed into your design files. We are using the underlying rules of those products, (their max/mins, their loadings, their suitability, their inherent logic), to place them directly into your design so you can review, tweak, review, decide.
Our industry needs to move away from a one to one relationship with objects. We need to work at a system level. If you need a precast concrete floor, KOPE knows how many suppliers would address that challenge. It then knows how to place those precast elements into a model by reading the design, understanding constraints and opportunities and completely eliminating considerable manual work.
Let’s say a manufacturer of an Offsite system wants to price up a project. They tend to do this for far more projects than they actual win. It’s all part of the way the industry works. The time taken to do these estimates is baked in and the time loss is simply an accepted part of the pain of our industry.
With KOPE, we want that estimating to happen instantly. To be based on the knowledge of that manufacturer and to give the right information at the right time.
So what is KOPE?
So lets remind ourselves… what the heck is KOPE. It’s an incredibly powerful computational platform connected to a marketplace…. Yeah sure, you can describe it like that, but what is it really. It’s a way for the construction industry to truly productize. To enable Offsite construction by removing many of the hurdles it faces.
The Understanding hurdle by showing you what suppliers and products are out there. Explore KOPE Market in your region and find the right solution for your project needs.
The Selection hurdle by allowing you to compare on a level playing field, with the right information surfaced where needed. Or if you have a product that solves problems, price and respond to tenders with speed and accuracy.
The Design hurdle by allowing you to place them into your project in seconds, all based on the rules of the products themselves. No more manual modelling, no more breaking the rules, no more late redesign as you got the product wrong.
The Production hurdle by giving you the required outputs with no additional work from you. Be that concept, tender, construction or to enable a deeply accurate as-built model of your building containing the real products that created it.
If you are a product supplier and want to engage the market more directly, turn quotes around with considerable speed or explore your product in real project scenarios, get in touch with KOPE and let us see how we can move Offsite construction forward, together.
