celebrated its steel topping out in October, and will be completed in the second quarter of 2026, according to the hospital network.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nThe program helped with two key issues on the build: tracking completion and deliveries. It kept the team from having to deal with piecemeal data entry into an Excel spreadsheet or using costly tracking software.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nInstead, users simply dragged and dropped a BIM model into the program, marking it as ready to track. When steel was delivered, they then scanned the bill of lading from the delivery firm and uploaded it to Live Dimensions.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cKnowing where the material is and what state it is in to ensure continuity in the field is really important, because you don’t just stop steel if the steel isn\u2019t ready. You stop the entire project,\u201d Leff said.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nWhile Leff said it was too early to assess whether the tool can help with mitigating rework, it\u2019s been useful in identifying, and tracking, the routine mishaps that can occur during the erection process, such as bolt hole misalignments and damaged beam replacement.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cA lot of this stuff is par for the course. It happens on every project,\u201d Leff said. \u201cBut we’re really trying to get an understanding \u2014\u00a0 is it a project in New York? Is it a particular contractor? Is it a particular fabricator? Is this going to happen, more or less, with certain people that we partner with?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nA focus on innovation<\/h3>\n
Leff said he built the software in a six-month period before the company was going to put steel up on the South Shore project. With the help of Matthew Chen, a digital engineering intern for the contractor, Leff also turned Live Dimensions from an app into a web-based platform.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nSuffolk\u2019s focus on innovation made it easy to iterate the solution \u2014 the company has an in-house venture capital arm, Suffolk Ventures, which invests in construction technology across the building cycle.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe’re very tech-forward as an organization, so there’s a lot of support for reaching our goals, our passions, if they fit the bill of moving our company forward,\u201d Leff said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nIf Leff were to build this program outside of the company, he said he\u2019d be under more time constraints.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n