Wallisellenstrasse: A Road Construction Project Delivered with 100% BIM
Author: Jad El Alam, Vice President of Product, ALLPLAN
The AEC industry has made meaningful progress in adopting Building Information Modeling (BIM), yet many structural workflows remain disconnected across design, engineering, and fabrication, limiting the full value of digital transformation.
Despite this progress, broader digital adoption across the industry remains inconsistent. As highlighted in a recent industry article from Build in Digital, many organizations continue to face challenges related to complexity, culture, and connection. These three factors continue to slow the pace of digital transformation.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in structural workflows, where the transition from design to fabrication remains one of the most difficult areas to fully connect.
The challenge: Gaps between design and fabrication
In most projects today, structural workflows are still sequential rather than truly integrated. Architects and designers develop models, structural engineers perform analysis, and fabricators then interpret drawings and rebuild models for detailing and production.
Each step depends on the previous one, but the underlying data does not always transfer seamlessly.
This lack of continuity creates friction. Fabricators often need to reconstruct models to meet fabrication requirements, even when a detailed design model already exists. Engineers must ensure that analytical assumptions are correctly reflected in physical models. These gaps introduce delays, increase coordination efforts, and create opportunities for misalignment between teams.
The impact of this fragmentation is measurable, though often misunderstood. Industry estimates suggest that rework can account for 5-10% of total construction costs, particularly when coordination issues, design changes, and data inconsistencies are included.
At the same time, more recent research from the American Society of Civil Engineers provides a more precise view of field-level impact. A study analyzing actual contractor data found that direct field rework costs average approximately 0.38% of contract value, increasing to 0.76% when post-completion corrections are included.
While these figures may appear relatively small, they represent only a portion of the broader inefficiencies caused by fragmented workflows. When compounded by coordination delays, manual data re-entry, and inconsistencies between design and fabrication models, the total impact on project timelines, cost, and productivity becomes significantly more substantial.
Instead of building on a shared digital foundation, teams are frequently forced to recreate, reinterpret, and validate information at each stage of the workflow.
The opportunity: A connected structural BIM workflow
A truly integrated design-to-fabrication workflow offers a different approach. Rather than treating design, engineering, and fabrication as separate phases, it connects them into a continuous process where data flows seamlessly from one stage to the next.
This shift is part of a broader transformation happening across the AEC industry. As highlighted in a recent article from AEC Magazine, AI and digital platforms are beginning to reduce fragmentation across the construction value chain, enabling more connected and integrated ways of working.
In structural workflows, this means moving away from disconnected tools and manual handoffs toward a model-centric process where information is preserved and continuously refined.
Instead of recreating models at each stage, teams build on a shared foundation. Design intent carries through from conceptual modeling to structural analysis and into detailing and fabrication. The model evolves rather than restarts.
This direction is reinforced by recent research from McKinsey, which shows that the greatest impact of AI is achieved not by automating individual tasks, but by redesigning entire workflows to improve how people and technology work together. In construction, where fragmentation has historically limited productivity, this shift toward integrated workflows is especially important.
This continuity reduces rework, improves accuracy, and accelerates project timelines. More importantly, it enables a fundamentally different way of working — one where design, engineering, and fabrication are no longer isolated steps, but part of a unified, connected workflow.
Connecting the workflow across design, engineering, and fabrication
Enabling this level of integration requires more than interoperability between tools. It requires a coordinated approach where each stage of the workflow builds on the previous one without breaking continuity.
At ALLPLAN, this connected workflow is enabled through an integrated ecosystem that spans design, structural analysis, and fabrication. Structural models created in ALLPLAN serve as the foundation for engineering analysis in SCIA, where performance can be validated and refined without recreating geometry. Those same models can then be extended into SDS2 for detailing and fabrication, allowing fabricators to generate production-ready outputs based on reliable upstream data.
This approach ensures that structural information is not lost or reinterpreted as it moves through the workflow. Instead, it becomes progressively more detailed and refined, enabling teams to move efficiently from concept to construction.
Why integration matters: Beyond efficiency
The benefits of an integrated structural workflow extend well beyond time savings. While reducing rework is an immediate advantage, the broader impact is felt in accuracy, collaboration, and overall project performance.
When teams operate within a connected workflow, they spend less time managing data and more time applying their expertise. Engineers can focus on optimizing structural performance rather than validating inputs. Fabricators can begin detailing with confidence, knowing the model reflects design intent. Project teams can coordinate more effectively because they are working from consistent, reliable information.
This shift also reduces risk. With fewer manual handoffs and less reliance on interpretation, there are fewer opportunities for errors to be introduced. The result is a more predictable, streamlined process that supports better outcomes across the entire project lifecycle.
The next evolution: Integration meets automation
As structural workflows become more connected, the next phase of innovation is already emerging. Artificial intelligence is beginning to enhance these workflows by automating some of the most time-consuming and repetitive tasks.
In areas such as estimating and early-stage modeling, AI can analyze structural drawings, detect key elements, and generate initial models and quantities. This allows teams to move into a model-based workflow earlier in the process, before detailed design is fully complete.
The combination of integration and automation represents a significant step forward. Connected workflows ensure continuity of data, while AI accelerates how that data is created and processed. Together, they enable teams to work faster, reduce manual effort, and make more informed decisions earlier in the project.
What this means for structural teams
For structural engineers, fabricators, and contractors, the move toward integrated workflows is more than a technological shift. It is a strategic advantage. Connected workflows improve efficiency, reduce coordination challenges, and help teams deliver projects on time and within budget.
They also enable greater scalability. By minimizing manual rework and improving the flow of information, organizations can take on more projects without increasing complexity or overhead.
This is where the true value of an integrated structural BIM workflow becomes clear. It is not just about working faster. It is about operating at a higher level.
Conclusion: From handoffs to continuity
The future of structural workflows lies in continuity rather than fragmentation. Moving from BIM to fabrication should not require rebuilding models or reinterpreting data at every stage. Instead, it should be a seamless progression where each phase builds on the last.
An integrated structural BIM workflow connects design, engineering, and fabrication into a unified process, reducing friction and enabling more reliable project outcomes.
As the industry continues to evolve, organizations that embrace this approach will be better positioned to deliver projects efficiently, collaborate more effectively, and adapt to the increasing demands of modern construction.
Explore what an integrated structural workflow looks like in practice
Turning this vision into reality requires more than incremental improvements. It requires a connected approach that spans design, analysis, and fabrication.
Solutions such as ALLPLAN, SCIA Engineer, and SDS2 demonstrate how this continuity can be achieved in practice, helping teams move from disconnected processes to a more unified, model-driven workflow.
About the Author
Jad El Alam is Vice President of Product at ALLPLAN, focused on advancing connected workflows across design, engineering, and fabrication. He brings deep experience in structural technologies and works at the intersection of BIM, analysis, and construction to help organizations improve efficiency, reduce fragmentation, and deliver better project outcomes.
