Collaboration par excellence

Example: Hasselt City Hall, Belgium — The building of the new municipal administration center in Hasselt, Belgium, demonstrates how seamless collaboration in building projects can minimize risks and save costs from the design phase all the way to commissioning.
A joint project of several brands of the Nemetschek Group.
Nemetschek brands involved: Allplan, GRAPHISOFT, Solibri

Pioneering planning and project execution with Open BIM

“The end-to-end use of BIM solutions constitutes genuine added value for all stakeholders in the building process
because it enables seamless and efficient collboration”
Steven Hendrickx, Head Architect in Hasselt

Large-scale, highly complex building projects in particular require ongoing, reliable and efficient coodination between all stakeholders – both internal and external – across disciplines and between companies. Therefore, in association with other market players, the Nemetschek Group is promoting the Open BIM data standard. This is a universal, collaborative approach to designing, constructing and operating buildings based on open standards and workflows It makes it possible for project stakeholders to collaborate, even if the type of software varies from user to user. The Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) interface has established itself as an open standard and is therefore of central significance.

Sharing and evaluating data throughout the entire product life cycle saves time and money and improves quality. The administration of data is key to this digital transformation, for it is only possible to take full advantage of the potential if each stakeholder can access the data that he or she needs at any given time. This begins with a realistic BIM building model, which is an essential prerequisite for a genuine 5D workflo. This model is no longer limited to just 3D construction data; it also includes data concerning the dimensions of time and costs.

Seamless collaboration exemplified by the Hasselt City Hall

Under the management of the architect team comprising Jaspers-Eyers, MASS Architects and Michel Janssen, a new municipal administration center is being built in Hasselt. The complex, consisting of a renovated building section and a new building, provides approx. 17,000 m2 for the city administration and social services as well as offices. The architects and their most important partners are using Open BIM software solutions for the entire construction process. Three Nemetschek solutions are being implemented for this project: Archicad from Graphisoft for the design and planning of the architects, Allplan Engineering for civil engineering, and the Solibri Model Checker for the BIM quality control carried out by the construction company.

From the beginning, all information concerning the building project is contained in the digital building model – from the draft to implementation – including all design details, desired materials, fire protection requirements, acoustic properties, insulation and building structures, and administration. This constitutes considerable added value for all stakeholders compared to the old standard model, which was purely 3D. Thus, this improvement ensures more than just seamless collaboration between all those involved. The complex project can be turned over to the municipality – the proud building owner – with the required quality, on time and within the specified budget.

Hasselt City Hall is groundbreaking – in terms of design, planning and project implementation.

Independent and yet consistent

Steven Hendrickx, the head architect in Hasselt, recognized four decisive factors with Open BIM over the course of the successful project:

  • Individual partners design their model with their preferred BIM software, and with their own templates. Outstanding collaboration is ensured, though, thanks to a common, uniform standard which is specified in advance.
  • The division of labor is defined at the beginning of the project. Data on statics, for instance, have an essential impact on the architecture and structural design. Data on heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, on the other hand, are also important but don’t generally flow directly into the architecture. These data, for example, can be sufficiently analyzed with the BIM solution for quality assurance from Solibri.
  • Design changes in one area don’t necessarily affect the plans of all the others involved in the project. The architecture and the building stage are inherently the most closely linked.
  • The expertise of the staff, i.e., extensive holistic knowledge of the various building disciplines, is also critical for the success of the project.

Two examples of the advantage of precise planning

In Hasselt, the construction company was commissioned with excavation, among other tasks. An assessment of the amount of sand that needed to be removed was done based on a cal culation using conventional 2D planning methods, which yielded a result of 800 cubic meters. The engineers used the Solibri Model Checker based on Open BIM and the data provided by the architects and arrived at a figue that was just half this amount, i.e., 400 cubic meters of sand. This shows how exact the work with Open BIM solutions can be.

The steel struts to be installed are another example: With the interface function IFC Exports from Allplan, it was possible to use the BIM model to automatically calculate which steel struts needed fieproofing. All it took was a mouse click to obtain precise results, right down to the running meter. In projects that don’t use Open BIM solutions, these calculations are made by manually entering the data from 2D drawings in Excel or some other software and then recalculating and evaluating the data for use in quotations and planning, a process that is susceptible to error and one that leaves a lot of room for interpretation. These errors often go undetected until the actual cost planning is already completed. In the case of the Hasselt City Hall,  it was possible to avoid such errors from the outset.

Converting to Open BIM pays off

As is the case with any change, it takes a certain amount of time for companies and employees to accept BIM as the norm. The best way, according to Steven Hendrickx, is to start out by planning smaller projects using BIM. The experience thereby gained will make it possible to complete successively larger BIM projects. The advantages of collaborating through Open BIM are obvious: The entire workflow is much simpler for all project stakeholders, and building projects are completed within time and cost budgets.

CONCLUSION

Consistent standards and open interfaces in par-ticular are essential for successful building projects. Stakeholders need solutions that can “work together” for all and any individual tasks being performed. Seamless collaboration between humans and machines: This is ensured with Open BIM, and backed by the brands of the Nemetschek Group.

Reference projects on this topic:

Nemetschek Group anticipates further strong revenue and earnings growth in current year following record values in 2015

Corporate News Company News

  • Double-digit growth rates for revenue and EBITDA planned for 2016
  • Software company exceeds targets for 2015: Revenue grows by 30.6% to EUR 285.3 million, and EBITDA rises to EUR 69.5 million in 2015
  • Operative cash flow increases to EUR 65.1 million (+47.4%)

Munich, March 31, 2016 – After record year 2015, the Nemetschek Group (ISIN DE0006452907), a leading provider of software solutions for the AEC (Architecture, Engineering, Construction) industry, again anticipates significant increases in revenue and earnings for the current financial year 2016. Today, the TecDAX company published its annual financial statements and annual report for 2015.

In the course of the very successful 2015 reporting year, the Nemetschek Group achieved new records in terms of revenue and earnings, yet again exceeding the targets which had already been adjusted upwards. The fourth quarter of 2015 was the strongest in the company’s history. The greatest growth impulses came from abroad, especially from the USA, and from the sale of software licenses. Parallel to this, the company continued to invest in extending its international market presence, as well as in its sales and distribution and in its marketing.

“2015 again proved the attractiveness of the Nemetschek business model with its 12 independently brands. Throughout the entire course of the year, we have achieved dynamic development with double-digit growth rates and strengthened our global market position,” said Patrik Heider, Spokesman of the Executive Board and CFOO of the Nemetschek Group. “In addition to these operative successes, at the end of the year we were able to again expand the basis for further growth with the acquisition of Solibri, the global market leader for quality assurance and quality control for the digital work method Building Information Modeling (BIM).“

Key figures of the Group’s success

  • In 2015, the group revenue of the Nemetschek Group increased by 30.6% to EUR 285.3 million (previous year: EUR 218.5 million), thus exceeding the forecast corridor of EUR 278 million to EUR 282 million. In addition to the strong organic growth of about 14%, the positive development was driven by the US acquisition of Bluebeam Software, which was included for the first time for the entire 12 months following first-time consolidation as of October 31, 2014. In the traditionally strong fourth quarter, revenues rose to EUR 79.3 million, a growth of 22.1% compared to the same quarter in the previous year (EUR 65.0 million). Organic growth remained at a high 16%.
  • Non-domestic revenue climbed by 44.1% to EUR 189.5 million (previous year: EUR 131.5 million). The share of non-domestic revenue thus continued to grow to 66.4% (previous year: 60.2%). Germany, too, continued to develop positively with double-digit revenue growth of 10.1%, rising to EUR 95.8 million (previous year: EUR 87.0 million).
  • With a plus of 43.2%, revenue from software licenses rose considerably to EUR 150.4 million (previous year: EUR 105.0 million). Recurring revenue increased by 20.5% to EUR 121.7 million (previous year: EUR 101.0 million).
  • Despite future-oriented investments, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) also rose considerably by 22.3% to EUR 69.5 million, and thus exceeded the most recently communicated target range of EUR 65 million to EUR 67 million. The EBITDA margin of 24.4% remained at the level we had been aiming for. In Q4, EBITDA reached EUR 20.1 million (previous year: EUR 18.0 million).
  • The net income for the year (Group shares) rose to EUR 35.9 million (previous year: EUR 31.5 million), which resulted in an earnings per share amounting to EUR 0.93 (previous year: EUR 0.82 per share). Adjusted for depreciation and amortization from purchase price allocation, net income for the year amounts to EUR 42.8 million (previous year: EUR 35.3 million), which corresponds to an adjusted earnings per share figure of EUR 1.11 (previous year: EUR 0.92 per share).
  • The operative cash flow increased by 47.4% to EUR 65.1 million (previous year: EUR 44.2 million) The Group equity ratio remained high at 44.0% (previous year: 46.8%)

Development of the segments

  • In the Design segment, revenue rose by 13.5% to EUR 198.8 million (previous year: EUR 175.1 million). The growth drivers included product releases of the brands and further internationalization. EBITDA rose by EUR 12.9% to EUR 49.5 million, which corresponds to an EBITDA margin of 24.9% (previous year: 25.0%).
  • As a result of the Bluebeam acquisition, the Build segment underwent great expansion. Revenue more or less tripled to EUR 60.1 million (previous year: EUR 20.1 million). Organic growth amounted to 19%. EBITDA reached EUR 10.4 million (previous year: EUR 4.1 million), which corresponds to an EBITDA margin of 17.4% (previous year: 20.5%).
  • The Manage segment also developed positively. With a plus of 19.3%, revenue rose to EUR 6.3 million (previous year: EUR 5.3 million). EBITDA rose to EUR 1.3 million, which corresponds to an EBITDA margin of 21.3% (previous year: 20.6%).
  • The Media & Entertainment segment achieved 11.9% revenue growth to EUR 20.1 million (previous year: EUR 18.0 million). As a result of investments, EBITDA rose slightly from EUR 7.8 million to EUR 8.2 million, which corresponds to an EBITDA margin of 41.0% (previous year: 43.2%).

Optimistic outlook for 2016

The Nemetschek Group will continue to pursue its corporate policy which aims for sustained growth. This growth is to be accompanied by strategic investments, for instance in further internationalization, sales activities and addressing new customer segments.

Without accounting for currency influences and further possible acquisitions, the Nemetschek Group plans to generate Group revenue within the range of EUR 319 million to EUR 325 million in the 2016 financial year. This would correspond to 12% to 14% growth compared to the previous year. Purely organic growth, i.e. without Solibri Oy, which was acquired as of December 31, 2015, is to be between 11% and 13%.

The executive board anticipates a Group EBITDA of between EUR 77 million and EUR 80 million. The Nemetschek Group wants to at least maintain its already high earnings level.

Overview of key figures

In EUR millionQ4 2015Q4 2014Δ in %12M 201512M 2014Δ in %
Revenue79.365.0+22.1%285.3218.5+30.6%
- of this software licenses

43.7

33.2+31.4%150.4105.0+43.2%
- of this software service31.927.2+17.3%121.7101.0+20.5%
EBITDA20.118.0+11.8%69.556.8+22.3%
Margin25.3%27.6% 24.4%26.0% 
EBITA (normalized EBIT)18.316.1+13.7%62.8

51.3

+22.6%
Margin23.1%24.8% 22.0%23.5% 
Net income for the year (Group)11.79.1+28.0%35.931.5+14.0%
Earnings per share in euros0.300.24*+28.0%0.930.82*+14.0%
Net income (Group Shares) before depreciation of purchase price allocation13.210.5+26.6%42.835.3+21.3%
Earnings per share before depreciation of purchase price allocation0.340.27*+26.6%1.110.92*+21.3%

 

Key figures by segment

In EUR millionQ4 2015Q4 2014Δ in %12M 201512M 2014Δ in %
Design      
Revenue55.448.7+13.8%198.8175.1+13.5%
EBITDA14.812.8+15.7%49.543.8+12.9%
Margin26.7%26.2% 24.9%25.0% 
Build      
Revenue16.69.4+76.6%60.120.1+199.0%
EBITDA2.42.1+12.2%10.44.1+153.0%
Margin14.4%22.7% 17.4%20.5% 
Manage      
Revenue2.21.6+38.2%6.35.3+19.3%
EBITDA0.80.5+54.8%1.31.1+23.8%
Margin32.8%29.3% 21.3%20.6% 
Media & Entertainment      
Revenue5.25.3-2.6%20.118.0+11.9%
EBITDA2.22.6-15.5%8.27.8+6.1%
Margin42.2%48.7% 41.0%43.2% 

The complete 2014 annual report is available for download in the Investor Relations section of the company website.

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