This week, we are pleased to welcome a global company specializing in international BIM services – Voyansi – which has just opened a subsidiary in Europe. Let’s learn more about them by talking with one of their co-founders, Daniel Biagi and one of their sales representatives, Maria Mercedes Dalmaso.
dbiagi@voyansi.com
mdalmaso@voyansi.com
Hello Maria and Daniel, welcome to ABCD Blog. Could you please briefly introduce yourself to our readers?
Daniel: My name is Daniel Biagi. I am a civil engineer with a master’s degree in human resources. I have spent my entire career working with clients all over the world, always in the field of new technologies. I started my career working for others, then as a manager, then I co-founded Voyansi (formerly AEC Resource). My focus shifted from day-to-day operations to strategy, business development and consulting. Currently, I live in Madrid, Spain, where I lead European market opportunities for Voyansi. I also maintain strategic relationships with long-term partners and clients.
Maria Mercedes: I am an architect, graduated from the “Facultad de Arquitectura, Urbanismo y Diseño”, “Universidad Nacional de Cordoba”. As soon as I graduated, I joined the AEC Resource/Voyansi team. My experience at Voyansi has been very rewarding from the start! We have formed a constantly growing and close-knit team with very friendly people. Over time and with experience, we have become experts in BIM modeling and with Revit as well as in Scan-to-BIM (reverse engineering). I decided to make a career change and joined the sales team, although the focus has completely changed, I am grateful for how Voyansi has helped me growing, personally and professionally. I had the opportunity to learn how to make quotes and make professional proposals on both the technical and commercial side. I enjoy working directly with clients and helping them improve their BIM processes.
When and how did you decide to create Voyansi? Do you have an AEC background?
Daniel: Voyansi is a spin-off of an old company called AMP (which no longer exists). This company was founded in California in 2002. During the subprime crisis in the United States in 2008, the work decreased considerably and we decided to take what was left of our group, acquire it and start with some customer accounts that we had recovered. We were 8 people at the start. Voyansi (formerly called AEC Resource before the 2021 rebrand), was founded in March 2009.
Did it start in Argentina? How did you set it all up?
Daniel: The company was first created in California. Almost simultaneously, we incorporated the Argentinian branch. One was selling and the other doing production. It was an American-Argentinian company.
What are the different types of services you offer?
Maria Mercedes: As a BIM consulting company, we offer the following main service areas: BIM development (BIM modeling and documentation for architecture, structure and MEP, coordination and visualization), BIM development and training, digitization and laser survey (using a BIM process) and Software & Advisory (Integration, Automation and Platforms).
Do you target all types of AEC professionals?
Daniel: Since we integrated the offer of laser scanning services, we also target owners, project owners and operators of built spaces in addition to traditional AEC professionals.
Maria Mercedes: As part of our Software & Advisory area, we have integrated into our team software developers (who are also architects), architects, engineers and industrial designers. Also, as our Implementation & Training team is growing, we are targeting BIM Consultants with solid experience in the field.
In your teams, what is the ratio between architects, engineers, owners and construction professionals?
Maria Mercedes: 75% of our staff are architects, followed by 10% of engineers, 3% of industrial designers and the rest, other administrative professionals, consultants, developers, etc.
How are you organized and how many employees do you have?
Maria Mercedes: We are around 200 professionals organized in production areas (80% of staff including BIM development, implementation, reality capture and software) and support areas (sales, sales engineering, marketing, human resources, accounting and finance). These areas report to the board of directors and senior management.
On which continents are you based and do you offer the same services?
Maria Mercedes: We are based in the United States, Argentina and we recently opened a new office in Madrid, so we offer the same services in America and Europe. However, our digital footprint has allowed our team to engage even more with staff working on projects in markets where we have never set foot.
What important projects have you been involved in that you are proud of?
Daniel: Since 2002, we have worked on so many projects in many different countries! And with so many different customers! We always joke about it that we could write a book with all these anecdotes. I think airports have always been impressive because of their size and complexity.
As well as hospitals…
I remember a project in Adelaide Australia that took us over 2 years at a time when Revit was not as developed as it is today. In Buenos Aires, we worked on an entire neighborhood under renovation. It was a favela type neighborhood that has been completely renovated. It had a great social impact!
Do you develop on top of APIs and programs for the needs of your customers?
Daniel: Yes. This is a service we are very proud of. Integrate applications, transfer data from one source to another. Creation of platforms or automation of processes that save time and money. We work with Forge, Revit API, AutoCAD and many more.
What Autodesk software expertise do you offer your customers?
Maria Mercedes: Our team has a long experience with Autodesk software including Revit, AutoCAD, BIM 360, Navisworks, Civil 3D, 3ds Max, Recap Pro, Fabrication and Forge, among others…
Do you also develop on Forge? Do you develop platforms?
Daniel: Yes. As I mentioned before, we work with Forge and develop platforms for our clients. I remember one development in particular that we did for a nuclear plant decommissioning company in the United States. This allowed our client to visualize their projects in a web-based environment, the complete 3D model of the plant (scanned and converted to BIM) with all its radiation levels (readings provided by others). The client could thus understand the volume of material to be demolished and classify it by radiation levels. It was an incredible work.
You recently opened your new subsidiary in Spain. Could you give us more details? Are you also going to expand to other countries in Europe?
Daniel: Yes. Spain is a friendly country to start a new business in Europe. Our idea is to start in Spain and then roll out to the UK, Germany and Northern Europe. Initially, we wanted to serve US customers and others doing business in Europe. But now, we are also talking to new partners and potential customers.
Do you already have projects in Europe?
Maria Mercedes: Yes, we have done projects in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal and we have more projects on the horizon. It is an exciting time to be involved in BIM.
Do you provide project management consulting?
Maria Mercedes: Yes! We have highly qualified BIM Consulting experts who provide project management support.
What is your business model when working with AEC professionals? Does the pricing depend on the complexity of the project or are they fixed rates?
Maria Mercedes: We have several approaches and business models in terms of pricing. Our goal is to make it easy to collaborate with us and to provide the best quality on the market. We understand that the pricing approach must work for our customers as well as for Voyansi. We did fixed rates, T&M, as well as subscriptions.
Subscriptions have become an extremely fast growing service that we offer. The way they work is that we assign a dedicated or full-time resource portion (or multiple resources) for a monthly fee. You always talk to the same person, we become a real extension of your team and we are flexible to adapt to the needs of each client.
What are your main differentiators from your competitors?
Daniel: We have A LOT of experience. There are not many companies that have been exposed are what we have been exposed to. We know what can be done and what cannot be done. We master timing, complexity and customer expectations. We have a large portfolio of projects and references that show we can deliver. We can say yes but we can also say no. If you call on us, you will get what you need on time and with high quality. But in addition, as we understand that this is a people industry, we provide excellent service. You can always trade with us.
What are your plans for the future ?
Daniel: To keep growing. Increase our ability to perform more complex work. But above all, become great consultants for the next challenge of the AEC and real estate: sustainability.
Would you like to say something special to our readers?
Daniel: Talk to us! We love what we do and enjoy networking with people in this industry. Whether you have something to offer or want us to do something for you. Talk to us!
Maria Mercedes: That BIM IS FOR ANYONE! No matter your experience, this process will have you excited from the first moment you start using it. You just have to dare to take the first step.
Maria Mercedes, Daniel, thank you and we wish you success in your development in Europe!
Voyansi official website: https://www.voyansi.com/