AEC BIM SOLUTIONS PVT. LTD.

A 2020 Start-up Embracing Success in BIM Engineering Design & CAD Solutions under the Hegemony of Kasim Vali Akumalla

“Having the ability to forecast what could happen in a few months or even years from now, and prepare for the possible outcomes, is one of the most invaluable characteristics of a CEO”, the CEO & Managing Director of AEC, Kasim Vali Akumalla shared when asked about the significant quality of a CEO.

June 2020 marked the founding month of this incredible venture, incepted to provide innovative &sustainable Engineering Design & BIM Solutions to the clients globally by leveraging the latest technology solutions from Autodesk and others. The brain behind the brand, Kasim Vali Akumalla holds over 20+ years of combined experience in the AEC Industry, dedicated expertise in BIM Implementation & digital transformation on construction projects.

Kasim’s unique entrepreneurship skills became the main supporting force in establishing AEC BIM Solutions and delivering even the smallest solution with utmost dedication and in the best possible manner. He is known to bring a fresh approach to the overall functioning of the company to keep its Innovativeness, Sustainability, and refined quality assurance.

At AEC, Mr. Kasim guides the project teams on different International and domestic projects along with working directly with the project managers and client team in coordinating the BIM strategies and workflow of the project teams and consultants throughout each phase of project development. His proficiency in Design Development, Construction Documentation, Services Coordination let him support the production part also. In addition, the visionary provides his support to the marketing and business development team and those involved in Project Bidding.

SOURCE OF INSPIRATION
As a passionate Building Services Consultant, the visionary loves bringing visions to reality. Working in several offices for over 20+Years he has always been keen to create something new by applying new technologies to projects. As BIM appeared in the industry, he saw it as a chance for him to combine his digital mindset with the ambition to design the built future.

Ambitious as this goal may be, a continuously growing team with different backgrounds and an alliance with strong partners ensure that the idea becomes a reality.

The seed that was sown with 2 people last year in Hyderabad, has grown well and become a team of 35 professionals, with many years of professional knowledge from the construction and planning industry. It is rapidly growing within the time span of 9 months with Geography of projects covering from USA, UK & India with the turnover crossing Twenty Million for the FY 2021-22 till 3rd Quarter.

HICCUPS FACED BY C-SUITES
1. Global Recession/Slowing Economic growth – Driving growth is the only way to continue to scale our business success. To continue expanding our operations we are getting little creative and working a little bit harder by implementing a few below:

Step outside our comfort zone in order to revive our business and drive growth during tough times.
Reconsidering our business’s pricing model
To overcome business stagnation, we introduce new services to the market rather than going through the entire process of the new development process and offering new service variations.
Lower Overhead operating costs
Improved our online presence

2. Attracting and retaining top talent – Attracting and retaining top talent has become increasingly challenging over the past few years. We are proud to say we have had a 0% retention since our inception. Key points we consider in retaining our talent are:

Offering competitive pay
Unique benefits (Employee appreciation through special benefits/perks)
Focus on Diversity (creating a more diverse company culture)
Offering remote workforce
Healthy work-life balance
Investing in training & development of our employees to enhance in the careers

3. Lack of Skilled workforce

Training of our existing employees
Adaptability – applying workforce skills in a different way
Re-evaluate our recruiting practices
Investing in new technologies

4. Lack of Diversity

Mentoring opportunities
Promoting the teamwork
Priority inclusion

5. Mismatch of current talent and future strategies

Creating ownership opportunities
Avoiding the “Purple Squirrel” syndrome
Using LinkedIn’s Talent
Using a Referral based system
Hiring for Values and Training for skills

THE EMERGING TRENDS & THE ADAPTION
“We use Autodesk® Building Information Modelling (BIM) to design & coordinate projects for many of our clients. BIM is an intelligent 3D model that allows the team to better visualize a design, resulting in improved coordination and decision making”, asserted Mr. Kasim.

“Rising above the competition in its implementation of BIM, AEC BIM Solutions has raised the bar by offering centralized, integrated, consistent, and reliable services that have incorporated technology-led offerings such as detailed 3D BIM models, Quantity Take-Off, 4D Time/ Scheduling-Simulation of Construction Sequence, 5D cost Estimation and 6D Facility management, Point cloud Scan to BIM, BIM Automation, Digital Fabrication, Fabrication /Spool drawings for accurate Onsite or off-site prefabrication, Cobie date for the facility Management”, he further added.

SIGNIFICANCE OF R&D FOR AEC’S GROWTH
R&D is an important part of the AEC’s operations that seeks knowledge to develop, design, and enhance its services, technologies, or processes. As they are in the initial phase of the startup and growing day by day they are in the early stage of development.

THE BALANCE BETWEEN SUCCESS & FAILURE
Mr. Kasim believes that with one hand we cannot clap. But when you join hands together, we can make a big round of applause.

Similarly, Balance = Success + Failure

When he faces a failure, he tries to analyze the causes and note them down, and makes sure the mistake is not repeated in the future. And when he gets successful, he enjoys that moment with full energy. He does not keep a drop of enthusiasm left in time.

THE SECRET BEHIND THE AEC TEAM’S MOTIVATION
Employee motivation is key to overall success! The management team at AEC keeps their employees motivated by having open communication with their staff, maintaining an agile work environment, and at least by providing incentives or rewards for the completion of certain goals. “Making their jobs both gratifying and fun is sure to boost employee motivation”, apprised Mr. Kasim.

AEC’S VISION & THE BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT
Their vision is to provide superior specialty consulting services to the clients by delivering the world’s most innovative solutions and to be the world’s best engineering company in the eyes of their customers, communities, and people.

It is a DPIIT certified startup and recognized as a start-up by the department for the promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) working in the Construction Industry and New-age Construction Technologies Sector.

AEC BIM Solutions has been awarded a prestigious datacenter project which is the largest FDI in India covering project area of 12,29,287 sft &9,29,400 sft.

Also, under a closing discussion of a 380+ Acres Infrastructure development international project, works are yet to be started in early 2022 where AEC team will be working on the Engineering design & BIM deliverables.

BOOMING ON THE WAY
AEC is constantly increasing their client base in the USA, UAE & UK, now they are planning to expand its physical presence in these countries in 2022. Simultaneously, given India’s immense potential in the growing BIM market AEC is prepared to grow its physical operations across Pan India especially in highly developing regions. The way forward for this is by adopting the latest trends shaping the future of BIM including Internet of Things(IoT), Augmented Reality(AR), Additive Manufacturing(AM) and 3D Printing, Integrated project delivery, Energy modeling for reducing the carbon foot print, digital twins, Artificial Intelligence(AI) and 3D printing for building construction.