Earlier this year the company behind the 4D construction simulation software Synchro changed tack. For five years it had offered its product as a service. Now it was time to sell it. "The market started to realise the difference between buying food and buying fishing gear," says Tom Dengenis, Synchro's chief executive. "It was a convergence of two things," Dengenis continues. "The product had reached the end of its development programme and the construction industry was calling out for software tools rather than services." In the past six months the company has sold more than 100 licences, a briskness of trade that reflects the growing take-up of 4D software. Synchro is just one of the packages available that allows users to introduce a fourth dimension into their designs: time. While in the past contractors and clients have relied on printed programmes that show the phases of construction in sequence, and have read these in conjunction with 2D and 3D CAD drawings, 4D software allows the building to be frozen at any point in the process, and lets you see what's happening in 3D.
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