Comparison of shipbuilding and construction industries from the product structure standpoint

Copyright © 2018 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. The use of building information modelling (BIM) in construction compares to the use of product lifecycle management (PLM) in manufacturing. Previous research has shown that it is possible to improve BIM with the features and the best practices from the PLM approach. This article provides a comparison from the standpoint of the bill of materials (BOM) and product structures. It compares the product beginning of life in both construction and shipbuilding industries. The research then tries to understand the use, form and evolution of product structures and BOM concepts in shipbuilding with the aim of identifying equivalent notions in construction. Research findings demonstrate that similar concepts for structuring information exist in construction; however, the relationship between them is unclear. Further research is therefore required to detail the links identified by the authors and develop an equivalent central structuring backbone as found in PLM platforms

Productization of building information models

Abstract. Building information models contain a great amount of data in various lifecycle phases throughout building projects. Data is generally not seen as an asset yet building information models’ (BIM) value is recognized. Seeing BIM models value as an asset and maintaining a structured product lifecycle management (PLM) in organization leads to need of productization of BIM Models, just like tangible products. Building information modeling is a known term within the building industry, but product lifecycle management is unconventional. Productization practices that include PLM have few examples in the academia or of use in the building industry. This thesis aims to study the possibilities of productizing building information models to commercial and technical items and presents background to it. Building information models are currently not seen as commercial products, but it is acknowledged they are valuable and have great potential in changing the practices and productivity in the whole building industry. BIM models are not handled as products, and they are not included to order-delivery-invoicing practices and systems as commercial products. BIM models can contain a broad and multidimensional amount of information and some structuring practices of BIM models remind closely of bill of material (BOM) in technical product structures. Information content of BIM models increases and becomes more precise continuously, but to benefit financially of the additional value of BIM models is insufficient in terms of understanding their possibilities in content and commercial value. This thesis presents the definition and current state of the productization practices of BIM models and offers a recommendation to productize BIM models as a part of construction object configuration commercially and technically. The work is done reviewing current literature and via a current state analysis of a case company. Within the thesis, it is recommended to be establish a new product category into construction product offering alongside to hardware, software, and services: BIM products. From the commercial aspect, it is recommended to divide BIM models into three categories based on their status in a commercial product portfolio: open BIM models, BIM model products and BIM model systems. The recommendations of building a BIM model product structure are based on a BIM framework theory, which allows to separate the broad and multidimensional information structures of BIM models in structured and understandable form. The results of this study can be generalized and used in the building industry internationally. The results of this thesis are significant for any organization wanting to change their building information models’ status from technical tools into commercial products in a structured way.Tiivistelmä. Rakennusalan tietomallit sisältävät merkittävän määrän dataa rakennushankkeen eri elinkaaren vaiheissa. Datan ei ole tyypillisesti ajateltu olevan yrityksen pääomaa, mutta kuitenkin on tunnistettu, että tietomalleilla on arvo. Mikäli tietomallien arvo tunnistetaan, ja niitä halutaan alkaa kohtelemaan yrityksen pääomana, johtaa se tuotteen elinkaarenhallinnan (PLM) käytäntöjä noudattavalta organisaatiolta tarpeeseen tuotteistaa tietomallit, kuten fyysiset tuotteetkin. Termeinä tietomalli on tunnettu rakennusalalla, kun taas PLM on harvinaisempi; PLM ja tuotteistuskäytännöt ovat rakennusalalla vähän tutkittuja ja vähän käytössä. Tämän opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena on tutkia mahdollisuuksia siihen, miten tietomallit tuotteistettaisiin kaupallisiksi ja teknisiksi tuotteen osiksi, sekä esittää taustatietoja tietomallien tuotteistukselle. Tällä hetkellä tietomalleja ei ajatella kaupallisina tuotteina, vaikka niiden arvo ja mahdollisuudet jopa koko rakennusalan muuttamiseen ja tuottavuuden parantamiseen tunnistetaan. Tietomalleja ei myöskään käsitellä kuten tuotteita, eivätkä ne ole osa tilaus-toimitus-laskutus-käytäntöjä tai -ohjelmistoja kaupallisina tuotteina. Tietomallit voivat kuitenkin sisältää huomattavan määrän monimuotoista informaatiota, ja jotkut tietomallien rakenteen kuvaukset muistuttavat jopa tuotteistamisesta tuttuja teknisten tuoterakenteiden BOM:a (Bill-of-Material). Tietomallien datasisältö lisääntyy ja tarkentuu jatkuvasti, mutta kuitenkin ymmärrys tietomallien sisältöön liittyvistä kaupallisista mahdollisuuksista on liian vähäistä, jotta niistä voitaisiin hyötyä kaupallisesti. Tämä tutkimus esittelee ja määrittelee tämänhetkiset tietomallien tuotteistuskäytännöt ja tarjoaa ratkaisuehdotuksen tietomallien tekniseen ja kaupalliseen tuotteistukseen osaksi rakennusalan tuotevalikoimaa. Työ on tehty perehtymällä kirjallisuuskatsaukseen ja tekemällä nykytila-analyysi valitusta case-yrityksestä. Tämän työn tuloksena suositellaan uuden tietomalli-tuotekategorian perustamista nykyisten rakennusalan tuotevalikoiman fyysisten tuotteiden (HW), ohjelmistotuotteiden (SW) ja palvelutuotteiden (service) rinnalle. Tutkimuksen perusteella tietomallituotteet olisi myös syytä jakaa kaupallisen käytön perusteella kolmeen pääkategoriaan; ilmaiset tietomallituotteet, kaupalliset tietomallituotteet ja tietomallijärjestelmätuotteet. Tietomallien tuoterakenteen muodostamiseen ehdotetaan käytettävän BIM framework-teoriaa, jonka avulla monimuotoisia tietorakenteita on helpompi strukturoida. Tämän tutkimuksen tuloksia voidaan käyttää yleisesti rakennusalalla niin kansallisesti kuin kansainvälisesti. Tutkimuksen tulokset ovat merkittäviä sellaisille organisaatioille, jotka tunnistavat tietomalliensa datasisällön arvon pääomana ja siten haluavat johdonmukaisesti muuttaa heidän tietomalliensa statuksen teknisestä apuvälineestä kaupalliseksi tuotteeksi ja siten osaksi tuoteportfoliotaan

Elements of the industrial operation model in the Iranian construction industry

Abstract. The construction industry is notorious for its conservatism and low levels of productivity. During the previous decade, this industry lagged behind other efficient and profitable industries, such as the automobile industry, and was slow to adopt its best practices. The rate of development in this industry is not very encouraging. This research aims to adopt best practices and efficient systems from other industries into the construction industry. This research aims to create a model for a case study of Iranian construction companies to achieve the objective of a productive construction industry. In this study, several important Iranian construction companies that mostly operate as contractors were chosen for the case study. The author prepared the semi-structured interview to collect empirical data. The interview topic and questions were derived from a survey of the relevant research literature to determine the main elements of the industrial operation model (IOM). Following the interview, the data was evaluated to illustrate the existing status of Iranian construction companies, and then a model was developed for IOM. The data indicate that Iranian construction companies are well behind other industries, such as automotive, in terms of industrial operation model and productivity. The research reveals the limited product lifecycle engagement, simple portfolio management, limited data strategy, lack of advanced visualization, and marketing and sales processes. This study employs empirical data to establish a methodology for Iranian construction companies to maximize their IOM benefits. In the created model, construction companies are present throughout the product lifecycle, from the feasibility study through the sale, marketing, and operation stage. According to this model, organizations could profit from improved alliance contracts, more income from more work, effective data strategy and knowledge management, and enhanced production processes. To accomplish this, they must reorganize their business operations and place greater emphasis on portfolio management, data strategy, and marketing and sales processes, resulting in enhanced productization

Analyse du potentiel du BIM en construction préfabriquée et élaboration d’un cadre d’implantation

Malgré ses avantages, la préfabrication au Québec note une baisse de la productivité notamment en raison de l’inefficacité de certains de ses processus d’affaires. Parallèlement, le BIM apparaît comme une solution favorisant l’intégration des processus et des acteurs impliqués dans un projet de construction. C’est dans cette optique que s’insère cette maîtrise dont le but est de démystifier le BIM et d’étudier son impact pour faciliter son implantation dans les petites et moyennes entreprises (PMEs) québécoises de préfabrication. Pour ce faire, une revue de la littérature a été réalisée, afin d’établir un état de l’art sur l’adoption du BIM dans le monde. Ensuite, des entrevues semi-dirigées avec des experts BIM ont été tenues dans le but d’analyser l’expérience québécoise avec cette approche. Des analyses qualitatives ont dès lors été menées pour dresser un portrait de l’implantation du BIM au Québec en termes de barrières présentes et de bonnes pratiques. Puis, un sondage a été lancé auprès de manufacturiers québécois pour analyser la situation actuelle de ce secteur et adapter les recommandations à cette réalité. La phase de synthèse a permis de présenter 30 freins critiques et 31 recommandations pour les éviter. Finalement, un cadre d’implantation du BIM dans un projet de préfabrication a été élaboré, indiquant à chaque phase les acteurs impliqués et les actions à prendre. La recherche a ainsi permis de relever les barrières les plus critiques à l’adoption du BIM, de nature technologique, humaine, organisationnelle, financière et légale. Elle a également mis en relief l’importance d’analyser la situation de l’entreprise et d’évaluer ses ressources avant de faire ce virage numérique.Despite its advantages, prefabrication in Quebec faces a drop in productivity, due to the inefficiency of some of its business processes. Meanwhile, BIM appears as a solution that promotes the integration of processes and stakeholders involved in a construction project. It is in this perspective that this master project aims to demystify BIM and to study its impact in order to facilitate its implementation in Quebec’s small and medium-sized prefabrication companies (SMEs). To do so, a literature review was conducted to establish a state of the art about the adoption of BIM around the world. Semi-structured interviews with BIM experts were held in order to analyze the Quebec position with this approach. Qualitative analyses were also conducted to study BIM main barriers and best practices. Then, a survey was launched among Quebec manufacturers to analyze the current situation in this sector and adapt the BIM best practices to this reality. The synthesis phase led to 30 critical barriers and 31 recommendations to better face them. Finally, a framework for implementing BIM in a prefabrication project was developed, indicating at each phase the players involved and the actions to be taken. The research has thus raised the most critical barriers to BIM adoption, encompassing technological, human, organizational, financial and legal challenges. It also highlighted the importance of analyzing the current situation of the company and assessing its resources before making this digital shift

Ohjelmistojen välinen tiedonvälitys tietokoneavusteisessa suunnittelussa

The growing number of computer aided design software suites used in the engineering processes of heavy industry. Recently, communicating information between these software suites has gained more interest. Duplication of data for each software separately creates risk of quality issues as well as slows the product development cycles. The aim of this thesis was to identify the best method for software communication between PTC Creo and Autodesk Revit. Based on the gaps identified in the existing methods, a custom solution prototype was developed to better understand the quality of the existing methods. This custom solution prototype was compared with the existing methods using established engineering design methodology. This thesis found the custom solution prototype to be the best method for software communication between the software suites in question. The custom solution prototype scored 79.2% of the maximum with the best existing method only achieving a score of 72.9%. The higher evaluation can be attributed especially to the high integrability and low cost of the custom solution compared to existing methods. Owning the solution also enables achieving a competitive edge.Raskas teollisuus hyödyntää kasvavissa määrin erilaisia suunnitteluohjelmistoja osana suunnitteluprosessejaan. Ohjelmistojen kasvava määrä on lisännyt kiinnostusta tiedon sujuvaan välittämiseen näiden ohjelmistojen välillä. Tiedon kahdentaminen erikseen jokaista ohjelmistoa varten lisää laatuvirheiden riskiä ja hidastaa tuotekehityssyklejä. Tämän työn tarkoitus oli tunnistaa paras mahdollinen menetelmä tiedon välittämiseen PTC Creon ja Autodesk Revitin välillä. Olemassa olevien menetelmien puutteista johtuen osana työtä tuotettiin oma menetelmäprototyyppi. Tätä menetelmäprototyyppiä verrattiin olemassa oleviin menetelmiin käyttäen vakiintuneita suunnittelumenetelmiä. Oma menetelmäprototyyppi paljastui vertailussa parhaaksi menetelmäksi tiedon välittämiseen ohjelmistosta toiseen. Oma menetelmäprototyyppi sai pisteitä 79,2 % maksimista lähimmän olemassa olevan menetelmän jäädessä 72,9 % maksimipisteistä. Prototyypin saama korkeampi pistemäärä voidaan yhdistää erityisesti hyvään yhdistettävyyteen muihin järjestelmiin sekä menetelmän matalaan kustannukseen. Tiedonvälitysmenetelmän omistajuus antaa myös mahdollisuuden saavuttaa kilpailuetua

Product data management practices in a Bangladeshi agrochemical company

Abstract. As businesses are relying more on information systems to carry out their processes, data is becoming an increasingly important factor for success. In particular, product data is necessary for tasks such as producing, selling, delivering, and invoicing a product within these systems. In the past, studies on product data and product data management management have primarily focused on product development and related activities, with little emphasis on PDM in other stages of a product’s lifecycle. The aim of this Master’s thesis is to explain the contribution of PDM in enhancing a company’s performance by improving its operational and business processes as well as the difficulties and requirements involved in implementing Product Data Management (PDM) practices in a Bangladeshi agrochemical company. The research encompasses overall comprehension of PDM as a company-wide initiative and suggests possible strategies for establishing company-wide PDM practices. To improve their data management practices for handling a broad range of varying products, the case company was surveyed and analyzed in this study. The author utilized a case study approach and conducted interviews to gather data from practitioners with firsthand experience and perspectives. This empirical data has contributed to a better understanding of company-wide PDM. The findings of this research suggest that standardized understanding of products throughout a company is necessary to facilitate effective management of product data. To establish effective PDM practices throughout a company, it is crucial to have a comprehensive understanding of the nature of product data, which encompasses both product master data and general product data from different stakeholder viewpoints. When dealing with a wide range of products that need to be effectively managed, higher level product decisions have a considerable influence on product data management, and general guidelines may be vital for ease of management. The study emphasizes the significance of adopting a top-down approach for creating effective PDM practices, and the need for a generic product structure to facilitate consistent product management. The main contribution of this research is its guidance for managers in establishing true company-wide practices for managing product data

Productizing carbon footprint and handprint for wood construction

Abstract. The construction industry is recognized as one of the leading industries contributing significantly to carbon footprint creation. While the footprint concept is utilized for negative environmental impacts, handprint is a new topic, ‎which refers to positive environmental impacts that businesses can gain and communicate by offering goods and ‎services that reduce customers’ footprints. This thesis aims to study methods that promote low-carbon construction with a small carbon footprint but a large carbon handprint. For that goal, wooden construction was chosen as a highly promising solution for creating carbon handprints and reducing the carbon footprints of construction. The study combines a literature review and qualitative analysis of empirical data collected from two companies and one specialist. This study first reviewed the literature to identify the critical elements of carbon handprint and footprint in general and wooden construction. Then data is gathered through semi-structured interviews to study the potential of wooden buildings in decreasing the construction carbon footprint and increasing construction handprint. This study applies the Gioia method for data analyses. Findings show that the construction industry has a lot of carbon footprint elements, such as materials, energy, transportation, and supply chain. Results show that wood products are beneficial to the environment, businesses and customers. Also, the critical role of centralized product data and the systematization of sales items in reducing carbon emissions in wooden construction is demonstrated. We conclude that carbon footprint and handprint could be productized, decrease carbon footprint and increase carbon handprint via replacing footprint sources with sustainable materials, energy, construction processes, transportation, and supply chains in the construction industry

BIM communication waste

Developments in Information and Communication Technology can bring about significant improvements in the efficiency of the Architecture, Engineering and Construction and Facilities Management industry. Building Information Modelling (BIM), is a term which encompasses a type of software but more importantly a set of processes which, at their core, support an approach for integrated project delivery enabled by interoperable software systems. The last three years have seen intensified and coordinated adoption of BIM in the UK mainly as a result of the mandate of the UK government. One facet of these developments is the growing need for BIM collaboration tools which can interoperate effectively with the various BIM software systems, support the required standards and codes of practice and provide for requirements of construction project information production and management such as model-based workflows, model-based communication, model-based procurement, role-based data access and role-based privileges. The pre-requisites for collaboration can be broadly divided into two categories: (1) coordination of information and responsibilities, and (2) communication. This research recognizes the strong focus of recent and ongoing efforts to provide for coordination and aims to support the communication aspect. Additionally, successful collaborative practice results from (1) the "softer" or "human-aspect" issues: collaborative culture, software training and adherence to protocols as well as from (2) the provision of appropriate, intuitive and configurable collaboration tools and, more generally, digital collaboration environments. This research focuses on the latter. Despite efforts from a variety of software-as-a-service (SaaS) collaboration tool vendors to achieve dominance in the market, there is still uncertainty as to what type of solutions would best support BIM collaboration. Additionally, there is considerable variation in software configurations and a lack of a universally applicable method for evaluating the communication capabilities of BIM collaboration tools in a meaningful way. Vendors lack a robust conceptual framework to guide the long-term development of their tools and evaluate them. The process of requirements engineering, which in this context involves a diversity of stakeholders and involves projects at different BIM maturity levels would benefit significantly from a robust, context-specific conceptual model-ontology. The aim of this research is to produce a context-specific conceptual model-ontology which can support the discourse of requirements engineering and provide a robust and widely applicable framework for evaluating the communication capabilities of BIM collaboration tools. It is anticipated that this would help reduce BIM communication waste . To meet this aim, BIM collaboration tools were studied from five perspectives: 1.Users: their opinions, requirements and requests were collected through an online questionnaire survey. 2.Vendor: their perspective was captured through semi-structured interviews. 3.Schemata for interoperability: effectiveness of tools and schemata was evaluated through analysis of software by data fidelity study and scenario-based testing. 4.Tool use: patterns of digitally-enabled communication were explored through an analysis of communication data and meta-data collected from a collaboration tool. 5.Tool improvement: a successful approach in improving a collaboration tool was examined through the development of a context-specific requirements engineering process. This process was evaluated through semi-structured interviews with collaboration tool implementation consultants. Each perspective helped produce more specific requirements from the model as well as elements of the model itself. The end result was the Model for communication waste in BIM process interactions (WIMBIM). WIMBIM has the BIM process transmission as the fundamental unit of analysis and focuses on BIM communication waste and how it results from sub-optimal collaboration tools and schemata. The ultimate purpose of WIMBIM is to support the development of technology which would reduce this waste. This model was converted into a communicable format and was related to BIM standards to aid contextualization and gap identification. To evaluate the validity and utility of this model, interviews with BIM experts were conducted, and the proposed model was found to be a valid approach to address aspects of BIM waste, which is not usually examined and could potentially complement the existing model for BIM maturity. Additionally, the model provides a useful lens for further academic research into BIM collaboration tools

BIM maturity assessment and certification in construction project team selection

To implement BIM in a construction project successfully, all the project participants, as BIM users, must have minimum BIM capabilities. Before any project starts, assessing the BIM capabilities of project stakeholders is a concern for construction clients. The main problem however is that they have no mechanism to ensure that the key participants they hire for a BIM project have the minimum capabilities (BIM infrastructure, processes and qualified resources) to participate in the design and delivery of a BIM project. The high variability of a firms’ readiness to work with BIM may impose a high cost for the client and the most mature members of the supply chain. Therefore, construction clients need a way to ensure a minimum BIM maturity, such as a maturity audit to assess the BIM competency of potential project team members. From a client’s perspective, “minimum BIM qualification means “minimum capability to use BIM”. The current BIM maturity models try to assess the BIM capability level of firms, but do not focus on BIM Uses. This research proposes a maturity model that focuses on the capability of firms for specific BIM Uses, while measuring their general BIM competencies. The research methodology is based on a review of literature and focus group discussions. Through literature review, the researchers proposed a BIM uses maturity model. Then, BIM experts discussed possible improvements. After an analysis of the discussion, the author proposed the resulting model. It is expected that by using this model, construction clients may achieve more BIM benefits through the selection of BIM qualified project team members, i.e. reduced cost, time, and increased quality of project