Collaborative production planning with BIM – Design, development and evaluation of a Virtual Production Planning system

Construction projects have for a long time been characterized by increased specialization, low productivity, and a fragmented information exchange culture, resulting in inefficient work processes, with time delays and budget overruns. Research within the context of construction planning and scheduling and IT points to improving communication, collaboration, and cooperation to address these problems. However, the focus has been chiefly on production planning processes and scheduling tools and software. Research also points to collaborative user-friendly scheduling systems remaining under-researched; even though collaborative approaches have been introduced, the technological support and implementations are lacking.In this context, this thesis presents a novel collaborative planning and scheduling process and software system, supporting multiple modes of interaction such as individual review, planning, collaborative scheduling and review work in 4D, both co-located and remote. A Design Science Research approach was used to identify requirements that guided the collaborative production planning system\u27s design and development and evaluations. These evaluations show that implementing the collaborative planning and scheduling system enhances understanding of the planning and scheduling of projects and supports both individual and group work. The developed system facilitates information gathering when creating activities and improves collaborative production of the schedule. Furthermore, the new collaborative setting shortens the length of planning workshops while simultaneously increasing the quality output. Thus, the thesis contributes to the body of knowledge of collaborative production planning, collaborative IT systems in construction, how these systems can support communication and collaborative processes in a social context, and how a design science approach could be used in this setting

Developing a collaborative planning tool for construction - A Building Information Model-enhanced planning and scheduling tool for production.

Construction projects are becoming increasingly complex with a higher degree of specialization, resulting in more sub-contractors as well as in more information needed in the project. This results in a bigger project organization with an increased need for information exchange, an area where construction has been criticized by academics. The increasing specialization is related to an increase in more technically advanced buildings. The amount of information created and managed in construction projects has been recognized as hard to manage at the construction site. This is problem since the site-management uses this information in the scheduling and planning of the production. One way to address this is to utilize the sub-contractors in the planning of the production, thus drawing upon their work-experience for their specific tasks. This creates a collaborative planning approach that somewhat addresses parts of the problem, however, the amount of information is still hard to manage, especially since it has to be coordinated between disciplines to get the full picture. Information and communication technologies, (ICT), have attempted to solve this, with potential found in building information modelling (BIM). However, most use of BIM is seen in the design phase of construction projects, with some BIM visualization appearing at the construction site. The lack of adoption at the construction site is partly attributed to lack of time to alter processes to new tools.This thesis addresses this potential for BIM tools aligned to a collaborative planning process. Furthermore, it recognizes that prior literature lacks a focus on both the people and the social context the technology is used in as well as the development of the technology itself. Thus, a sociotechnical systems view is adopted. Design Science is used as the method to observe the current collaborative planning process, develop a BIM-system supporting the collaborative planning approach and document the research process. This is done with a strong focus on the user,using people, processes and technology as dimension to analyze the requirements of the BIM system developed. Thus, the research’s contribution is threefold; the thesis contributes with a documentation of an existing collaborative planning process, a BIM-enabled collaborative planning tool enhancing a current work practice and anexample of how Design Science can be used as a method to support ICT development in construction

Collaborative Scheduling with 4D extended to Virtual Reality

Construction planning and scheduling processes have been relatively unchanged until the last decades when 4D-planning has been promoted along with the rise of Building Information Modeling (BIM). Some 4D-systems have\ua0been developed for visualising schedules rather than to aid in the actual creation of the schedule. In contrast, some\ua0scheduling software in more recent years has been enhanced with 4D-modeling capabilities. Furthermore, the useof BIM-viewers during scheduling partly enables both design and schedule review before construction. This paper\ua0aims to show how an alternative approach to 4D-modelling could be used to produce schedules. The paper presents\ua0a prototype software for planning and scheduling where the production-schedule is created directly from the model\ua0in a lean construction Last Planner manner from the building components. Findings from evaluations of the\ua0prototype indicate a move of 4D-modelling from a passive visualisation to an active modelling process. This move\ua0enables knowledge to be created and exchanged in the social co-creation context of the 4D-schedule by the\ua0stakeholders. The co-creation and understanding can be further enhanced with the extension into virtual reality\ua0using head-mounted displays where the 4D-schedule can be created and reviewed directly

4D modelling using virtual collaborative planning and scheduling

During the last decades, the introduction of Building Information Models (BIM) has opened new possibilities to ensure better communication and a shared understanding between stakeholders in construction projects. Similar benefits have been found in 4D simulations of the schedule. While BIM and 4D use has seen a steady increase, the potential benefits have not fully been realised, primarily due to tools not supporting and enabling the full potential of collaborative stakeholder involvement in scheduling. The benefits of 4D simulations come from improving communication between stakeholders. While traditional 4D modelling connects an existing BIM model with an existing schedule, a move from this type of passive 4D visualisation toward social co-creation enables all stakeholders to be involved in the scheduling process. This connection is further enhanced with the use of Virtual Reality (VR). Recent research has shown VR to enhance understanding and perception of the space and details and, thus, a better understanding of the project. This paper maps collaborative planning and scheduling method and traditional 4D scheduling using process modelling. This mapping is followed by implementing the 4D collaborative planning and scheduling method in the virtual project planning system with support for a multi-user interactive VR environment. The system enables social co-creation both during the planning and scheduling and during 4D modelling; it improves understanding of the project and the planning and scheduling

Developing support for BIM-based takt time schedules for production control

Cost and schedule overruns are a major issue in the construction industry and a variety of location and activity-based planning, and control methods are used to address these issues. Takt time planning (TTP) has recently gained increased attention in Scandinavia through its use of fixed durations, use of location as a resource and demand on trade-completion and control before moving to the next location. The desire is to create a stable pace of work for each trade through a sequence of locations. There are also challenges to accomplish and communicate takt time schedules. However, through a 4D based collaborative planning approach, communication of the plan and a better understanding of the project and its challenges in production is reached. Thus, this paper aims to explore the possible direct connection between BIM, TTP and collaborative planning. The paper starts with a review of current research and practices and then follows with the three cases of application of takt time in BIM projects in production to identifying challenges in practice. From this the paper then compares and analyzes the cases and the three cases. The conclusion is that an integration of takt time and BIM through a collaborative planning system is viable, and that such a system would enable a direct connection between the TTP and the model

BIM-tool development enhancing collaborative scheduling for pre-construction

Construction projects often suffer from backlashes in relation to poor plans and schedules. Especially pre-construction planning has been challenging due to a high complexity, an extensive amount of information, and a lack of site managers time to make the schedule. To solve these issues for pre-construction planning; new planning processes, methods and tools have been developed over the last decade. However, due to a disregard of the current planning processes these tools have been difficult to adopt in practice. In addition, these developed tools and methods are seldom developed from the user’s point of view. A promising development is the introduction of integrated planning as a concept in construction companies. It involves the use of BIM models in concert with a planning approach where the subcontractors engage in the planning. However, currently available tools are more geared towards experienced users such as expert planners and does not allow for a fully collaborative and integrated planning approach. While many current tools would tick many of the requirements identified, they still fail to address the base requirements from the collaborative work environment literature. This paper contributes with a user-centric design and development of a collaborative planning application showing the integration of the existing collaborative planning process. By adopting a socio-technical approach, the paper focuses on combining technology and processes supporting the users and their way of working in order to enable adoption of the solution. A design science research approach has been used to gather requirements and develop and evaluate the Visual Project Planner (VPP) application. The VPP application applies a collaborative, visual approach supporting interdisciplinary knowledge sharing between all parties involved where the subcontractors actively can contribute to schedule. The VPP application has potential to reduce time for pre-construction planning regardless of the planning approach used

Etapp II: Virtuell Produktions Planering - med hj\ue4lp av BIM och visualisering.

Denna rapport presenterar resultatet fr\ue5n en genomf\uf6rd FoU-projekt och forskningsstudier (teknisk licentiat) som unders\uf6ker m\uf6jligheten med att en ny planeringsmetodik dvs. Virtuell Produktions Planering (VPP). Planeringsmetodik utg\ue5r fr\ue5n en existerande strukturplaneringsworkshop process. Avsikten med planeringsmetodiken \ue4r att f\ue5 olika delaktiga akt\uf6rer i projektet att samarbeta och utnyttja varandras kunskap och erfarenheter genom att gemensamt virtuellt bygga och planera produktionen av byggobjektet innan det verkst\ue4lls i verklig produktion. VPP utnyttjar 3D-visualisering och BIM-modellen och dess information under denna process.Arbetsordningen f\uf6r denna planeringsprocess \ue4r f\uf6ljande:• BIM-modellen och dess komponenter fr\ue5n projektering grupperas efter yrkesgrupper dvs. vem som har ansvaret att installera/bygga dessa under byggproduktionen.• De olika ansvariga yrkesgrupperna f\ue5r sina tilldelade komponenter som de tid- och resurss\ue4tter.• Modellen och dess komponenter planeras och byggs sedan ihop digitalt i r\ue4tt ordning gemensamt av de olika involverade yrkesgrupperna och resultatet \ue4r en tidplan som kan visualiseras i 4D.Studien i denna rapport visar att det finns stora m\uf6jligheter till en effektivare planeringsprocess med VPP. VPP-systemet som tagits fram i studien har visat att det \ue4r tekniskt m\uf6jligt att implementera ett VPP-system. Vidare visade observationsstudien fr\ue5n fyra strukturplaneringsworkshopar p\ue5 utvecklingspotential av den befintliga processen.Observationsstudien visade \ue4ven att denna typ av workshop ger b\ue4ttre:• granskning och identifiering av felk\ue4llor i projekteringen• testning och granskning av byggbarhet av projektet• sammanf\uf6rande av kunskap och erfarenheter fr\ue5n projektering och produktion• laganda och Team-building f\uf6r projektet• gemensam m\ue5lbild och m\ue5lplanI slut\ue4ndan skulle VPP med st\uf6rsta sannolikhet tillf\uf6ra \uf6kad tillf\uf6rlitlighet och effektivitet i produktionen.Se \ue4ven filmerna nedan mer information:Film som introducerar och presenterar VPP-konceptet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfixLxeNJg4Film visar hur VPP-systemet fungerar idag: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeA6qS_0BN

ETAPP III: VIRTUELL PRODUKTIONS PLANERING - MED HJ\uc4LP AV BIM OCH VISUALISERING.

Denna rapport presenterar resultatet fr\ue5n en genomf\uf6rd FoU-projekt och forskningsstudier (teknisk doktor) med fokus p\ue5 att studera visuell produktionsplanering och utveckla ett digitaliserat Virtuellt produktionsplaneringssystem. Byggprojekt s\ue4gs ofta vara f\uf6rsenade och \uf6ver budget, detta kan delvis sp\ue5ras till tidsplaner som \ue4r \ua0orealistiska eller inte f\uf6ljs. Planeringskunskapen blir personberoende och erfarenhet \ue4r sv\ue5rt att \ua0f\uf6ra \uf6ver mellan projekt. Att ta med deltagarna i byggproduktionen i planeringen av projektet \ua0skapas engagemang och m\uf6jligheter till kunskaps\uf6verf\uf6rande. Planeringsmetodiken som varit utg\ue5ngspunkten, \ue4r en visuell produktionsplaneringsmetod som \ua0anv\ue4nds av m\ue5nga av de stora byggbolagen f\uf6r att skapa den \uf6vergripande strukturen av tidsplanen. \ua0I grunden har Whiteboards eller post-it-lappar och m\ue4rkpennor anv\ue4nts f\uf6r att ta fram strukturen \ua0f\uf6r tidsplanen. Grundprincipen har varit att del olika delaktiga akt\uf6rerna planerat och satt upp \ua0sina lappar med aktiviteter i tidsplanen. Ordningen har diskuterats fram mellan deltagarna. Den vidareutvecklade Virtuella produktionsplaneringen (VPP), tar detta ett steg l\ue4ngre och drar \ua0nytta av byggnadsinformationsmodellen, den informationsrika 3D-modellen, f\uf6r att ge underlag till \ua0aktiviteterna. Traditionell planeringsprogramvara saknar m\uf6jligheten att jobba flera mot samma \ua0tidsplan, dessutom \ue4r den visuella kopplingen knapph\ue4ndig. Detta visar att det beh\uf6vs ett system \ua0som b\ue4ttre hanterar samarbetsaspekter av tidsplanering och kommunikation. Slutsatsen fr\ue5n utv\ue4rderingarna av det utvecklade planeringsverktyget \ue4r att det genom att \ua0digitalisera planeringsprocessen s\ue5 kan deltagarna l\ue4ttare diskutera ett problem och f\ue5 en \ua0bekr\ue4ftelse p\ue5 en gemensam f\uf6rst\ue5else av problemet. Den slutprodukten, produktionstidsplanen kan \ua0granskas omedelbart med h\ue4nsyn till datum och tider i st\ue4llet f\uf6r att v\ue4nta p\ue5 att en planerare \ua0l\ue4gger in pappersutkastet p\ue5 tidsplanen i ett planeringsverktyg.Sammantaget ger denna typ av planering med support fr\ue5n digitala verktyg b\ue4ttre: • granskning och identifiering av felk\ue4llor i projekteringen,• testning och granskning av byggbarhet av projektet,• sammanf\uf6rande av kunskap och erfarenheter fr\ue5n projektering och produktion,• laganda och Team-building f\uf6r projektet,• gemensam m\ue5lbild och m\ue5lplan,• m\uf6jlighet till omedelbar granskning av tidsplan,• kortare v\ue4ntetider fr\ue5n utkast till f\ue4rdig tidsplan.Utv\ue4rderingar med VPP-prototypen visar att det sannolikt skulle kunna tillf\uf6ra en \uf6kad tillf\uf6rlitlighet och effektivitet i produktionen, speciellt kring sj\ue4lva framtagandet av produktionstidsplaner.En demonstration av verktyget finns p\ue5 https://youtu.be/IRanaGhtaA

Virtual collaborative design environment: supporting seamless integration of multitouch table and immersive VR

Throughout the design of a new building it is essential that all involved stakeholders understand, communicate, participate, and collaborate with each other to acquire a high-quality result. To support these shared and creative design processes, this paper presents the design and evaluation of virtual collaborative design environment (ViCoDE)—a new collaborative design system. ViCoDE features seamless integration of several immersive VR systems and a multitouch table that facilitates collaborative and interactive design work with immediate feedback. The evaluation of the system has been done during two real-life collaborative design workshops in a context of designing new healthcare environments. The results show that the VR system and multitouch table complement each other very well by facilitating both collaborative, and individual design spaces—and that it fosters better understanding, participation, communication, knowledge sharing, and collaboration among the different stakeholders. The contribution is two-fold: presentation of a new collaborative design system and the evaluation of its use in a real-life design context, which demonstrate how these new technology-based workshops may facilitate design management

Challenges in the digital transformation of lean design methods: a case study

Lean design, a major lean construction focus, entails a number of various methods which are practically implemented. Among them, the lean design-inspired concept Project Studio (PS) has been utilized since 2011 by a major Swedish contractor, to facilitate and standardize the design process in conjunction with collaborative planning. PS promotes the face-to-face communication and collaboration of designers within the same physical project space, by using visual analogue tools, fostering creativity, and facilitating mutual learning. Following the digitalization paradigm shift in the construction industry, the aforementioned contractor sought to digitally transform existing flows, processes and tools, as part of its operational strategy. This course of action included PS, which was digitalized in 2017 via cloud applications seeking to optimize its performance, increase scheduling availability, and facilitate the question-answer handling outside of the PS physical project space. In the current paper, the digital transformation of PS is critically analysed. Methodologically, the abductive reasoning of qualitative analysis is adopted, by working iteratively between a preliminary targeted literature review performed through the concept-centric framework, and the qualitative field data obtained in a case study that was conducted by observing an in-company competence course. While it was noted that through the digitalization of PS some benefits were indeed brought about (e.g. higher detail of deliverables and remote access capabilities), the major results of this analysis were rather alarming. The critical observations showed a large variation on the understanding and utilization of the cloud tools (which in themselves could not adequately replace any of the PS existing working methodologies), more time-consuming meetings, frequent misinterpretation of digitally exchanged information, mobility reduction in the PS physical project space, and stakeholder dislocation. These results can be tied with the general discussion of the possibly negligent way of introducing and utilizing digitalization within construction (following the current hype), the largely unfounded perception that digital tools make processes self-propelled, and the still existent unavoidable discrepancies emanating from the disassociation between developers and implementers