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Information
Mobility
Mobility of
Information in the AEC Industry
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Following
stringent safety procedures, Angus documents the inspection of
his repelling equipment. An expert mountaineer, he positions
himself down the 23rd pier of the Confederation Bridge and is
examining the construction joint between the pier shaft and main
girder. After documenting a cursory look at the complete length
of the joint, he is directed back to what is described to him as
“minor spalling” by a structural engineer in San Diego . The
engineer in San Diego compares the current images with results
from last year's inspection and the as-built details recorded
during the placement of the girder. After a consultation with
the original on-site design engineer, currently located in
Chicago , and a double check of the placement reports, the
structural engineer directs Angus to take a core sample for
further analysis. Does this process take days or weeks? |
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Angus
pulls out his handheld computer and scans his equipment's bar codes as
he verbally confirms its condition. He then lowers himself based on
the positioning received through the GPS capabilities of the same
handheld now strapped to his left forearm. While he captures the
condition of the construction joint through the handheld computer's
voice interface and its digital imaging capabilities for input to the
owner's product database, he transfers, in real time, the video images
to the structural engineer in San Diego . The decision to take core
samples is made moments later and performed before the inspection is
complete. The process takes minutes.
Why?
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 Efficiently
managing the extensive amount of information exchange throughout
an engineering project presents a unique challenge to increasing
the overall productivity of the Architectural, Engineering,
Construction (AEC) industry. Considering the AEC industry
accounts for approximately 12% of Canada 's GDP and industry
estimates in potential time and cost saving through improved
processes have been quoted in the 10-20% range, we are offered a
special opportunity to exploit the benefits of advanced
communication and information management solutions and
ultimately provide our clients with a better product. The tools
are available and a direction has been established. Research and
development efforts directed at the communication and
information technology environment within the AEC industry have
clearly established the foundation for an integrated project
repository with open industry communication and information
(data and transaction) standards. Trends point to an environment
in which the integration of information will be greatly
enhanced. Industry participants will have uniform access to
their own private data, to company data, to project data, and to
industry-wide data via distributed information repositories.
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How?
Solutions
promote greater integration and connectivity of the supply chain,
which supports greater
integration between
design, construction, and operation (not unlike the successful
contractual and organizational movements in  this
direction such
as design-build and partnering methods). Standards for the exchange of
information (data and transaction) in the AEC industry, currently
under development, are required for integrated systems. Advances in
Internet computing
such as improved approaches to peer-topeer workflow, transaction
models, security
mechanisms,
and information management techniques will all contribute
significantly to this integrated vision coming
to fruition. Although these improvements in information standards and
Internet computing support are the key enablers, equally important
are the extensions being made possible though advances
in communication architectures (e.g., convergence of voice, data,
video).
Benefits
With
the foresight of the emerging communication and information management
environment for the AEC industry, attention is turned to addressing
one of the unique characteristics of the industry: “the need for the
mobility of real time information in an integrated and collaborative
environment”. For example, support is required for processes such as
those that are currently completed on an as needed basis over the
telephone (e.g., materials management) or those that require recording
of information during execution (e.g., daily site reporting, process
specific observations). Documenting these work processes in real time
in an integrated project repository is an efficiency gain from a
workflow perspective. In addition to the direct costs to produce a
construction product there are also costs associated with the
transactions that take place between parties throughout the production
processes. Although affected by the contractual and organizational
structure of the participants involved in delivering a construction
product, the potential to reduce transactions cost in construction is
conservatively estimated in the range of 3 to 4% of total spending.
Future
Projections
for the percentage of computing that will be done on handheld devices
have been as high as 90% by the year 2003. Albeit a very optimistic
outlook, for the AEC industry wireless personal computing systems (for
mobility) and alternative data interfaces (e.g., voice recognition
aided) are the perfect fit for data input/output solutions in remote
and extreme environments. For example, site materials management can
be enhanced through bar code technology, onsite conditions can be
monitored with the use of products with intelligent and data
acquisition capabilities, etc. Beyond technological issues of the
emerging communication and information technology environment
described for the global AEC industry (i.e., hardware, data formats,
data exchange, and integration), analysis for its effect on time and
cost of transactions on projects is required.
We
have the foundation for testing the benefits of applying additional
technologies that meet the needs of the AEC industry. New developments
in interaction management are possible in an environment of enhanced
mobile AEC systems with the ultimate aim of improving the productivity
of the industry. For example, solutions that focus on the processes
comprising field inspections during a construction project's execution
can employ handheld digital recorders to automated transcription of
the captured data through voice recognition and processing
technologies. Although applicable to other industries (e.g., material
manufacturing, resource processing, etc.), developing solutions for
our industry represents a unique challenge, given its fragmented
nature and the sometimes remote and extreme environments under which
construction might take place. Inefficiencies in an industry's
supply-chain often contribute to making it uncompetitive. With an
analysis of what processes truly require “real time” information,
the litmus test for the application of advanced information and
communication technologies is the resulting changes in efficiency
(i.e., cost savings) as a result of their application through
reductions in transaction times and cost, and ultimately increased
productivity.
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