Automating Exchange of Product Information for a Digital Future

Magdalena Pyszkowski, Global Head of Market Management, Knauf Insulation

For years there has been very low progress in productivity growth in the construction industry combined with a low level of digitalisation and automation of processes. Coordination problems between the various participants in a construction project are causing medium and large-scale projects to spiral out of control (in terms of time, cost and quality). The lack of common, interoperable, global standards for classifying, identifying, and defining properties (attributes) leads to low-quality data on basic construction products and materials.

For the construction industry to increase its level of efficiency, it needs to improve its processes and supply chains.

Moving towards the digitalisation of these activities and processes is the first required step to creating the interoperability and a certain level of transparency required by the newly approved BIM standards (ISO/DIS 23386:2020 / ISO/DIS 23387:2020) and the upcoming regulations for public procurement. Particularly as trends indicate that organisations strategically focused on data make better and faster decisions than their competitors, and the use of modern technologies based on data collection, processing and delivery increases their revenues and profits.

In order to design and build with the customer in mind, there is now a need for a systematic and data-driven approach to product specification and the identification of products or their characteristics in the supply chain.

Anticipating Issues in Advance

An interesting initiative in this area is the Digital Supply Chain in Built Environment (DSCiBE) community; where we are experimenting with different ways and uses of product data exchange standards to develop various use cases, from design to logistics applications. This work aims to provide a process that avoids duplicate data processing and provides all the information needed to create better buildings.

Working in a manufacturing environment also gives us the chance to bring some benefit to the supply chain by automating the exchange of product data and tracking the product from factory to site.

Innovation is Key to Future Success in the Construction Industry

The digitalisation of supply chain processes and other activities will help construction projects operate more efficiently and give companies a competitive edge. That’s why internally, we have developed The BIM Factory tool dedicated to specifiers to provide them with all the necessary data from different manufacturers and ultimately provide them with building components in simple, data-rich Building Information Modelling (BIM) formats.

By arming them with the right information, the tool will help architects and specifiers propose a solution that fits the market and is helpful to end users.

A major advantage of the BIM Factory is that it allows specifiers to take a proactive approach, anticipating and mitigating any potential issue with projects before construction commences. This is particularly helpful on medium and large-sized building projects where it can be difficult to coordinate teams, leading to time delays and miscommunications.

“Working in a manufacturing environment also gives us the chance to bring some benefit to the supply chain by automating the exchange of product data and tracking the product from factory to site”

Future development of the tool is ongoing, supported by further DSCiBE research and development completed by the working group continuously. By the end of the year, we would like to have a clear roadmap for the next stage of development. We also look forward to presenting our findings at the BIM World exhibition in Munich, at the end of November.