Whether it is large corporations or medium-sized companies, specialists are daily engaged in filling program systems and databases with various interfaces with multiformat information (Fig. 3.2-1), which, with the help of managers, must interact with each other in a coherent manner. It is this complex of interacting systems and processes that ultimately creates revenue and profit for the company.
Each of the categories of systems mentioned earlier and applied in the construction industry works with its own data types corresponding to the functional role of these systems. To move from the abstract level to the concrete, we move from data types to their representation as formats and documents.
To the previously presented list of systems (Fig. 1.2-4), we now add the specific types of formats and documents they often work with:
- Investor (CAPEX)
Financial data: budgets, expenditure forecasts (structured data).
Market trend data: market analysis (structured and unstructured data).
Management systems (PMS, CAFM, CQMS)
Project data: graphs, tasks (structured data).
Facility maintenance data: maintenance plans (text and semi-structured data).
Quality control data: standards, inspection reports (textual and unstructured data).
CAD, FEM and BIM
Technical drawings: architectural, structural plans (geometric data, unstructured data).
Building models: 3D -models, material data (geometric and semi-structured data).
Engineering calculations: load analysis (structured data).
Construction site management systems (EHS, SCM)
Safety and health data: safety protocols (textual and structured data).
Supply chain data: inventories, orders (structured data).
Daily reports: working hours, productivity (structured data).
Drones, AR/VR, GIS, 3D -printing
Geodata: topographic maps (geometric and structured data).
Real-time data: video and photos (unstructured data).
Models for 3D -printing: digital drawings (geometric data).
Additional management systems (4D BPM, 5D ERP1)
Time and cost data: schedules, estimates (structured data).
Change management: project change records (text and structured data).
Performance reporting: indicators of success (structured data).
Data integration and communication (CDE, RFID, AMS, RPM)
Data exchange: document exchange, data models (structured and textual data).
RFID and tracking data: logistics, asset management (structured data).
Monitoring and control: sensors on sites (structured and unstructured data).
Thus, each system in the construction industry – from site management systems to operational databases – operates with its own type of information: structured, textual, geometric, etc. The “data landscape” that professionals have to work with on a daily basis is extremely diverse. The “data landscape” with which specialists have to work on a daily basis is extremely diverse. However, a simple enumeration of formats does not reveal the complexity of real work with information.
In practice, companies are faced with the fact that data, even when retrieved from systems, is not ready to be used “as is”. This is especially true for texts, images, PDFs, CAD files and other formats that are difficult to analyze with standard tools. That is why the next key step is data transformation – a process without which processing, analysis, visualization and decision-making cannot be effectively automated.
