University of Twente Student Theses

Login

BIM-maturity measurement within the metal façade industry : positioning the current BIM-maturity level of the metal façade industry to provide practical and valuable insights for improvements

Ramautarsing, R.D. (2018) BIM-maturity measurement within the metal façade industry : positioning the current BIM-maturity level of the metal façade industry to provide practical and valuable insights for improvements.

[img] PDF
2MB
Abstract:Motive and problem description The adoption of Building Information Modeling (BIM) has increased enormously during the last two decades in the construction industry due to the many recognized benefits it is supposed to yield during different project lifecycle stages. BIM has also emerged as a new construction management method in the construction industry in the last decade. These developments have also not ignored the Netherlands and its different sub sectors. According to the VMRG, an association for manufacturers of metal (steel and aluminum) façade elements, the urge to implement BIM within this specific domain of the manufacturing sector has also emerged. However, at the current moment, organizations belonging to the metal façade industry lack the knowledge of their own BIM competences and performances which is required for successful BIM implementation. Without the knowledge of own competences and performances, no meaningful performance improvements may be achieved, financial investments may be misplaced and much efficiency may be lost. Objective Based on the problem statement, this study aims to position the BIM-maturity level of the metal façade industry by measuring the BIM-maturity level of the members of the VMRG, to provide practical and valuable insights on how the industry can improve its current BIM-maturity level. Research sample and strategy It was of main interest of the VMRG to have the members of their BIM work group included in the research sample. The BIM work group is founded by the VMRG to establish uniformed agreements on the implementation of BIM and therefore, to facilitate BIM developments within the façade industry. In total 11 organizations of the BIM work group (n=11) showed interest and were willing to cooperate for the purpose of this research. For generalizability of the findings also members outside the BIM work group were approached for participation. Two organizations that were willing to participate, were added as a separate group, the non-BIM work group (n=2), to the research sample (n=13). To measure the BIM-maturity level of the research sample, a multiple case study research design was utilized with a qualitative data collection approach, in the form of in-depth interviews. Methodology In order to measure the BIM-maturity of each organization of the research sample it was needed to determine a BIM measurement tool for assessment. Therefore the emphasis had been put on the demands of the VMRG and the following data quality dimensions: (1) the reliability of the tool, (2) its validation within the construction industry and (3) the completeness. The point of departure here was the measurement tool developed by Siebelink (2017). The tool was assessed as appropriate to measure the BIM-maturity level of the members of the VMRG. The tool of Siebelink itself consists of two parts: the best practices and maturity model. The best practices includes several questions to identify the extent of BIM use and the drivers and barriers regarding the implementation of BIM. This part of the measurement tool is necessary to consider the findings within the right context and therefore, to justify and comprehend the obtained scores. The maturity model itself is consisting of six criteria, eighteen sub criteria, six maturity levels and a set of follow up questions per sub criteria to actually measure the BIM-maturity level of each member. To collect the data, the best practices and maturity model were translated into a format to interview representatives of each organization. Results According to the collected data, the maturity level of the manufacturing organizations fluctuates between 1.6 and 4.0. These individual organization scores equal an average BIM-maturity of 2.5 for the metal façade industry. Findings also show that organizations that participate within the BIM work group score higher than organizations that do not participate within the BIM workgroup. However, due to the small sample size of the non-BIM work group the reliability of this finding is limited. Furthermore, the results also show some remarkable measurements. According to the peaks illustrated in Figure 1, the industry scores remarkably high on the sub criteria management support and data exchange. However, the drops implicate that currently within the industry BIM visions and goals and BIM-related work instructions are lacking or defined to a limited extent, and that the use of a document management system is usually limited or not enforced into work instructions. In comparison with sector analysis held in 2014 and 2016 (University of Twente, 2014; Siebelink, 2017) BIM developments have grown within the manufacturing sector. However, these developments are limited to a maturity assessment within a specific domain of the manufacturing sector, the metal façade industry. Findings also show that the metal façade industry is mainly driven by client request or market demand to implement BIM. Otherwise, industry organizations are driven to implement BIM to take the lead within the industry and therefore point out several drivers such as: the reduction of errors and failure costs, efficient data streams and communication, efficient manufacturing process and a better end product for the client with possibilities for maintenance. However, several barriers are also found that hamper the implementation of BIM and affect the current BIM-maturity level negatively. Currently, there is a lack of client request which mainly occurs due to the fact that the industry is driven by market demand. In order to keep track on fast BIM developments, the manufacturing organizations only implement what is requested by the client. This is also substantiated by the barrier that involves the lack of time to implement BIM and specific BIM uses. Therefore, the definition of BIM goals and BIM-related procedures and work instructions might often be lacking or defined to a limited extent. Furthermore, projects are not regarded complex enough by industry organizations to implement BIM and therefore, executed traditionally, since this happens to be easier and faster. The initial investments to implement BIM also seem to impede the implementation of BIM, which is substantiated by the lack of skilled personnel and education and high software and hardware costs. At the current moment, general BIM guidance and support is lacking within the industry and BIM software can often not execute advanced BIM uses. Moreover, not all project partners with whom industry organizations collaborate with are perceived to have the same BIM competences which is expressed through limited application of contractual guidelines in practice and the lack of quality and detail of delivered models to execute certain BIM uses. Lastly, software shortcomings and incompatibility hinder the implementation of several BIM uses. Conclusion and recommendations Based on the drops illustrated in Figure 1, abovementioned barriers and certain lower than average BIM-maturity scoring sub criteria, several areas of improvement are defined. Therefore, in order to increase the BIM-maturity level of the metal façade industry, it is important for each manufacturing organization to develop a detailed BIM execution plan to effectively integrate BIM into their organizational or project delivery processes. It is necessary for the execution plan to firstly include the definition of BIM value for each organization in order to establish BIM visions and goals. Additionally, at the beginning of the implementation process within a project or the organization itself, it is recommended for each organization to align the BIM uses they wish to implement with their resources and available infrastructure. Therefore, organizations need to determine which software platforms and hardware are appropriate for the majority of BIM uses they wish to implement. By outlining their current capabilities against the required or desired capabilities, industry organizations can also get an idea when additional staff will need to be acquired or when staff will need to trained on new BIM technologies. It is recommended for organizations to have multidisciplinary work groups or experts supporting the implementation process of BIM. Furthermore, it is also recommended for industry organizations to document uniformed BIM-related work instructions and procedures. When implementing BIM in a project, ideally more integrated contracts and delivery methods are preferred to facilitate information and risk sharing and therefore, collaboration. Also, for the purpose of collaboration and information exchange is it of great essence to have object decompositions aligned with project partners and sector standards. Lastly, also for the purpose of smooth collaboration, it is of great importance for each organization to define a document management system. The VMRG can also encourage the implementation of BIM within the metal façade industry by enforcing implementation stimulating requirements in their Quality Mark.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Clients:
Vereniging Metalen Ramen en Gevelbranche, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands
Faculty:ET: Engineering Technology
Subject:56 civil engineering
Programme:Construction Management and Engineering MSc (60337)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/76851
Export this item as:BibTeX
EndNote
HTML Citation
Reference Manager

 

Repository Staff Only: item control page