Building information modeling integrated with electronic commerce material procurement and supplier performance management system.
Ren, Yali ; Skibniewski, Miroslaw J. ; Jiang, Shaohua 等
1. Introduction
1.1. Background
Construction materials typically account for approximate 40% to 45%
of the total cost in construction industry (Agapiou et al. 1998).
Presently, many construction firms in the United States and other places
adopt web-based e-commerce systems to communicate directly with material
manufacturers, suppliers, agents and application service providers in
order to purchase construction materials. E-commerce provides a viable
solution for materials procurement using non-traditional method and
creates a winwin situation for most construction material transaction
participants (Kong et al. 2004). However, serious interoperability
problems still hinder further take up of electronic business tools
(Mell, Grance 2010). The scope of construction e-procurement systems
still has limitation to streamline the workflow during quantity takeoff,
estimating, bidding and procurement stages of the preconstruction
interactions among suppliers, contractors and designers
(Castro-Lacouture et al. 2007).
Building Information Modeling (BIM) is the process of generating
and managing building data during its life cycle. Typically, this
process utilizes three dimensional, real-time, dynamic building modeling
software and covers geometry, spatial relationships, geographic
information, quantities and various other properties to facilitate
building design process (Castro-Lacouture et al. 2007). BIM provides one
solution that makes material quantity takeoff and cost estimating
easier, faster, cheaper and more accurate compared with traditional
methods. By using BIM instead of traditional CAD drawings, material
takeoffs, counts, and measurements can be generated, revised and updated
directly from the design models, which potentially saves time, labor and
other costs, and facilitates the collaboration between various
participants during material procurement process. BIM integrated with
e-commerce software application has a potential to streamline the
workflow of material quantity takeoff, estimating, bidding and
procurement stages of the preconstruction interactions among various
construction participants (Holness 2008). However, few efforts have been
directed to the application and usage of BIM in construction material
e-procurement process (Grilo, Jardim-Goncalves 2011), and no commercial
BIM integrated with e-commerce software system for material quantity
takeoff, cost estimating or procurement process has been designed or
developed to date by construction software vendors.
Construction material supplier performance evaluation and
information management is an important part of material procurement
process, and it constitutes the reference for selecting appropriate
material suppliers in e-awarding workflow. An improved and effective
material supplier performance evaluation method is vital for the
procurement success and project profits of construction contractors and
subcontractors. BIM integrated with e-commerce material system solutions
provide one innovative approach and improved way for material
procurement process, and supplier performance evaluation model based on
BIM integrated with e-commerce material software system solutions will
be more accurate and precise. Therefore, it will be useful to
incorporate a practical supplier performance evaluation and information
management function module in BIM integrated with an e-commerce
construction material procurement software system.
1.2. Research objectives
The main objective of the development work described in this paper
was to propose a BIM application integrated with e-commerce material
procurement framework; to present a BIM-based quantity takeoff and cost
estimating solution; to design a new supplier performance evaluation
model; and to develop a basic BIM application integrated with e-commerce
technology-based construction material quantity takeoff, cost
estimating, bidding, tendering, award generation, material procurement
and supplier performance evaluation software system in order to reduce
human labor cost, to streamline the workflow, to improve accuracy and
efficiency, and to streamline collaboration and cooperation of all
parties involved in these processes.
To achieve the objective of this work, the following research
questions were addressed:
1. What are the benefits, limitations and barriers of e-commerce
and BIM applications in construction material quantity takeoff, cost
estimating and material procurement processes?
2. What is the possibility and the potential benefit for BIM
integrated with e-commerce software solutions in construction material
quantity, cost estimating and procurement processes?
3. What is a suitable BIM solution integrated with ecommerce
framework that could be applicable for material quantity takeoff, cost
estimating, material procurement and supplier performance evaluation and
information management process?
4. What is a fully applicable BIM solution integrated with
e-commerce tools for supplier performance evaluation and information
management?
5. How to design and develop a software system for the integration
of BIM application and e-commerce tools for material quantity takeoff,
cost estimating, material procurement and supplier performance
evaluation and information management?
The primary tasks comprise the following aspects:
1. Identify the application, benefit, limitations and barriers of
e-commerce and BIM in construction material quantity takeoff, cost
estimating and procurement processes;
2. Compare the present commercial BIM based and non BIM-based
quantity takeoff and cost estimating software, choose an applicable BIM
development platform and a suitable material cost criterion source, and
design and develop a BIM-based material quantity takeoff and cost
estimating software module to provide more accurate material cost
information as a basic cost standard to evaluate the quotes from the
future potential suppliers in the bidding, tendering and awarding
process;
3. Design and develop an e-commerce based material procurement
management system to realize tendering, bid award management,
e-invoicing, e-payment and transaction history management, supplier
evaluation and information management, and project document and
information management functions, and material specifications should be
described using BIM in project documents;
4. Provide an effective supplier performance evaluation model,
design and develop user-friendly performance evaluation and supplier
information management interface to provide valuable reference for
construction contractors to select and manage potential future material
suppliers;
5. Propose the BIM integrated with e-commerce framework in material
procurement process and develop an elementary display software system
for the integration of BIM and e-commerce in material quantity takeoff,
cost estimating, material procurement and supplier performance
evaluation and information management process.
2. Literature review
2.1. Electronic commerce in material procurement
Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is the sharing of business
information, maintaining business relationships, and conducting business
transactions by means of telecommunications networks. E-commerce
includes the sellbuy relationships and transactions between companies,
and the corporate processes that support the commerce within individual
firms (Zwass 1996). Electronic commerce can be broadly divided into four
main categories (Anumba, Ruikar 2002): Business-to-Business (B2B),
Business-to-Consumer (B2C), Business-to-Administration (B2A) and
Consumer-to-Administration (C2A). B2B e-commerce has been grown rapidly
because of the significant diffusion of the Internet Technology since
the early 2000's (Grilo, Jardim-Goncalves 2011).
The architecture, engineering, and construction sectors have
embraced and adopted the use of electronic collaborative and electronic
commerce platforms in material procurement process (Grilo,
Jardim-Goncalves 2010). Electronic procurement (e-procurement) emerged
from the early adoption of the Internet Technology in business and was
linked to the surge of inter-organizational systems, communities,
electronic platforms, meeting places, virtual locations, and
infrastructures (Grilo, Jardim-Goncalves 2011). With e-commerce material
procurement system, material sellers can upload their product
information and find out summary information about their customers and
transactions. Material information may include the attributes of each
type of materials, which may include unit, width, height, depth, unit
weight, material, unit price, currency, brand, standards, manufacturing
country, image, drawing, and additional material description files (Kong
et al. 2004). The buyers could provide their requirements such as brand,
model, quality and price to search and browse different types of
products and make transactions with low transaction costs at any time
and any place that is convenient to them (Li et al. 2003). E-procurement
construction trading markets are not restricted by the time and space
limitations of store spaces and can carry a much larger variety of
products with different styles and sizes. E-commerce procurement
platform provides a central working platform for all construction
material procurement participants and other related suppliers, which is
shown in Fig. 1.
Grilo and Jardim-Goncalves (2011) presented an e-procurement
process as depicted in Fig. 2. Webpage that describes companies'
services and products is the simplest and most common usage of
e-procurement by AEC players (Grilo, Jardim-Goncalves 2011). Two
examples of tendering, biding and procurement related websites are shown
in Table 1.
[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
E-procurement in AEC has certain limitations and it is rarely
explored to its fullest in construction despite the availability of this
technology. Grilo and JardimGoncalves (2011) state that the AEC sectors
still have been well lagging behind other sectors like retailing and
automotive sectors in the adoption of e-procurement. Serious
interoperability problems hinder further take up of electronic business
tools (Mell, Grance 2010). A typical reason lies in the lack of
integration of the companies' internal ERP systems with the
marketplaces. Most companies type the transactional information into a
web browser and receive data in a file that could be printed before data
is reintroduced manually into their ERP systems (Mell, Grance 2010).
E-procurement process first requires construction contractors to
make long time of material quantity takeoff, prepare site schedule
requirement, make cost estimating, search supplier price and other
relative information, and inquire desired information from suppliers.
When any change or alteration is made to any one drawing or document,
architects or engineers have to make related changes or alterations in
each related drawing, and contractors, estimators and site engineers
have to modify relevant material specifications, quantity takeoff and
estimate data, and arrange new site schedule of material requirements.
This process requires close collaboration and cooperative work between
designers, engineers, contractors, estimators, site staffs and
purchasers, which is a time consuming and lengthy task and may lead to
errors, mistakes, or modifications being missed out and overlooked and
even minor unfavorable issues happening (Ruikar et al. 2003).
E-procurement has limitations in dealing with these above practical
problems, and streaming the workflow during the quantity takeoff,
estimating and bidding stages of the preconstruction interactions among
suppliers, contractors and designers (Castro-Lacouture et al. 2007).
[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]
Literature review reveals that e-procurement might not be suitable
for detailed specification of goods or services where tight
relationships between buyers and suppliers are essential (Subramaniam,
Shaw 2004). AEC sectors may include many procured goods and services and
have a large number of complex levels of specifications parameters
(Grilo, Jardim-Goncalves 2011). Entering the specifications into
web-based forms of several ecommerce sites to find the best product is a
time consuming task for a contractor. A contractor has to acquire and
maintain a list of several web addresses, interpret and understand the
semantics and navigation methods used in different sites, be aware of
new sites coming into the markets, and implement an evaluation of all
the information acquired from different websites (Kong et al. 2004). The
aggregation of information through e-market places may overcome some of
these difficulties but does not eliminate all of them (Pahwa et al.
2006). Different e-marketplaces have their own material searching and
displaying patterns and adopt different attributes for storing
construction material data and information (Kong et al. 2004). When two
suppliers that sell the same or similar products store product
descriptions differently using different attributes, it becomes
difficult for a contractor to identify the similarities and differences.
Construction material information systems are normally isolated and have
few interactions between each other (Kong et al. 2004). Although request
for quotations/proposals may reduce part of the problems if the
information product is highly structured, it is still difficult for a
contractor to discover all the information using one system and even
more difficult to do comparison of the products supplied by different
suppliers based on criteria such as product specifications, cost,
availability, and delivery time. Grilo and Jardim-Goncalves (2011) point
out that the AEC sectors are characterized by the procurement of complex
levels of unstructured goods and services, and e-procurement solutions
are required to develop solutions to successfully cope with the
challenges of procuring unstructured goods and services.
2.2. Building Information Modeling in material procurement
Building Information Modeling (BIM) has become an active research
area to solve the problems that are related to building information
integration and interoperability (Isikdag, Underwood 2010). Several
definitions of BIM can be discovered in the technical literature.
Penttila (2006) defines BIM as a set of interacting policies, processes
and technologies generating a "methodology to manage the essential
building design and project data in digital format throughout the
building's life cycle". The National Building Information
Model Standard Project Committee (NBIMS) divides the BIM categories in
three axes which are Product, Collaborative Process and Facility. The
Product is an intelligent digital representation of the building. The
Collaborative Process covers business drivers, automated process
capabilities and open information standards used for information
sustainability and fidelity. The Facility concerns the well-understood
information exchanges, workflows, and procedures in which teams use as
repeatable, verifiable and sustainable information-based environment
throughout the building's lifecycle (NBIMS 2007).
The core attributes of BIM that distinguish it from the advanced
design technologies is not three dimensional geometric modeling, but
structured information that could be organized, defined and exchanged
(Smith, Tardif 2009). The perspective to understand BIM should be
focused on the business process used to create modeling instead of model
itself. BIM structured information provides the potential for more
effective and efficient building information transfer at every critical
juncture of building stewardship transfer (Smith, Tardif 2009). BIM
opens the door to ample and remarkable business opportunities for the
architects with insights to perceive and exploit them (Smith, Tardif
2009), and to maintain a more accurate and complex documentary record of
building information throughout the building design and construction
process. BIM allows the architecture profession to assert a leadership
throughout lifecycle of buildings. BIM includes three interrelated
fields which are policy, process and technology fields, which is shown
in Fig. 3.
Fragmentation is a key feature of the construction industry. The
traditional nature of the industry involves bringing together
multi-disciplinary practitioners in one project and requires a
tremendous amount of collaboration and coordination (Isikdag, Underwood
2010). BIM changes the way companies in the AEC sector are working, and
provides the new processes for collaboration (Grilo, JardimGoncalves
2010). BIM is promising to be the facilitators of integration,
interoperability and collaboration for the future construction industry
(Isikdag, Underwood 2010).
[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]
BIM refers to managing information from being generated throughout
the whole processes comprehensively and not just simple information
model. BIM fosters the continuity of information and workflow, and
provides a powerful incentive for early and intensive collaboration
(Smith, Tardif 2009). Specifically, BIM can support collaborative
working environments because it enables the owner to develop an accurate
understanding of the nature and needs of the purpose for the project,
the design, development, and analysis of the project, the management of
the construction of the project, and the management of the operations of
the project during its operation and decommissioning. BIM allows the
applications to exchange and share data using various procedures
including STEP, IFC, XML which are being developed for the
interoperability of data in International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) and International Alliance for Interoperability
(IAI) to solve the problems of data compatibility and interpreted
differently by various software (Ham et al. 2008).
Interactions are important in virtual building simulations, and
various types of links may be established during the development of BIM
models. Interactions refer to the interconnection of different sources
of information. This information may be part of the 3D model, or could
be contained in another format file that is separate from the model file
itself, such as in a schedule, a spreadsheet, a database, or a text
document. Whenever the interaction involves the components of the 3D
model, a common link in BIM and the interoperability of various models
that may have been created by different software tools is required to
exist (Europe Innova 2008).
Since the early 1990's, comprehensive efforts are being made
to develop standards to define interoperability between models. This
means that it is necessary for all of them to be translated into a file
format for a model to be able to be compatible with models created by
other software tools, so that all of the object's information can
be transferred correctly. In most cases it is a challenge for such a
translation to retain all the information that the model contains in its
original native file format. Specific software tools can have a built-in
capacity to ensure the ability to read and use the file format of other
modelers. A number of larger modeling software companies are now
developing suites of modeling and construction-related software tools
that are interoperable. However, most of the BIM modeling applications
and their complementary software tools only address interoperability
among themselves and not in relation to other vendors' application
systems (Grilo, Jardim-Goncalves 2010).
Literature review reveals that few efforts have been directed to
the application of BIM for e-procurement (Grilo, Jardim-Goncalves 2011).
Grilo and Jardim-Goncalves (2011) depicted how BIM combined with the
Model Driven Architecture, Service Oriented Architecture, and Cloud
Computing may challenge e-procurement in the AEC sectors, and presented
the application of a SOA4BIM framework in the context of electronic
procurement and described an industrial research case study for
validation of the proposed approach in the conception and design phases
of building/construction projects.
Grilo and Jardim-Goncalves (2010) hold the view that the
interoperability factors may become more acute if one goal of
e-platforms is to enhance the collaborative functions of BIM with
traditional e-procurement and e-sourcing functions, where building
product objects besides parametric 3D model information must be coupled
with transactional information such as in RFP, Orders and Invoices. As
each building/engineering project tends to be unique, it is critical for
the e-procurement success that the BIM approach adopts the usage of
universal interoperability standards for the various dimensions not only
on the e-tendering, e-ordering, e-invoicing or e-catalogues, but also on
product and process models (Grilo, Jardim-Goncalves 2011).
A purpose-built BIM solution features computable building
information that enables a model to be understood by a computer as a
building by three dimensional, real-time, dynamic building modeling
software in building design and construction (Autodesk 2007). One of the
potential benefits of exchanging BIM data between an architect and a
contractor is a reduction in the time needed for quantity takeoffs.
Conceptually, construction design, shop drawing preparation,
quantity takeoff and material procurement are a series of related
processes. Historically, accurate quantity takeoffs have been the
responsibility of constructors that are solely responsible for the
material quantities accuracy (Smith, Tardif 2009). In traditional cost
estimating solutions, material quantity takeoff is done by human efforts
from the CAD drawings, which introduces the more potential for human
errors and propagates any inaccuracies and involves much waste and
inefficiency. When the designers or engineers change the information in
any view, traditional material method requires lots of working time and
human labor to make modification on all views, schedules, material take
off, and so on. With BIM, building material quantity takeoff
information, specifications, referenced standards, warranties and
operational requirements can be extracted from a BIM model created by
design professionals. An architect might understandably have concern
that a contractor will rely on the model and hold the architect
accountable for material quantities. Architects could use the
information within their design models to easily double check estimating
quantities to facilitate concurrent estimating during the design
process. With BIM, when the design or shop drawing changes the
information in any view, all views, schedules and material takeoffs
could update automatically, and information across all representations
of the project is reliable, coordinated, and internally consistent. BIM
offers significant advantages over traditional drawing-based systems by
minimizing manual takeoffs, facilitating improved communication,
coordination and collaboration, reducing time and cost, and resulting in
less misunderstanding between owners, designers, engineers, contractors,
fabricators, facility operators across the whole construction industry
in material quantity takeoff and cost estimating process, therefore it
will provide more accurate material cost standards to evaluate the
quotes from potential suppliers in the tendering, bidding and awarding
process. Reducing the quantification effort means that contractors can
apply their time and knowledge to higher value estimating activities
including construction assemblies, generating pricing, factoring risks
and so forth more effectively (Autodesk 2007).
Presently, Autodesk, Bentley, Graphisoft and Nemetschek are among
the most popular BIM construction software providers to the construction
industry. BIM authoring tools include Autodesk Revit, Bentley
Architecture, Graphisoft ArchiCAD and Nemetschek Vectorworks (Smith,
Tardif 2009). Popular commercial BIM based construction material
quantity takeoff and cost estimating software include Autodesk Quantity
Takeoff (QTO), Innovaya Visual Quantity Takeoff, Tocoman Quantity
Takeoff and Vico Takeoff Manager.
2.3. Material supplier performance evaluation
Supplier performance evaluation has been important in operational
decisions, involving decisions of selecting which vendors to employ, as
well as decisions of quantities to order from each vendor.
The reasons to incorporate supplier performance evaluation function
in BIM integrated with e-commerce software solutions include the
following 3 aspects:
--First, supplier performance evaluation is the premise and
important procedure in material supplier selection, supplier awarding
and electronic material procurement process. Therefore, supplier
performance evaluation should be one function module incorporated into
BIM integrated with e-commerce material quantity takeoff, cost
estimating and procurement software solutions, and it is one important
part of BIM integrated with e-commerce material procurement framework;
--Second, BIM integrated with e-commerce material system solutions
provide one innovative approach and improved way for material
procurement process. Supplier performance evaluation module based on BIM
integrated with e-commerce material system solutions will be more
accurate and precise, and it will provide more objective and better
reference for future supplier selection decision making in material
procurement process;
--Third, BIM integrated with e-commerce material procurement
process and supplier performance evaluation are interrelated processes,
so BIM integrated with e-commerce material procurement system should
incorporate a material supplier performance evaluation module.
Substantial research literature has been developed over the last
two decades on the subject of using decision tools for supplier
selection and evaluation in the supply chain management. Willis et al.
(1993) classified supplier performance evaluation models into
categorical, weighted points, and cost ratio approaches. Vonderembse and
Tracey (1999) presented supplier evaluation criteria from five aspects
including plant stoppages decreased, percent on-time delivery increased,
timely material deliver, intransit damage reduced and high quality
incoming parts. Kannan and Tan (2002) present assessment criteria to
study the importance of these criteria of American manufacturing company
for items to be used in products. These criteria include quality level,
service level, correct quantity, on-time delivery, price/cost of
product, use of electronic data interchange, willing to share sensitive
information, presence of certification or other documents, the
flexibility to respond to unexpected demand changes, communication
skill/systems, quick response time in case of emergency, problem or
special request, willingness to change products and services to meet the
changing needs, willingness to participate in new products'
development and value analysis. Wu and Blackhurst (2009) proposed an
augmented DEA approach to evaluate supplier performance from quality,
price, deliveries and cost reduction performance aspects. Chen (2011)
proposed structured methodology for supplier selection and evaluation in
supply chain with criteria and indicators from competition and
organization factors and it is shown in Fig. 4.
[FIGURE 4 OMITTED]
3. Proposed BIM integrated with e-commerce tools for material
procurement
3.1. Proposed BIM integrated with e-commerce framework
Based on the research about BIM and e-commerce in construction
material quantity takeoff, cost estimating and material procurement
solutions, and the generic SOA4BIM framework presented by Grilo and
Jardim-Goncalves (2011), a primary and basic framework of BIM integrated
with e-commerce solution in material quantity takeoff, cost estimating,
material procurement and supplier performance evaluation application is
proposed in Fig. 5.
In this framework, BIM is the key process and supporting platform
to standardize and integrate 3D vector data, material composition data,
cost price data, bidding and tendering data, contractual data, project
document data, material supplier data. This standardizing and
integrating process is achieved through the operations of web service
and internet agent tools and IFC/STEP standard transmission engine.
Architect/engineers, contractors/ subcontractors, cost estimators,
material purchasers, site engineers and accountants are the main process
participants. Material quantity takeoff, cost estimating, bidding and
tending, e-procurement, and supplier performance evaluation and
management process are based on BIM platform. Material suppliers,
procurement agents and information providers take part in this process
through web service/internet engine.
3.2. Proposed material quantity takeoff and cost estimating
platform and cost data source
After the comparison of different BIM software, Autodesk Revit
platform is chosen as BIM development platform for material quantity
takeoff. Autodesk Revit has released comprehensive Application
Programming Interface (API) and Software Development Kit (SDK), which
are convenient for developers to make secondary development on Revit
platform to generate quantity takeoff report. BIM design document could
be generated, imported, modified or saved in Autodesk Revit platform.
RS Means Unit Price material cost data is adopted as cost price
data source. Quantity takeoff result from BIM design documents in Revit
platform will be linked with RS Means Unit Price material cost data to
generate cost estimating report. This solution has advantage over
traditional commercial quantity takeoff software such as QTO, Innovaya
Visual Quantity Takeoff, Tocoman Quantity Takeoff and Vico Takeoff
because none of these commercial software links quantity takeoff data
from BIM design documents with RS Means Unit Price material cost data.
Cost estimating information generated in this software module will
potentially have better accuracy over traditional cost estimating
methods and will provide a better cost standard for the future supplier
quotes evaluation and supplier selection.
3.3. Proposed supplier performance evaluation model
Supplier performance evaluation and Information Management is one
important function of BIM integrated with e-commerce framework in
material procurement. Based on comprehensive literature review and
studying the feasibility and practicability of supplier performance
evaluation, the authors present ten main evaluation criteria which are
Cost (C), Quality (Q), Delivery (D), Service (S), Assurance of
Supply(AS), Overall Ability (OA), Payment Terms (PT), Information
Sharing (IS), Reputation (R) and Buyer-Supplier Relationship (BSR). Each
evaluation criterion also comprises several performance indicators. All
evaluation criteria and performance indicators are shown in Table 2.
Based on the literature review, system operability and
applicability of the performance evaluation methods, a simple weight
coefficient method is designed, presented and adopted in this framework.
Each evaluation criterion is provided with a weight coefficient from any
number between 1 and 5. Weight coefficient 1 represents this criterion
is totally unimportant. Weight coefficient 2 represents this criterion
is fairly unimportant. Weight coefficient 3 represents this criterion is
neither unimportant nor important. Weight coefficient 4 represents this
criterion is fairly important. Weight coefficient 5 represents that this
criterion is very important.
Each performance indicator is provided with a weight coefficient
and optional choice from any number between 1 and 5. Weight coefficient
1 represents this indicator is totally unimportant. Weight coefficient 2
represents this indicator is fairly unimportant. Weight coefficient 3
represents this indicator is neither unimportant nor important. Weight
coefficient 4 represents this indicator is fairly important. Weight
coefficient 5 represents this indicator is very important. User choice 1
represents supplier performance in this indicator is totally
unsatisfactory. User choice 2 represents supplier performance in this
indicator is fairly unsatisfactory. User choice 3 represents supplier
performance in this indicator is neither unsatisfactory nor
satisfactory. User choice 4 represents supplier performance in this
indicator is fairly satisfactory. User choice 5 represents supplier
performance in this indicator is very satisfactory.
[FIGURE 5 OMITTED]
In this framework, Single Performance Indicator Value (SPIV) is
calculated by multiplying User Choice and Weight Coefficient of this
performance indicator; Single Evaluation Criterion Value (SECV) is
calculated by multiplying the sum of SPIV belonging to this evaluation
criterion and Weight Coefficient of this evaluation criterion. Total
Evaluation Criterion Value (TECV) is the sum of SECV. The specific
functions to calculate SPIV, SECV and TECV are displayed from Eqs 1 to
3, respectively:
Single Performance Indicator Value (SPIV) = [SIGMA] Weight
Coefficient * User Choice of this Performance Indicator; (1)
Single Evaluation Criterion Value (SECV) = ([SIGMA] Single
Performance Indicator Value (SPIV)) * Weight Coefficient of this
Evaluation Criterion; (2)
Total Evaluation Criterion Value (TECV) = [SIGMA] Single Evaluation
Criterion Value (SECV). (3)
Performance of all material suppliers could be evaluated, compared
and ranked according to the standard of SPIV, SECV or TECV in one
project, or according to the standard of average SPIV, SECV or TECV of
each supplier in multiple projects. All the data and results will
provide reference for the future decision making in potential supplier
selection in e-awarding process.
4. BIM integrated with e-commerce software system prototype
Construction software requires ease of installation and
configuration, low cost, ease of connection and integration, ability to
integrate external systems and information, and customizable access to
information and applications (Cheng et al. 2010). Considering the
technical complexity, system difficulty and time restraint, the authors
designed and developed a fairly simple display version of the BIM
integrated with e-commerce material procurement and supplier performance
management system as the first step to implement the main functions of
this framework.
4.1. System design overview
This system will implement the functions including design document
management, material quantity takeoff, material cost estimating,
tendering and bidding management, e-invoicing, e-payment and transaction
history management, supplier performance valuation and information
management, project document and information management, and user role
and safety control. This system has been designed to include the
following user roles: Designers/Engineers, Contractors, Estimators,
Purchasers, Site Engineers, Accountants, Suppliers and Anonymous. For a
specific system function, five different user access rights including No
Purview, View, Add, Delete and Modify have been chosen to be designated
to different user roles.
[FIGURE 6 OMITTED]
This system is designed to develop and operate on the combination
of BIM platform and e-commerce platform:
--BIM Platform: This platform is designed with model import, add,
view, modification or deletion, material quantity takeoff and cost
estimating functions;
--E-Commerce Platform: This platform is adopted to implement
bidding and tendering (BIM based) management, e-invoicing, e-payment and
transaction history management, project document (BIM based) and
information management, and supplier performance evaluation and
information management functions.
General system architecture is displayed in Fig. 6.
System users include the following different types including
architects/engineers, contractors/ subcontractors, cost estimators,
material purchasers, site engineers, accountants, suppliers and
anonymous. Different users enter the system after the validation of user
name and password from user role and safety control module. Different
types of users have different access rights, and could only view or
operate different modules within their access rights. The connection
between user interface of e-commerce platform or BIM platform are
web-service and Application Programming Interface (API), the connection
between ecommerce and BIM platform is API, and the connections between
e-commerce or BIM platform and database are web-service and database
management system.
4.2. System operation overview
General Contractor is the system administrator responsible for all
system operations and controls. After general contractors sign
construction contract with the owner, general contractor will log in
this system to begin to save and update project, owner, architect and
various project document and activity information in this system.
Architects and engineers are responsible for managements of all design
documents, and will save and update all BIM based design documents in
this system. Estimators are responsible for material quantity takeoff
and cost estimating result, and could log into the system, choose the
relevant project name, import design document name to quantity takeoff
and cost estimating module, make BIM-based material quantity takeoff and
cost estimating, generate quantity takeoff and cost estimating reports,
save and update all relevant reports in this system before the call for
material tenders process starts. Material cost estimating reports
generated by estimators will provide a more accurate information
reference for general contractors to release call for tenders file and
evaluate material quotes from suppliers. Site engineers are responsible
for the generation, saving, uploading, modification and management of
site schedule based material requirement documents in this system.
After the material cost estimating reports and site schedule based
material requirement documents are saved to system database, the general
contractors will release "Call for Tenders" files according to
the cost estimating reports and site schedule documents on this system.
All system users including anonymous users could log in this system to
view the ongoing and future "Call for Tenders" documents
through this website. If one supplier has intention to bid for a
material supplier, he or she will have to contact the general contractor
to get an authorized formal user name and password in this system and
use this user name and password to submit material quotes through this
system during the required time. After all material quotes has been
collected, the general contractors will evaluate all material quotes
that have been submitted to this system and use the historical supplier
performance evaluation information data which have been performed by
contractors, estimators, site engineers, purchasers and accountants in
the former projects as the references to make final awarding decisions
and sign the material supplying contracts. The important supplier
evaluation, awarding and contract signing information will be released
on this website on time, and all system users could view such
information from this website.
After the general contractor has signed material supplying contract
with one supplier, the site engineers, purchasers and accountants will
take their respective responsibilities in the latter material supplying
process. They will be also responsible for saving, uploading, modifying
and management of all relevant activities and documents in the software
system.
4.3. Operation of supplier performance evaluation module
Supplier performance evaluation provides the valuable history
reference data for contractors to select the best supplier in the future
construction project, and it is one of key functions of this software
system. Contractors, estimators, site engineers, purchasers and
accountants are all authorized supplier performance evaluators.
Construction contractors makes the final decision about how to evaluate
and select potential material suppliers, so choosing and determining
weight coefficient of all evaluation criteria and performance indicators
is the responsibility and duty of construction contractors.
After procurement activities from one supplier have finished in one
project, it is time for all authorized supplier performance evaluators
to begin supplier performance evaluation process. Responsible
construction contractors first log into this system to determine weight
coefficient of each evaluation criterion and performance indicator for
all suppliers in one project by choosing a number between 1 and 5. Then
for all authorized supplier performance evaluators, the choice value of
each performance indicator should be selected according to
evaluators' appraisal of each supplier's performance in a
specific project. Each evaluator will choose a number between 1 and 5 in
the value of user choice of each indicator according to the appraisal of
this supplier's performance in this aspect of this project. After
one evaluator finishes the evaluation of one supplier in one project,
all evaluated data could be saved to system database. SPIV, SECV and
TECV could be calculated automatically in each project.
All supplier performance evaluation data should be kept as the
reference for future decision making process of material supplier
selection. Each supplier performance evaluator could search project
evaluation status, review his or her evaluation history, choose an
available supplier and project to make evaluation or review past
relevant detailed evaluation information. The system will also enable
evaluators to select multiple suppliers' names and one project to
view the comparison and rank information about evaluation scores of
these different suppliers in one project, or select multiple
projects' names and one supplier to view the comparison and rank
information about evaluation scores of one supplier in different
projects.
5. Conclusions and future research
5.1. Conclusions
Based on the comprehensive literature review on ecommerce and BIM
in construction quantity takeoff, cost estimating and material
procurement, and supplier performance evaluation criteria and methods,
and persistent efforts in software design and development, the authors
presented a framework and displayed one development solution to
integrate BIM with e-commerce in quantity takeoff, cost estimating,
material procurement and material supplier evaluation and information
management. This research contributes to the innovation of the
construction procurement processes through the use of BIM solutions and
e-commerce tools in the following aspects:
--Provision of practical framework and made display version
software system to integrate BIM in material quantity takeoff and cost
estimating, e-commerce in material procurement activities including
bidding and tendering, e-invoicing, e-payment and transaction history
management and supplier performance evaluation and management, which has
rarely been explored by other researcher before;
--Application of BIM in material quantity takeoff based on Autodesk
Revit development platform, and linked BIM with RS Means Unit Price
material cost criterion to generate material cost estimating report,
which is different from commercial quantity takeoff software such as
QTO, Innovaya Visual Quantity Takeoff, Tocoman Quantity Takeoff and Vico
Takeoff. Cost information generated in this platform will have better
accuracy over traditional cost estimating methods and will provide a
better cost standard for the future supplier quote evaluation and
supplier selection;
--Improved supplier performance evaluation criteria and performance
indicators and an evaluation method using weight coefficient, which
provides practical reference value for future supplier performance
evaluation and selection in the eprocurement process.
5.2. Future research
Future research should concentrate on the following aspects:
--Research on the identification and analysis of cost, benefit and
risk factors will provide useful data and reference for future software
vendors to make decision about software design and development. Although
many literatures have been explored cost, benefit and risk of e-commerce
and BIM in construction, there is no ongoing research on the potential
cost, benefit and risk factors of BIM integrated with e-commerce
software system application in quantity takeoff, cost estimating,
material procurement and supplier performance management process. Future
research on potential cost, benefit and risk analysis of BIM integrated
with e-commerce software system application in material quantity
takeoff, cost estimating and material procurement process will be
required;
--Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) is the technology
which combines the understanding of the way people work in groups with
the enabling technologies of computer networking, and associated
hardware, software, services and techniques (Kamel, Davison 1998). BIM
includes a database that comprises of computer three dimensional models
and provides possibility for project members from various professional
backgrounds to share the same data and work with the same model. BIM
requires participants to develop closer relationships with key team
members, fosters the open exchange of electronic information, and
encourages closer collaboration than ever. BIM introduces new team
dynamics, accelerated decision making, and complexities that demand a
strong working relationship, so BIM is more suitable for cooperative
work mode. Therefore, future work may concentrate on the framework of
BIM, e-commerce and CSCW software integration solution in construction
material procurement process;
--Material quantity takeoff, cost estimating, material procurement
and supplier evaluation and information management are parts of issues
of construction project lifecycle management, and the proposed framework
and developed software system in this paper could be integrated with
other project lifecycle management software systems in construction
firms to streamline material procurement workflow and optimize system
benefit. One potential future research is the integration and
optimization of this proposed framework and developed system with
present web-based project management or Enterprise Resource Planning
(ERP) systems in construction firms.
doi:10.3846/13923730.2012.719835
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Yali Ren (1), Miroslaw J. Skibniewski (2), Shaohua Jiang (3)
(l) Central Reliability Group, Baker Hughes Inc., Houston, TX, USA
(2) Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University
of Maryland, College Park, USA
(3) Department of Construction Management, Faculty of
Infrastructure Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian,
China E-mails: (1) yaliren@umd.edu (corresponding author); (2)
mirek@umd.edu; (3) shaohuajiang@gmail.com
Received 09 Dec. 2011; accepted 29 May 2012
Yali REN. Reliability Data Analyst Intern at Baker Hughes Inc. in
Houston, TX, USA. She holds dual M.S. degrees in Civil Engineering from
Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, and from the Univesity of Maryland,
College Park, USA. Her research interests include IT and e-commerce
solutions and applications in Civil Engineering and Project Management.
Mirostaw J. SKIBNIEWSKI. Holder of A. James Clark Endowed Chair in
Construction Engineering and Project Management at the University of
Maryland (College Park), USA. A past winner of the Walter L. Huber
Research Prize from the American Society of Civil Engineers and a
foreign member of the Russian Academy of Engineering, he holds an
honorary doctorate from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University in
Lithuania. An author or coauthor of over 200 technical publications, he
focuses his research on automation and information technology issues
related to construction project engineering and management.
Shaohua JIANG. Assistant Professor in the Department of
Construction Management, Faculty of Infrastructure Engineering, at
Dalian University of Technology, China. His research interests include
applications of long-distance tracking systems, building information and
knowledge management, and project sustainability.
Table 1. Construction tendering, biding and procurement related
websites
General classification Function/Description
Share project documents, and on-line
Project management and document management
collaboration Main services: upload or download documents,
on-line modification, storage document
modification notes, pursue document status
Provide construction products and services
Project bidding and Main services: electronic bidding, on-line
procurement product/service classification, price data
exchange, bidding management, on-line
purchasing
General classification Web URL
www. activeproject.com
Project management and www.buzzsaw.com
collaboration www.buildonline.com
www. citadon.com
www.loadsping.com
http://www.isqft.com/new/
Project bidding and www. ebidsystems.com
procurement www. eu-supply.com
www.purchasepro.com
http://postclick.datafax.net/
http://www.constructionwire.com/
http://www.bidclerk.com/
http://www.combinenet.com/
Table 2. Supplier performance evaluation criteria and performance
indicators
Evaluation Criteria Performance Indicator
Cost (C) Total Cost (TC) (Lam et al. 2010)
Price Stability (PS) (Lam et al. 2010)
Discount Rate (DR) (Chen 2011)
Quality (Q) Return Rate (RR) (Chen 2011)
Failure Prevention (FP) (Lam et al. 2010)
Appearance and Function (AF)
(Lam et al. 2010)
Delivery (D) Lead Time (LT) (Chen 2011)
On-Time Delivery (OTD)
(Chen 2011)
Delivery Flexibility (DF)
(Chen 2011)
Service (S) Service Standard (SS) (Chen 2011)
Technical Assistance & Support
(TAS) (Lam et al. 2010)
Cooperation & Communication (C&C)
(Lam et al. 2010)
Responsive Time (RT) (Chen 2011)
Assurance of Capability (C) (Lam et al. 2010)
Supply (AS) Reliability (R) (Lam et al. 2010)
Flexibility (F) (Lam et al. 2010)
Overall Technical Ability (TA)
Ability (OA) Conform to BIM Standard
Management Ability (MA)
Production Ability (PA)
Payment Standard Payment (SP)
Terms (PT) (Lam et al. 2010)
Payment Flexibility (PF)
(Lam et al. 2010)
Information Use of Electronic Data Interchange
Sharing (IS) (UEDA) (Kannan, Tan 2002)
Willing to Share Sensitive
Information (WSSI) (Kannan, Tan 2002)
Reputation (R) Commitment to Quality (CQ)
(Kannan, Tan 2002)
Ability to Meet Due Date (AMDD)
(Kannan, Tan 2002)
Commitment to Continuous Improvement
(CCI) (Kannan, Tan 2002)
Honesty Communication (HC)
(Kannan, Tan 2002)
Buyer-Supplier Geographical Compatibility
Relationship (Kannan, Tan 2002)
(BSR) Culture Match (Kannan, Tan 2002)
Past and Future Relationship
(Kannan, Tan 2002)
Evaluation Criteria Weight Coefficient (1 to 5)
Cost (C) 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Quality (Q) 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Delivery (D) 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Service (S) 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Assurance of 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Supply (AS) 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Overall 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Ability (OA) 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Payment 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Terms (PT)
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Information 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Sharing (IS)
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Reputation (R) 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Buyer-Supplier 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Relationship
(BSR) 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Evaluation Criteria User Choice (1 to 5)
Cost (C) 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Quality (Q) 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Delivery (D) 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Service (S) 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Assurance of 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Supply (AS) 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Overall 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Ability (OA) 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Payment 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Terms (PT)
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Information 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Sharing (IS)
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Reputation (R) 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Buyer-Supplier 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
Relationship
(BSR) 1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
1 [] 2 [] 3[] 4 [] 5 []
