ABSTRACT
The pressures of modern day construction and the increase in client expectations has meant that the construction industry is actively looking to improve quality and performance through increased innovation: one approach to increasing innovation is through project collaboration. Underpinning this concept of construction collaboration is real-time information and communication flow to and from the construction site and the varied contractors. This real-time flow aids the overall construction process and supports data mining and organisational performance management. As briefly mentioned in chapter 4, most construction information is held in a traditional format: on paper. This medium is difficult to access, store and transfer, and creates a bottleneck in the information flow to and from the construction site and its various construction contractors. Current adoption and use of IT systems can in effect increase the rate of paper based information, which is time-consuming and involves a duplication of effort when capturing information because systems are not integrated. The development and implementation of IT systems, in conjunction with dramatic increases in digital based paper technology, will aid the electronic data capture from paper based forms, making the information instantly available across the construction supply chain. These new systems adopted will remove the information flow bottleneck and effectively bring about greater client and contractor satisfaction. The quantity of data generated increases at near exponential rates at the construction stage (see the case studies in chapter 9). However, we must begin to understand the paper based processes within the industry and how these processes add to the quantity of data created and affect the transfer of communication. Information in a paper based system takes a great deal of resources to gather and analyse which results in an increase in preparation time, an increase in transfer time and a decrease in overall operating efficiency.
