BIM and ERP Integration

BIM (Building Information Modeling) is information-oriented modeling of construction and engineering activities. With digitizing, construction corporations relied more on these digital modeling tools for better visibility of the process.

On the other side, the general office backend is often managed by ERP systems. ERP is generally used for managing day-to-day business activities. The standalone ERP visualization was never beneficial for construction activities which is why the industry relied more on BIM for information on the whole process.

However, the BIM approach also needs a documented intervention, the Excel and BIM integrated workflow is quite outdated in terms of handling construction operations in these times of cash crunch. The following article discusses the suitable advantages of BIM-ERP integration in detail –

Financial management is the backbone of every AEC project. It is more important if the organization is in a competitive landscape of bidding for tender projects. Each of the process and step to it documented in terms of execution and pricing.

In this case, the BIM can do the data part of modeling the project on various critical metrics and the ERP could organize the whole process of the project in a documented form.  

By the general definition, BIM is about bettering the design of facilities and properties while ERP is bettering the whole business operation. If we tend to couple the best of both solutions, construction will benefit exponentially with a more thoughtful architecture and subsequent execution process. 

BIM can provide quality data to ERP and ERP can provide smart data organization to BIM. With machine learning powering every software solution, ERP could exponentially benefit from this too. By reducing manual efforts, AI-powered ERPs can better forecast the time to source building materials. The BIM design creation could be broken into the requirement of materials to execute that particular design. Then, the ERP coupled with smart algorithms could predict the best time and location to source the requirements.

Continuing on the same logic of automating intelligent forecasting, pre-casting, and pre-fabrication would be the main beneficiaries of BIM ERP integration. ERP could predict the better souring of resources and BIM would make the development process information-oriented, this is a win-win for pre-casting.

In pre-casting, the question is more about the number of resources and timeframe for work scheduling, which ERP would take care of. An intelligent backend behind your decision-making here would definitely yield you some great monetary saves.  

The IFC4precast standard by building SMART International is intended to combine the best of all the existing precast file formats. Thus, the IFC4precast system would streamline the manufacturing information into a single file format, eliminating the need for redundant multiple file formats. The reduction in the burden of carrying multiple file formats will simplify and improve productivity.

Especially in the case of pre-casting. This IFC4precast system will also expand functionality with centralization to embed stakeholders and reinforcement suppliers. The ultimate vision through IFC4precast is to establish a globally accepted standard for precast manufacturing that could power more wisdom to the process.