Paving the Way for Better Construction Designs Aided by Information Technology Tools

Information Technology And Design

Advancements made in the Information Technology constantly influences the manner in which business processes are structured and followed across industry verticals. Construction companies have been known to be reluctant in adopting change. Even when computers were being widely adopted by other industries and companies engaged in infrastructural activities, the construction sector was slow to embrace computerization. Computer-aided design software were already in circulation in other engineering branches before architects and civil engineers caught on to the idea of involving computers in their profession. Initially, computer-aided design (CAD) software began to be used by architects to transform their engineering drawings from paper to digital. As CAD software evolved, architects and civil engineers began to explore additional possibilities boosted by the knowledge and experience of their colleagues in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, etc. With the advent of 4D CAD modelling techniques, architects and civil engineers could now visualize and test changes in design. For such obvious reasons, 4D CAD has been garnering far wider following in industry circles than either 2D or 3D models in recent times. Compared to traditional forms of planning, visual models created using 4D CAD software has been observed to be more accurate and of more use. However, not long before 4D CAD modelling began to be used widely in industry circles, computers and Information Technology were commonly used mainly for communication and as data processing tools. However, as the pace of Information Technology picked up, construction companies began to adopt it for knowledge integration and for supporting decisions in collaborative efforts involving complex projects. This, in turn, led to realization among construction companies that Information Technology can be used to rethink and redesign business processes. The introduction and popularity of high-level programming languages, viz., Java, Python, etc. began opening up new opportunities whereby construction companies could remodel their entire business approach.

The organization of process related activities changed, and so did products, after digitized architectural drawings began to be introduced. The following figure 1 depicts differences between practices that had been the convention in the past, and those that are now understood to be future. In the past, processes of manufacturing were set apart from the data that influenced final production. Today, processes are driven by data and information that are analysed well before any actual production takes place. However, the traditional approach has not yet been relegated to the back seat. Both old and new processes are mixed to produce a transitional stage wherein design processes are coalesced with knowledge and data received from various points of organization in order to fulfil contractual obligations.

Figure 1.

The Role of Information then and as it is now.

Computer Aided Design And Visualization

The advancements made in Information Technology that began with the invention of personal computers and, thereafter, with the rapid rise in operating systems and smartphone technology, have seen computer-aided design (CAD) software gain widespread popularity among the fraternity of architects, engineers, design professionals, and project planners. Among the various CAD software is available in the market, the more popular ones are developed by Autodesk, Bentley, etc. The modern CAD software has long since replaced traditional drawing boards at the production stage.