Digital Situation Picture in Construction – Case of Prefabricated Structural Elements

Efficient construction supply chain management necessitates that all parties possess an adequate situation picture (SP) of construction projects. Currently, an SP of project operations is formed by combining information from phone calls, emails and site visits. As a result, the scope, quality and accessibility of the information is weak and does not support supply chain management. Although several studies have been conducted on technologies supporting data capture, data exchange and analysis, a digital SP is still missing in the construction sector. This study aims to advance understanding of how to create a digital SP of construction operations. A digital SP in construction refers to an up-to-date context-specific machine-to-machine readable information, which can be used by different project parties to manage construction operations. The empirical study is conducted in the context of developing supply chain management of prefabricated structural elements by way of interviews and participatory workshops. The findings indicate that specific data, such as – the identification number of the prefabricated structural element, installation blocks, installation order and its schedule, transport loads and their orders and element statuses – should be shared in a digital format. The study describes inter-company data flows that are needed to create a digital SP employing seven use cases. These findings contribute to the SP literature in construction by mapping opportunities of a digital SP of construction for supporting efficient construction supply chain management.